Blog: Learn a Language in 2016

The British Council has launched a campaign calling on people in the UK to make learning a foreign language their New Year’s resolution for 2016. Following continued decline in language learning at both school and university levels across the UK, the #LearnALanguage drive aims to inspire more Brits to think about the importance of learning a language and to take one up in 2016. Tackling just a phrase a day could see people greatly improve their language skills with 1000 words recognised as an achievable number that would allow a speaker to hold a simple conversation in another language. And with a recent British Council survey highlighting that more than half of the UK population (58%) regret losing the language skills that they acquired during their school days, it seems that many of us would indeed like to brush up our lost language skills – in fact, 42% of those surveyed said that they would be keen to revisit a language that they studied at school. The French and Spanish Beginner courses at St Mary’s are perfect for you if you have little or no experience of learning the French or Spanish language, or you need to refresh your basic language skills. Whilst on a language course, you will build your knowledge and understanding of vocabulary and grammar and develop your communication skills for practical purposes. The next courses start at St Mary’s in February 2016 Book your place now http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/short-courses/french.htm or http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/short-courses/spanish.htm * For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/