3 Studying languages
This section will encourage you to think about language courses that lead to recognised qualifications.
Activity 10 Quotation
‘The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.’
Write down what you think this quotation is trying to say. Make some notes on how you think this might apply to languages and language learning.
Discussion
This phrase could be paraphrased, ‘In order to remain clueless about the world, be happy with what you already know and think’. Do you think that anyone would want to follow this recipe? Think about what the speaker is actually trying to encourage.
Activity 11 Finding language courses
You may be thinking about studying for a language qualification. It's worth looking at the different courses and levels of study available to you. This takes some research, as there are a number of factors to take into account. These include the following:
the language you want to study
how much time you have to study
how you want to study – in a class, or private study
the level you want to study – short course, GCSE, A Level, university course
the cost of the course
the location of the course and how far you are willing to travel.
Bearing these considerations in mind, have a look on the internet for language courses that may be interest to you, taking note of their cost and location. Look at local or national maps and calculate how long it would take to travel. If you can get hold of prospectuses, have a look through those too.