If you’ve found your way onto the Cactus Language website, the chances are that you already believe in the benefits of a language course abroad.

Cactus Language has been offering language courses in the form of “language holidays” abroad for nearly 10 years, and is now the leading provider of language training both in the UK and abroad.

Locking in Language
By learning in the country where the language is spoken, you benefit from the synergy of having all your senses stimulated at once. The language you see, hear and speak is all locked into your memory much more effectively when you are out and about in real-life situations. Depending on what sort of person you are, you might then associate a word, phrase or conversation you had with the smells of food sizzling nearby, the sounds of people laughing in a bar or a trickling fountain, or the sensation of a warm breeze on your face.

Build your Confidence
Locking language in is the key to being able to recall it later but many of us cite “lack of confidence” as a reason for not daring to speak. Spend sometime immersed in the language though, and practise with sympathetic native speaker teachers, and you’ll not only feel more ready to speak whilst out and about, but you’ll actively want to apply the words and phrases you’ve learnt in the morning. When you find yourself trying get into a situation where you can trot out that brilliant phrase you’ve written down, you’ll know you’re really hooked!

Expanding Cultural Horizons
It goes without saying that taking a language course abroad is about more than the language. The cultural exposure takes you out of your comfort zones, and challenges perceptions and pre-formed opinions. We generally find that one visit to a new country is quite enough to ensure you respond very differently to people from that country when you get back home. Suddenly you have something to talk to them about, you have an awareness of what their cultural references might be, and what places they might know.

Best of Both Worlds
Finally, you get to combine study with pleasure. Much of the language you learn is by absorbing it from your surroundings, and through spontaneous conversations you have out and about. This gives you plenty of time free to do whatever it is you usually do on holiday! All Cactus Language Holidays are located in the kinds of places you’d most likely visit on holiday anyway. The only difference is, by studying for some of the time, you feel like you’re seeing the place as a bit of an insider, and a bit less as a tourist. It’s like you know something the other holiday-makers don’t. So relax, and learn!