language – Language Teaching Centre | LTC

Why learning a language when the technology is so advanced that you can have a translator in your pocket?

LTC Team — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 11:44:28 +0000

Nowadays, translation apps and other technologies are making international communication easier.
So why should we learn a language when we can just use available technologies?

1- Learning a language for professional reasons

No technology is available at the moment to assist you when you have to deal with international clients or suppliers over the phone. Learning a language is also learning a new culture. It helps to understand behaviours and avoid cultural faux pas.

2-Learning a language to immigrate abroad

More than a visa requirement, learning the language of your new home country is an absolute must-do.

3-Learning a language for your partner

Nowadays, more and more couples are bi-national. Even if you obviously manage to communicate together, learning each other’s language is sometimes necessary to communicate with your family-in-law.

4-Learning a language to travel abroad

Human contacts cannot be replaced by technologies: asking for directions, ordering at the restaurants, chatting with locals…

5-Learning a language for fun

Learning a new language is fun! You learn about new cultures and it is also very good to keep your brain fit!

Start your online language learning journey:
https://www.languageteachingcentre.com/contact/

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

Languages of the Cape

LTC Team — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 13:16:26 +0000

There are few places on this Earth as beautiful as Cape Town is. Amazing weather, amazing beaches, and an exquisite mountain hugging the ocean, what more could you want?

And there’s more – while most countries have only one or perhaps two languages, Cape Town is home to a number of different languages, and thanks to all the foreigners living in the Cape, while walking down the street you will hear a multitude of foreign languages as well.

Because of the rich cultural history, Cape Town is now not only home to English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa but to a large Dutch, French, German and Portuguese community. Other nationalities, such as Asians, Italians and Russians have made Cape Town their home too. Now, in post-Apartheid South Africa, the democratic constitution recognises 11 official languages as part of South Africa’s cultural heritage. This decision was made to elevate and advance the indigenous tongues of the country that were previously suppressed. Today, the majority of South Africans – and Capetonians in general – are able to speak more than one language, and may switch between languages during a conversation.

However, English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa remain the most widely spoken languages in the Cape, Afrikaans being the most spoken home language in Cape Town, with more than 40% of residents speaking the language. English is also quite widely spoken, and Xhosa remains the main language of the local African population.

The English used by Capetonians is known as South African English, which is different from British or American English. In South African English, there are many Afrikaans influences, and you will come across many typical South African expressions. In Cape Town – and South Africa as a whole – traffic lights are known as “robots” and a barbeque is known as a “braai.” These are only two examples of the diverse and colourful expressions prevalent in the Cape.

Public schools – and most private schools – teach according to the South African curriculum, which means the students get taught in two languages, usually English and Afrikaans, one being a home language and the other a first additional language.

There are a number of private and international schools that teach according to the British, American, German or French curriculum and that offer other languages. This year, Mandarin was actually introduced into the South African school curriculum as an additional language.

It’s unfortunate that other foreign languages are not taught in most Capetonian schools, but luckily that’s where the Language Teaching centre comes in. The Language Teaching Centre is an international language school situated in Cape Town. The centre offers English and other internationally recognised foreign language training and certification in a positive learning environment. The teachers at the Language Teaching Centre are highly qualified native speakers of the languages that they teach and their experience allows them to teach students of many different nationalities, backgrounds and languages in a nurturing and positive educational setting. The Language Teaching centre is all you need if you want to become fluent in another language.

Why learn a new language?

LTC Team — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 13:46:51 +0000

On Wednesday evening, I sat with a German textbook open on my lap desperately trying to memorise all the rules of der, die and das. Sometimes it’s difficult to find patterns or meaning in a new language. But to persevere and struggle on when you learn a new language is oh so worth it at the end of the day when you get to converse fluently in that language.

Learning a new language will change the way you view the world and will even shape the way you think. Example: in English, we use the word love to refer to what we feel for our dogs, things we like, and even to express what we feel for our significant other. In Spanish however, the word amar (to love) is not used in the same way, it is reserved ONLY for those you deeply care for.

Learning a new language also exposes you to new cultures you may never have been exposed to otherwise. By learning a new language, you learn about the culture that comes along with it. You learn that there is so much more to life and that it is good to be different. It teaches you to truly understand and embrace diversity. By being able to speak another language you connect yourself to millions of others on a level that you would otherwise be unable to reach. Learning another language results in an understanding and tolerance between people. One of the best ways to understand a culture better or a specific person of another language you’d like to get to know better is by learning to speak their language.

It may not always be easy learning a new language by yourself, which is why the Language Teaching Centre (LTC) is a great way to really get a feel for a language. Here, students not only have the chance to learn another language but to engage with others from different backgrounds and discover more about other cultures. Highly qualified teachers at the Language Teaching Centre are experienced in teaching students from many different backgrounds and languages, and their encouragement motivates students to work harder to learn more. As famous psycholinguist, Frank Smith once said, “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.”

To be at least partly fluent in another language is great for your social life. The more languages you know, the more people you’ll be able to interact with. Even better, learning a new language is good for your brain, keeping it alert and high-functioning thanks to all the technical nuances, irregularities, and grammar rules. But best of all – knowing a number of different languages makes you stand out in a pool of job applicants. With all these benefits and more, you have no excuse not to learn at least one other language, especially with the boost the Language Teaching Centre will give you. A quote by Hungarian interpreter, Kató Lomb, sums it all up beautifully: “We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly.”