LTC news – Language Teaching Centre | LTC

English courses on WhatsApp

LTC Team — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 17:36:10 +0000

After the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, the Language Teaching Centre decided to promote social distancing by transferring the in-person courses to online courses.

After more than a year of operating online and offering distance learning, we realised that accessibility to language courses, even with the development of video conferencing such as Zoom, remains an issue for a big part of the South African population.

The equipment needed (smartphone from latest generations, tablet or laptop), as well as the cost of data and access to a reliable mobile connection, are indeed major obstacles.

Looking at the South African market, WhatsApp was the most popular app in 2020, according to Statista. It was consequently a tool that we had to consider in order to democratise the language courses.
After studying this new tool, we came up with an exclusive curriculum format:
Short lessons of 15 min to work on conversational skills.
The key to learning the language is “practice and repetition”. After the 15-min Whatsapp conversation, the teacher will be able to correct and give feedback to the learner who will be able to implement those new skills in a new lesson/conversation the next day. This format is improving the learner’s listening skills but not limited to. Pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary are also improving in a very easy, simple and fast way.

We offer the Whatsapp lessons for English and Afrikaans and we hope to be able to offer more languages soon.

If you want to start your learning journey: info@ltc-capetown.com

Discover our Online General English course with our demo lesson!

LTC Team — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:42:32 +0000

Join our Online General English course :

> 90 min a day, Monday to Friday
> 15 students max.
> Start date : Every Monday
> 1 week minimum
> all levels available: from A1 to C2.

Contact us fore more information :
https://www.languageteachingcentre.com/contact/

Online school with LTC

LTC Team — Thu, 14 May 2020 14:53:36 +0000

With an unprecedented proportion of the world’s population in self-isolation, many of us feel uneasy about the sudden, strange upheaval to regular life as we know it. By far the majority of people wanting to learn a second language, have preferred to do so face to face up until now. Needless to say, with the world under different phases of lockdown, physical distancing is key to avoid spreading the virus. This being said, life has to go on and we all need to find ways to cope with the virus restrictions, but at the same time continue with a productive life.

LTC has therefore moved most of our lessons online and very successfully so. This way we have opened up new lines of teaching languages to our students. It is safe, reliable and most importantly – healthy. One of the great aspects of teaching a language online is being able to interact with students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Students can sign up to learn English or one of our other languages by choosing which course best tailor to their needs.

Teaching a language online gives students the opportunity to study in their pajamas and is only one of many benefits of online education. Also, no need to fight traffic, leave work early for a class or miss important family time. Our online courses give students the opportunity to plan study time around the rest of their day, instead of the other way around. Students can study and work at their convenience. Course material is supplied, and these benefits help students balance work and family commitments with learning a new language.

To sum up: The lockdown worldwide is going to be with us for some time to come and if we want to continue our education and specifically learning English, online lessons will be the only professional, safe choice. Enrolling for online courses at LTC means thus not putting your life on hold but instead making the most of the current unfortunate situation all over the word. Let LTC assist you with reaching your language goals whether it is preparing for an examination, e.g. IELTS and TOEFL, Business English or one of our many general English courses.

Please see below for 5 essential benefits of learning a foreign language through our online courses:

Multimedia: Technology innovation has never made learning a foreign language easier-even in an online classroom.
Repetition: Few people pick up new foreign language lessons on the first attempt; thus, repetition will help students truly master another language. Unlike the traditional class environments, online classes do give you the opportunity to do repetition far more regularly. Not to mention, they also engage students throughout the learning process.
New Learning methods: Online courses offer an “out with the old, in with the new” approach to learning a foreign language. Our online lessons offer a variety of tools to address writing, listening and speaking a new language.
Accessibility: Our online lessons enable you to complete your coursework from anywhere without having to travel.
Autonomy: If you as the student are willing to give your time to understand the technology, and be an active learner in the online lessons, you will reap the benefits.

Make the best of your children s’ time while at home

LTC Team — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:51:28 +0000

With the schools closing earlier, it is not always easy to keep your children busy.

After going through the homework, instead of watching TV or playing video games, they could make the most of this extra time to learn a language or to review their school curriculum if they face some difficulties at school.

With our private skype lessons, we can work on a personalised curriculum for 10 languages :

English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French and Arabic.

It is an easy set up, you only need access to skype with a video camera. Then, the lesson will be “face to face” which makes the lesson as efficient as “in school” class.

We currently offer a 15% discount until the 15.04.2020 for: English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu and French.

For more information :
info@ltc-capetown.com / 021 425 0019 / 0642968032

Language Teaching Centre and 4 Aviators celebrating new partnership!

LTC Team — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 09:36:58 +0000

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with 4 Aviators.

LTC will be operating under and utilizing 4 Aviators ATO license No: CAA/0410 to provide English training in the aviation sector.

Language Teaching Centre can officially prepare candidates to pilot training courses and aviation industry workforce.

Visit 4 Aviators website for more information about the Pilot training course : www.4aviators.com

Learning a language as leverage of employability and competitiveness

LTC Team — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 10:20:23 +0000

“South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona address the tourism sector and South Africa at large . “I am delighted to be back, to carry on the work of showcasing our beautiful country both domestically and internationally. “, says Ntshona. He further highlights his enthusiasm on moving towards achieving the 21 million international tourists by 2030”. Sisa Ntshona also stated that “tourism creates 1 in 5 jobs” and that “SA can’t afford not to be competitive”

In addition to the immediate improvements needed mentioned by Ntshona, competitiveness will also rely on the language skills and our ability to welcome the international tourists in the best conditions. We can easily understand that polyglots will benefit from a higher employability.

The researchers for StatsSA has released in July 2019 the latest trend of incoming nationalities:

United States of America (USA): 35 699 (21.5%)
United Kingdom (UK): 21 834 (13.1%)
India: 13 238 (8.0%)
Germany: 11 827 (7.1%)
France: 11 142 (6.7%)
Australia: 8 825 (5.3%)
China: 7 259 (4.4%)
The Netherlands: 5 782 (3.5%)
Brazil: 5 149 (3.1%)
Canada: 4 771 (2.9%)

And the most popular African visitors

(Virtually all tourists from Africa – 97.9% – came from the SADC countries.)

3.Mozambique: 106 341 (18.5%)

7.Angola: 5 090 (0.9%)

English, German, French, Mandarin and Portuguese are undeniably the key languages to master.

Trend that confirms Mechtild Braxmaier owner of Language Teaching Centre, LTC Cape Town “ We face a booming demand for our German courses. Our customers usually either work in the tourism industry or prepare a certificate to immigrate to Germany. French and Mandarin courses are also more and more popular. Not to forget that in a context of a global economy, speaking a foreign language is now a minimum requirement more than a specific asset.”

LTC, the language school in Cape Town, has moved!

LTC Team — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 14:42:02 +0000

LTC, the language school in Cape Town, is moving to Touchstone house

As you might know, the Language Teaching Centre, the language school in Cape Town, has moved out of Pier House, located on 13 Heerengracht street, to 705 Touchstone house at number 7 Bree street. This is because the current building will be redeveloped in the new year. We decided to move from Pier House because we want to ensure a peaceful learning environment for our students. On 3rd January we will continue the courses at our new home.

Nicole teaching a lesson in the Pier House building

Thoughts about Pier house

We have gathered a few thoughts from our teachers about our old building, Pier house. We start with Nicole, our Director of Studies; “I have been at LTC for 6 years now, so the old building has a lot of sentimental value for me. I have met so many amazing people here and each classroom has memories of fantastic people and special moments. However, I am very excited for new things and the opportunity to make more memories in our new building! I believe this new building and its 360 degree views will inspire our students as they learn English and enjoy beautiful Cape Town. I’m looking forward to it!”

As second we have asked Mark for his thoughts about our current school; “I have been at LTC for approximately three and a half years. During my time of teaching in this building I have met a lot of wonderful people. The unconditional support of my colleagues are inexplicable. Many people, from the cleaning staff to the security at the building reception had a tremendous impact on my life. Here I built character and shared precious moments. Change is here, and it’s good. I will leave this building with a positive mind and journey into the future new hopes and beginnings. Thank you’’

Views from LTC in Pier House

Jeannie, our administrator shared her thoughts about her time in Pier house; ‘’I have been here for about a year now and my favourite memories so far are those of the students all singing happy birthday for a birthday party in their different languages, it doesn’t matter how many students we have from different countries, everyone must do it in their mother tongue. I also really love watching students start with absolutely no English and then after a few months or even weeks they are chattering away confidently. Lastly it is an absolute pleasure to welcome back old students that have come back to LTC after months or even years away.

We also asked Ryan, the General Manager about his thoughts about our current building and he said; ‘’When a student comes back to LTC, it makes me very happy. Many amazing students and teachers have crossed our threshold here at LTC in Cape Town, and it brings me great joy to know that we are making a difference in the lives of our students. More than that, it’s when a student becomes part of the LTC family and makes life long brothers and sisters here. Sometimes a student will return to continue their studies and other times, a student will pop in with their family when visiting Cape Town. When I see how their faces have changed over time and hear how well they speak, then it puts a huge smile on our faces. Pier House holds many memories for LTC, and I know that the new building will bring even more amazing memories.’’

LTC staff members

The new home of LTC

The new school, located on 7 Bree street, Touchstone House, is on the 7^th floor and has some upgrades compared to our current school. The new venue for the language school in Cape Town is greater than our current school and it gives us extra classrooms too. The new balcony is also a big plus, it’s perfect to enjoy the views and to catch a breath of fresh air. Students are also allowed to go to the rooftop to enjoy the beautiful view of the city, Table Mountain and the Waterfront.

The original building on site was built in 1985 as a warehouse. Although this was unfortunately destroyed in a fire, the original façade was preserved and has been incorporated in with the new building. There are also 8 parking levels, of which is quite unusual in the city. Aesthetically the new building blends in with the old one. Touchstone House offers elegant, yet modern architecture in keeping with the theme of the Foreshore and City Bowl.

LTC, the language school in Cape Town will now be in Touchstone House

Bree Street, with its wide boulevard, historic architecture and tree lined central island offers trendy coffee shops and eateries. Touchstone House is conveniently close to the road network and within walking distance to public transport facilities. the Cape Town International Convention Centre and “de Waterkant” are just around the corner. The is the perfect home for the language school in Cape Town.

If you have any questions about this subject, don’t hesitate to contact us.

On excursion with LTC!

LTC Team — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 10:33:36 +0000

Excursion to the Slave Lodge

History and Facts

The Slave lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town. This building has a long history. It has had a few different names over time: Slave lodge, Government offices building, Old supreme court and SA Cultural History Museum. In 1998 this museum was renamed into the name Slave Lodge under the theme: From human wrongs, to human rights. Exploring the lower level of this museum 1shows the long history of slavery in South Africa. The slave lodge was built in 1679 as the Slave lodge of the Dutch East Indian Company. Between 1679 and 1811, it is believed that there have been up to 9000 slaves lived in this building.

In 1810 this building had to serve as government offices, including different offices such as the parliament and the Cape Supreme Court, which were housed in this building in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. In 1960, this building was restored to function as a cultural history museum. The SA Cultural History museum, now named as Slave Lodge, opened its door in 1966.In 1969 it became an autonomous museum. In 1998 this building was renamed to the slave lodge.

About Slave Lodge

In this museum, located in the city centre of Cape Town, you can see the history of these slaves and the building where they lived in. There are different rooms with objects that come from this time, such as weapons, jewellery and sculptures. This is not something to just forget and therefore it’s very fascinating to have seen this

LTC organizes excursions for their students twice a week. This includes activities such as this Slave Lodge museum, but also other activities such as going to the snake park and the red bus tour which are also much fun! With a 2 hour excursion on Wednesday and a half or a full day excursion on Friday, our students will combine studying and having fun at the same time to develop themselves at their best!

The red bus tour excursion!

With the red bus tour you can explore Cape Town on your own pace. There are different routes and you can hop off and on at any of the stops with your ticket. There is the Red City Tour, which includes the Yellow Downtown Tour and there is the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour, which includes the Purple Wine Tour.

The Red City Tour has got 11 stops. The featured stops on this tour are:
– Table Mountain cable way
– District Six Museum
– Castle of Good Hope

The Blue mini Peninsula Tour has got 14 stops. The featured stops on this tour are:
– Kirstenbosch
– World of Birds
– Imizamo Yethu

When you have a ticket, you can hop on and off wherever you want. You can visit the places where you stop and you don’t need to be back on a specific time as there are different busses every 20 to 35 minutes. Tours run 7 days a week, 365 days a year. On every stop you can see on what time the next bus is coming. In this way you can easily explore Cape Town at its best.

You can buy tickets online at city sightseeing or at the city sightseeing office in the V&A Waterfront

LTC organizes excursions for their students twice a week. This includes activities such as this Red Bus Tour, but also other activities such as going to the Snake Park and Cave mini golf in Waterfront which are also much fun! With a 2 hour excursion on Wednesday and a half or a full day excursion on Friday, our students will combine studying and having fun at the same time to develop themselves at their best!

Cave Mini Golf excursion

About

The cave golf located in Waterfront is a very interesting, indoor course with 18 holes which are deceptively difficult. They are well designed with challenges everywhere. The first three holes will make you think it will be easy, but that’s only the beginning! At the fourth hole, the game will become more challenging when you are confronted with sharp corners, vertical ramps, obstacles and slanted putting surfaces.

The cave mini golf is fun and because it’s indoor you can do it in every weather circumstances. Comparing to other putt-putt courses each hole is not very long, but it doesn’t mean they are any easier. The cave mini-golf is one of the best family activities as it is suitable for people for all ages. For only 15 rand you can have a great time and create memorable moments. Therefore, you can celebrate your win at one of the many W&A waterfront’s terrific bars and restaurants.

LTC organizes excursions for their students twice a week. This includes activities such as this Cave golf, but also other activities such as going to the Snake Park and the Red Bus Tour which are also much fun! With a 2 hour excursion on Wednesday and a half or a full day excursion on Friday, our students will combine studying and having fun at the same time to develop themselves at their best!

Excursion to the Snake Park

Imhoff Farm

Imhoff’s Snake Park is a reptile sanctuary and rehabilitation centre. This is also a very interesting place for people who want to know more about reptiles and the different species. The snake park is just a part of the Imhoff farm. The imhoff farm is a very restful place with grass, fountains and shops with a peaceful background music. In the imhoff farm you can grab something to eat, visit the art gallery and private tasting and cheese courses of the Imhoff Cheese, which is made on their own farm! Furthermore you can do camel rides, horse rides, visiting the snake park and much more! There are a lot of things to do for children up to adults.

Snake Park

The Imhoff’s snake park is rated as one of the beautiful South’s ‘must do’s’. After you have passed the African grey parrot and the alligators, you will find some interesting snakes and reptiles. Besides of the many snakes, there is also a creature called ‘blue-tong sink’, which looks like a cross between a snake and a lizard! Could this be the proof that snakes and legs once?

Other reptiles which are worth taking a look at includes the 3.5 meter long yellow anaconda, the Mozambique spitting Cobra and the Californian King Snake. When visiting the Snake Park you will learn a lot about these snakes and reptiles. You will also discover some interesting facts about the animals. One of the best parts are holding these reptiles. From the lizard to the snake called Ben, which is an 18 pound snake you can hold around your neck!

LTC and Snake Park

LTC organizes excursions twice a week. This includes activities such as this Cave golf, but also other activities such as going to the chocolate factory and the Red Bus Tour which are also much fun! With a 2 hour excursion on Wednesday and a half or a full day excursion on Friday, our students will combine studying and having fun at the same time to develop themselves at their best!

Cape Town Diamond Museum

About

Cape Town offers a variety of museums. The Diamond museum is one of the museums in Cape Town you definitely have to visit. Cape Town Diamond museum is a non-profit organisation, and they are trying to create a new appreciation for the Diamonds and its history. This museum is located in the Clock Tower in Waterfront and is one of the museums in Waterfront.

Guided tour

When visiting the museum, you can expect a guided 25-40 minutes tour from a diamond professional which offers you an opportunity to learn more about the history of diamonds, the diamond industry, South Africa and diamond and why it’s the world’s most desired treasure. In the museum, you can see a diversity of replicas including a replica of world’s biggest diamond ever found! There is also mining gear which was used to mine diamond, including helmets, jackets, lights and tools.

During the tour the diamond professional asked me if I knew why the engagement ring is worn on the left ring finger. Nobody could tell her the answer. A man named Archduke Maximilian, who was the first person ever who proposed with a diamond, said that there’s a vein that goes straight to the heart from that finger. This is one of the interesting facts you will come to know during the tour.

Excursion

LTC organizes excursions for their students including visiting the Cape Town diamond museum. It was a very interesting museum with a good organised tour. We didn’t know a lot about diamonds and during the tour we came to know more and more facts. We’ve also made a group picture with the mining gear, which was pretty fun!