International Language Homestays

Vibrant Liverpool – city of culture

Staff — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:11:22 +0000

Liverpool city centre is vibrant with good quality attractions, lots of bars and cafés, galleries & museums, public art and shopping. Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The city boasts landmark buildings, among them are the buildings known as the Three Graces – The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool building at the pier head which form part of the UNESCO world heritage site along with The Albert Dock , which has the largest group of grade 1 listed buildings in the UK, it was transformed in the early 1980’s into a world class venue for culture and heritage including Tate Liverpool and the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Many other museums are located around the Albert Dock, such as the Merseyside Maritime Museum, where you can find out all about the companies, people and ships connected to this great port the International Slavery Museum and the newly opened Museum of Liverpool.

The area is a short walk from a retail development right in the heart of Liverpool called Liverpool ONE. The development opened in 2008, is the largest city centre regeneration project in Europe and has given Liverpool shopping a whole new wonderful dimension. It is a stunningly designed centre that is home to more than 160 famous high street names and, should you tire of shopping in Liverpool, then you can put your feet up and take a break at one of Liverpool ONE’s 19 restaurants. The city is home to 2 cathedrals, one of which is the largest Cathedral in the UK.

For music fans Liverpool=The Beatles. Enough said really. It is hard to think of any other band so strongly associated with a particular city The Beatles Story is in Albert Dock, a fantastic museum-cum-visitor attraction full of Beatles paraphernalia that is dedicated to The Fab Four. Anyone coming to Liverpool for The Beatles should stop off at The Cavern Club on Mathew Street in the city centre. The Cavern was where The Beatles first started out, and although the original Club hasn’t survived, the current Cavern occupies about three-quarters of the original space and houses the original brickwork (the reconstructed archway) to take you back to the Mersey Beat era.

Mathew Street also has plenty of other references in honour of The Beatles, from a John Lennon statue to the Cavern Pub and even the themed four star luxury hotel, The Hard Day’s Night, just round the corner. For sports fans the city is, of course, home to two of the Premiership’s biggest football teams, Liverpool Football Club at Anfield and Everton Football Club at Goodison Park. Horse-racing is also big in Liverpool. The city hosts the world-famous John Smith’s Grand National each year at its Aintree Racecourse, with top racing at Haydock Park in St Helens too.

Public transport is co-ordinated across the whole of the Merseyside region by merseytravel, and links to the Wirral and Chester by road and rail are efficient and effective.

Chester also has a rich history having been altered and extended during both the Saxon and Medieval eras and has many landmarks and attractions. Founded by the Romans in AD79, Chester still bears signs of its past with its Roman Amphitheatre, historic City Walls and Chester Castle all remaining intact. The main sporting focus in Chester is its Racecourse which holds race meetings from May until September. Chester is famous for its timbered buildings and shopping on the ‘rows’ within the ancient city walls.

International Language Homestays - Learn a Foreign Language in your teacher's own home, the best way to learn a language

Launch of New ILH Website

Staff — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:01:32 +0000

So here’s the launch of the new ILH website – now you’re here we hope you like it! Please do take a look around, find out what we offer – and where – and if you have any questions please do check out our Frequently Asked Questions section (can be found here) or contact us if there’s anything you can’t find an answer to on the site!

We’d also love to get some feedback – whether it’s about the site or a great homestay that you’ve just been on – please do let us know and upload any fun photos to our student flickr account (here)- we’d love to see how you got on!

International Language Homestays - Learn a Foreign Language in your teacher's own home, the best way to learn a language

Total Immersion – The way to go!

Staff — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:03:40 +0000

Language Immersion programmes are becoming more and more popular – it’s what we’ve been saying all along! Rather than spend years learning a foreign language, in the classic way of taking lessons in your own country and not speaking the language at all between lessons, our total immersion technique is now well known to be the easiest and best way to learn.

When a student needs to speak another language or listen to another language continually it ensures a much faster learning curve – and fluency in that foreign language in a much faster timespan. The student can see results much more easily – making learning a fun process rather than a bore.

This trend looks set to continue – why have your Italian lessons at home when you can have them in the heart of Italy alongside sight-seeing ancient architecture? Or learn German in the Austrian mountains alongside skiing? Your ILH language programme can be as exciting as you imagine it to be!

International Language Homestays - Learn a Foreign Language in your teacher's own home, the best way to learn a language

ILH staff member completes 120km cycle challenge

Staff — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:09:20 +0000

One of our staff, Ross Emans, has successfully completed a 120km cycle ride in aid of a local charity. Ross, who has worked for Margate Language Centre since 2008 as a manager and teacher, joined over 600 other cyclists in the Pilgrims Cycle Challenge last Sunday 8th May to raise money for the Pilgrims hospices in South East Kent. The hospices look after terminally ill patients in their final weeks and days to ensure that when they die, they are in as pleasant and comfortable an environment as possible. There are three Pilgrims Hospices – the original one was in Canterbury, named after the Pilgrims who travelled to Canterbury Cathedral in the Middle Ages from all over England to worship at the shrine of the murdered archbishop, Thomas Becket. The ride was between all three of the hospices. Ross started at the hospice in Ashford and rode to the one in Margate, and then on to Canterbury, before riding from Canterbury back to Ashford.

Following the ride, Ross said: “It was the first time I’d ridden such a long way in one day, so I was very pleased to complete it. Luckily the weather was good, and I didn’t have any problems with my bike, and amazingly I didn’t make any wrong turns!”

International Language Homestays - Learn a Foreign Language in your teacher's own home, the best way to learn a language

This ILH student loved her experience

WebCentriX — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:59:23 +0000

We would love students to write in with their own words and tell us experiences of their course with ILH. If you have them this can include images and even short movies – even better to show what your stay was like! Please click on the purple link on the right ‘Tell us about your ILH experience’ to tell us all about it.

International Language Homestays - Learn a Foreign Language in your teacher's own home, the best way to learn a language