Here comes the sun! That’s right, summer is on its way and, for many, that means a chance to take a well-deserved break and to try some new things too.

Summer can be a great opportunity to further ourselves. You might be looking for that promotion at work, to do better at school or university, or perhaps you want to travel a little further afield – and improving your English might just be the answer.

With this in mind, this summer at Oxford House we’re opening a super intensive English course. Offering 100 hours of full immersion over just four weeks, it really is the ultimate language learning challenge. Are you up to it?!

Find the motivation

Language learning can be a lot of fun, but it also requires significant effort. You can think of it as a journey: if you want to reach a high level in foreign language, that journey can be quite a long one.

To sustain your progress along the way, you need to be motivated. Whether your interest in English is academic, professional or personal, over time that motivation can fluctuate. So, in fact, making a short-term commitment to an intensive course can be an awesome option.

With four weeks of focused learning you’ll find it easier to maintain your motivation levels, but that’s not the only benefit.

Immerse yourself

For a child to acquire their first language, they need daily contact with it. Basically, they learn through immersion. Now, although there are many differences in the way we learn a first and second language, this simple idea of having regular contact is easily overlooked.

Adult learners are more analytical, often looking for patterns and rules in the language they are learning. This is a positive thing, but it doesn’t mean we can’t also learn implicitly. We can still integrate words, phrases and structures from what we hear and start using them without having analyse them first.

And you don’t even have to go abroad to find an immersion setting. Besides the summer course, there are plenty of fun activities you can do in Barcelona, all in English. Ready to take the plunge?!

Forget multitasking

Haven’t you heard? Multitasking is a thing of the past! It used to be held up as a highly valuable skill, but now it seems that ‘monotasking’ is the way forward.

We all need to prioritise our tasks better and focus on one thing at a time. It would also help if uninstalled Instagram and Whatsapp, but that’s not going to happen!

In reality, during the year, we all have to do a certain amount of multitasking. But just because it’s inevitable it doesn’t mean that it’s effective. If you can dedicate time to a single objective, you’ll be amazed by what you can achieve. It could be just the boost that your English needs.

Work together

What’s great about learning another language is that it’s a social activity. It’s all about interaction and communication and, as a result, you really get to know the people you’re learning with.

And let’s not forget: an intensive language course is an intense experience. When else would you spend that much time with a group of people you don’t know? At the end of the 100 hours, there’s a good chance that your classmates will become good friends.

We know how important group cohesion is, which is why we try to keep class sizes to a minimum. On the summer intensive English course there are never more than eight students per group.

Change your habits

Learning a new skill is all about developing positive habits. For example, in the case of learning English, you could listen to an English podcast on your way to work or watch films in their original language in the evening. If these activities become part of your daily routine, they no longer take much effort.

Now, the myth that it only takes 21 days to form a new habit has been debunked. It takes more than that for an activity to really become a natural habit, but four weeks is still a great start!

By completing an intensive course, you can condition yourself to that amount of contact with English. So, the many positive effects on your learning will continue well beyond the duration of the course.

Take on the challenge and level up

Great, so you’re ready for the challenge! What can you expect from our super intensive English course?

→ You get 100 hours of communication-focused English in just 4 weeks.

→ This intense approach will help you progress quickly, increasing your chances to advance a whole level by the end of the course.

→ With a maximum of 8 students per group, our experienced teachers can give you all the support you need.

→ You can choose to start in July, August or September.

→ There’s free enrollment and 10% discount if you have the Carnet Jove.

Find out more about our super intensive courses or take our online level test.

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

To further yourself (v): to get better or improve in some way.

To overlook (v): to fail to notice or appreciate.

Implicitly (adv): in a way that is not directly expressed.

Take the plunge (exp): commit yourself to a course of action.

To hold up as (pv): to say that something is a good example of something.

To debunk (v): to prove that something such as an idea or belief is false.

Key

v = verb

adv = adverb

exp = expression

pv = phrasal verb

Intensive summer courses: time to go all in

Check the super intensive course page for more information.