In today’s global economy learning a second language can greatly broaden your horizons, from making travel abroad easier, enabling the opportunity to communicate socially with people from different countries and cultures to giving an advantage in the workplace . There are many ways of learning a new language, the internet in particular offers a wide variety of free or low-cost options. However, nothing beats the boost your language skills receive when you actually do a language course in the country where the language you’re learning is spoken. This gives you the opportunity to put what you’ve learnt in to practice when speaking to the locals. The majority of language courses also award enough free time to enjoy the country you’re visiting meaning you can truly immerse yourself in the language experience by exploring, learning about the culture and sampling local food and drink.

Of course there is a cost in taking part in such a beneficial course, but the good news is that there are a variety of different options at different costs to suit all budgets. Those with not much cash to splash (an English phrase meaning ‘not much money to spend!’) can choose to attend a language course through AEGEE (Association des Etats Generaux des Etudiants des de L’Europe), also known as the European Students’ Forum. 



AEGEE is the largest student network with 17,000 members across more than 250 European Cities. You don’t have to be a student to benefit from their language courses abroad, Anthony Micallef, a 27 year old Australian-Maltese resident in Malta is a non-student and qualified for an AEGEE language course. Anthony explained, ‘I wanted to have fun, travel affordably and learn some German, AEGEE offered that through their many summer university options. €130 covered two weeks of accommodation, learning German through intensive daily classes and a range of activities from brewery visits to canoeing whilst building friendships with other participants from across Europe. We had an interesting breakdown of participants; Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian and of course the wonderful German hosts themselves. There are so many summer university options all across Europe that there is something for everyone. The experience proved to be positive and one that will stay with me forever.” To find out how you too can take part in a similar course, visit the AEGEE website, http://www.aegee.org/.

Those of you with more money to spare can choose to learn a new language at an accredited language school. Why not choose to learn English-the mother tongue of 400 million people and be amongst an estimated 750 million people who learn English as a second language? Study Languages.org offer English language courses in a variety of UK destinations including the vibrant capital, London, the beautiful seaside coast of Brighton or out in the countryside at one of the UK’s most famous university towns, Cambridge or Oxford. Prices start from £350 for a 2 week course, not including accommodation (this can be provided with costs starting at £250 for a single room on a half-board basis). Visit Studylanguages.org for more information.

If the climate and cost of learning English in the UK doesn’t appeal, a great option is to instead opt to do an English course in Malta. It might surprise you to know that English is Malta’s official language along with Maltese. Its year-round warm climate, rich cultural history (Malta has a number of pre-historic temples and medieval buildings), inexpensive cost of living and great night-life make it a hugely popular destination for learning English as a second language. NSTS English Language School was Malta’s first, with over 40 years of experience. They offer a wide range of English Language courses catering for all ages and levels. The prices of their courses start from €155, visit www.nsts.org for more information. There are also over 40 other English Language schools to chose from, visit Malta’s official tourism site, http://www.visitmalta.com.