Travel that really improves the mind
All work and no play can get very dull. Combine language lessons with fiestas or dance classes, gastronomy or golf. Tom Templeton shows you how: Unless otherwise specified, transport is not included in the following prices, all levels of competence are welcome and the course is available all year round.
Salsa, Havana
Learn to communicate verbally and through dance in the salsa-crazy Cuban capital.
Cactus Languages (01273 687697) offers a two-week course, including four morning
Spanish lessons and two afternoon salsa lessons per day, arranged seminars,
tours and evenings out for £427. Two weeks' half-board with a host family
costs £330.
Turtle conservation, Costa Rica
This long-stay course (two months' minimum) combines learning Spanish with the
conservation of endangered sea turtles in Costa Rica: joining coast patrols,
observing, investigating and reporting their behaviour. The trip starts with
a month's Spanish course in coastal Playa Flamingo or Mon teverde (in the cloud
forest), to prepare you for between one and five months' conservation work at
either Gandoca or Manzanillo beach. Cactus Languages offers a four-week language
course followed by a four-week placement, including transfers, 20 lessons per
week, eight weeks' full-board accommodation with a host family and social programme
for £1,329.
Quebecois, Montreal
Learn Quebecois French across the pond in the largest bilingual city on the
planet; home to world-renowned jazz, film and comedy festivals. Cactus Languages
offers a two-week general French course consisting of 20 lessons per week, social
programmes and activities for £339. A fortnight's accommodation costs
£330.
Skiing plus city, Vienna
Combine the horse-drawn carriages, rich chocolate cake and Hapsburg elegance
of Vienna with the slopes at Kitzbühel. Cactus Languages offers two weeks'
German tuition in the Austrian capital; 25 lessons (50 mins) per week for £289
and a fortnight's B&B with a host family for £300. Then take a train
ride into the Tyrolean mountains for skiing and snowboarding. Return rail ticket,
transfers, seven nights' B&B three-star guest-house accommodation and six-day
lift pass is £299.
Wine tasting, Tuscany
This course allows the budding Italian speaker to practise other skills in the
cultural centre of Tuscany, and all within the family home. Practical cookery,
wine tasting, art design and/or painting are all on offer. Cactus Languages
offers stays with a family who will also be your tutors. You sit down on the
first night with your hosts and agree your itinerary, then they give you formal
tuition, show you the sights, and teach you your chosen skill, be it cooking,
wine tasting, the history of art, or Florentine artistic techniques. One week's
standard full-board, transfers, excursions and 20 formal lessons costs £719.
A week's luxury accommodation with the same package is £799. Ideally,
you should have some elementary Italian.
Culture vultures, St Petersburg
While brushing up your Russian, enjoy the world's grandest shrine to self-improvement,
Catherine the Great's Hermitage, which she stuffed with the finest works of
art available, and even the philosopher Diderot. Cactus Languages offers a week's
course in the former capital of Russia, including 20 hours of tuition, excursions
and activities, for £169. A week's half-board accommodation in a single
room with a host family staying in the city's historic centre costs £180.
For more information, log on to www.cactuslanguage.com or call 01273 725200.