Going Cheap - English Language Courses in London

London, known worldwide as the capital city of the English Language, has long been an expensive place for overseas students to study the Language.

That has all now changed thanks to the credit crunch. English Language Schools in London and the UK in general are experiencing a real upswing in inquiries. Massive currencies fluctuations have made learning English in London now far cheaper especially for those armed with Euros or currencies such as the Yen to attend an English language school in London.

This trend is backed up by the Worldwide Cost of Living survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which compares the cost of living in 140 major cities around the globe. The survey uses a range of different costs into account, for example property rental, hotel costs, entertainment such as theatre trips and right down to costs of food and drink. Crucially the costs take into account currency exchange rates, and this is where the big savings come into play for foreign students.

The survey has shown that London has slipped from joint 8th in 2008 to joint 27th in 2009, a long way below many European cities such as Paris, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, and Asian cities such as Tokyo which tops the cost of living list.

So what difference does this make to the average student Booking and English Language Course? Take a 7 week full time English course, costing say 2700 Franks with accommodation thrown in. Between April 2008 and April 2009 any paying in Euros would have found that they are paying about 15% less than before and that's before taking into account the great deals available now on flights and rentals.

The message for anyone considering studying English in London or the UK must be to take advantage now before the currencies swing back.

Tips About French Language Courses

Learning a new Language is not an easy feat and it gets harder as you get older. French Language courses can be a huge advantage to anyone who is interested in learning this vernacular. If you want to learn French for any reason, whether it is to help with a job, or to be able to travel and know that you will be able to converse with the local citizens, then French courses are the ticket.

French is one of the most spoken Languages around the world, after English, so deciding to learn it is a great choice. Now you just need to figure out which program is the best for you.

Now that you have decided to learn how to speak French, you will need to decide on the type of French courses to take. Learning this great Language in a classroom environment works very well for some people. Learning in a group and having a teacher available to help you with any questions you might have or to help you understand the correct pronunciation of words is a great advantage. However, this is not an option for everyone.

For those who cannot attend a classroom setting, there are many other resources available. Today, it is possible to purchase language courses on CDs or DVDs. This type of course allows the individual the benefit of being able to access the program whenever they choose.

It is also very useful when looking to review a lesson that you may have not understood very well. Language CDs and/or DVDs can be the ultimate language teacher simply because of the availability of the program.

Learning to speak French can be daunting, yet another great resource that can help you is the plethora of online courses. If you search the internet, then you can find many ways to learn French online that will be fun and helpful. The internet is full of schools that are accredited to teach languages courses.

You just need to research them and find the one that is going to fit your needs the best. Many of them don't have a strict timeline for you to follow, like traditional schools do, and this is ideal for a working person. French language courses that are taught online also let you study at your own pace, so there is no pressure to keep up with other students.

While we would all love to be able to learn French in France, unfortunately, this isn't always possible. But what you can do is find a program that defines the French language in a way that is easy to understand and to learn. Do some research, decide which of the many French language courses will work best for you and then enjoy learning your new patois.

Arabic Language Course - The 3 Best Arabic Language Courses Compared

Deciding to learn Arabic is one of the best decisions that you can make. Not only will you be able to experience a Middle Eastern holiday in the way that most people could only dream of, but it will open up huge business opportunities and/or make you infinitely more employable. Everybody learns new things in different ways (Languages in particular) so deciding what Arabic Language course to use can determine your success in learning Arabic, so read on for an in-depth comparison of the most popular Arabic courses today.

1. Pimsleur Arabic

Pimsleur Arabic's method of teaching Arabic is to focus exclusively on teaching you to speak - as opposed to read and write - Arabic. The Pimsleur Arabic language course makes extensive use of repetition, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on your learning style. For me, I found the repetition to be a bit taxing on my "self-discipline tank", but I also will admit that I can recall every word I was taught in Pimsleur Arabic with ease.  Using Pimsleur was a great choice for me, but it's by no means perfect. If you want a full understanding of Arabic, which of course includes being able to read and write, it may be best to look elsewhere.

Good For:

Beginners
Motivated & self-disciplined students
Learning on the go
Not Good For:

Beginners on a budget (costs $800+ for all 3 levels new, cheaper second hand/Ebay)
Anybody who wants to read/write Arabic
People with low self discipline
Intermediate Arabic students
2. Rosetta Stone Arabic

Rosetta Stone's method of teaching languages involves showing you an image and then telling you the word associated with that image. Then it will show you slightly different images to show you the relationship between them, which mimics the way in which we all learned our first language. This is ultimately Rosetta Stone's goal - to teach you Arabic the way in which you learned your first language. Having used Rosetta Stone for a number of languages, I can attest to its quality - it's quite enjoyable and I've learned a lot. A couple of nitpicks: Rosetta Stone is by no means cheap - the entire Arabic course costs $500US dollars and you are limited to using Rosetta Stone on your computer only, you can't transfer any files to your iPod or pop a CD in your car. Still, Rosetta Stone is always a solid choice for learning the Arabic language.

Good For:

Beginners
Visual Learners
Not Good For:

Beginners on a Budget (full course costs $500)
Learning on the go (you're stuck to your computer)
3. Rocket Arabic

Rocket Arabic is the recently released Arabic language course from Rocket Languages, a relatively new company that is very popular online. Rocket Arabic combines elements of both Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone to create a hybrid of sorts - you will learn through audio lessons (ala Pimsleur) and flashcard software games (like Rosetta Stone). Neither aspect of Rocket Arabic's package could be called as comprehensive as Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone, but it doesn't really need to be; it's a well rounded and quite fun way to learn Arabic, which is perfect for beginners.

Good For:

Beginners on a budget (downloadable course costs $100)
People who are bored easily
Learning on the go
A solid foundation of Arabic
Not Good For:

Intermediate Arabic students
People with dialup (downloadable course is a couple hundred megabytes)