Variety is the spice of life

We know our bespoke, learner-led sessions are one of our students’ favourite things about The Yorschool Way. But just how tailored can a lesson be? Today on the blog, our founder Rita Bose takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the world via a week in Yorschool sessions, and explains how we work to create highly personalised lessons for each student.

During lockdown variety is one ingredient which we’ve all been lacking, but I’m very blessed to be able to say that all of my lovely students have provided just that!

Let’s talk you through a typical week back in March 2021…

I began a grey day in March with a wonderfully talented Brazilian musician. Fernando is a guitar player, composer, singer and an extraordinary percussionist. As a beginner in English, our conversation is somewhat limited, but this never stops us from endless smiles and laughter. During this particular lesson we actually co-wrote part of a song, which was a new experience for me! Fernando then spoilt me by playing me a recently written song.

Switching from London to southern Germany, I then taught Norbert, who is (he won’t mind me saying) in his 70s and happens to love English rock music from the 70s, such as The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Norbert is a beginner in English, but he and his wife are planning a road tour through South Africa next spring and he’d like to be able to at least order their food and drinks without any unpleasant surprises! I always make sure that I plan my lessons based around specialities from Cape Town, looking at real menus and day trips, such as to Robben Island. Luckily, I’ve been there myself and I too am a fan of 1970s rock music, so we have plenty of mutual topics to discuss. We do this in (a slightly simplified) English, but that doesn’t matter at all, as Norbert is speaking more and more English each lesson…and we’re laughing more and more.

Then it was back to England, Easingwold, in fact, just down the road from York. Mark is motorbike enthusiast and loves riding over to Germany with a group of mates to enjoy places like the Black Forest and Bavaria. He wants to learn enough German to be able to challenge that preconception that ‘English people don’t bother to learn languages!’ Mark loves practising ordering beers and food in German, as well how to make conversation with potential fellow bikers they might encounter in Germany.

From there it was over to snowy Moscow, where a very charming Russian student was stranded, unable to travel back to his UK boarding school, due to Covid restrictions. Ural is keen to get his German up to scratch, to prepare himself for studying at the University of Vienna after his A Levels. Ural kept me up to date with the weather conditions in Russia, which made me feel better when temperatures were still above freezing here!

Popping over to Paris to chat to the very lively, enthusiastic and highly intelligent Loïc. Loïc is a 15-year-old exceptional canoeist, who also loves talking politics, the British Royal Family and history. He is always the first one to tell me the latest about Boris Johnson and the Royal Family gossip! Loïc loves speaking English at length, as he is so restricted in his normal lessons, particularly over the last year, when most of his own school lessons have been online. We often follow his French curriculum and also discuss varied topics, from Edgar Allen Poe’s work to the US Presidential Election.

Back in Germany, in Hamburg this time with the lovely Nina. She’s an extremely bright and motivated student currently studying for her Abitur (A Levels) and is therefore striving to achieve the best possible oral grades in English. I love our lessons, as I never know what we’re going to discuss from one week to the next. A day or so before our weekly lesson, Nina texts me to let me know which direction her teacher has gone in this week and then I prepare some suitable material accordingly. Our topics have included: The African Slave Trade Triangle, George Orwell novels, the US Inauguration ceremony, the Angie Thomas novel, The Hate U Give and more recently, Nina has asked if we can prepare her for the IELTS exam, which she needs for her university course.

Let’s end our journey for now by going to the beautiful south coast of England, to Brighton. Two good friends, Tom and Paul decided to use the whole of the lockdown period to learn some German. They are planning to move to Berlin as soon as they can, as they both love techno music, a few beers and a lot of parties…and so Berlin is their chosen place! They’ve been a few times, but without speaking the language and so when they next go, they’ll be well-equipped with the language to make new friends in the pub, order food and drink, read German adverts about apartments for rent, seek medical help, buy furniture from the wonderful markets there and of course, buy tickets for gigs!

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Why Yorschool? An interview with founder Rita Bose

In this Q+A, Rita Bose shares with us how she was inspired to start Yorschool, why learning a foreign language is so vital for business in 2020, and the kind of sessions Yorschool offers. With Yorschool now into its second year, we’ll also hear from a few of Yorschool’s first clients on their experiences.

If you’re still unsure where to start in your language learning journey, read on to see how easy it can be to make progress.

Grab a coffee and settle in!

1. What were you doing before Yorschool?

I was Head of Modern Foreign Languages for 16 years in a secondary school in rural North Yorkshire, where I taught German and French.  German is my real passion and it was always so fulfilling, encouraging my young Yorkshire learners to just have fun with the guttural sounds of this great language.  I used to motivate them to be as creative as possible in their GCSE exams, which meant that their examiners would enter their world of alien creatures, pet tigers and so on!  I also spent eight very happy years teaching in the British Forces’ Schools in Germany, where I began to liaise with the local German primary and secondary schools, culminating in joint residential school trips.  Living and working in Germany gave me the unique opportunity to really get to know and love the country, wonderfully friendly people and the heart-warming and at times, funny traditions. 

2. When did the idea for Yorschool come to you?

Actually, ever since the more heated Brexit debates started last year; I’d been having discussions with various overseas students and friends.  At the beginning of 2018, following my CELTA qualification in 2017, I began to teach a range of really interesting and inspiring international students, and business people, many of whom were also German. Teaching my mother tongue, as opposed to teaching a language which I’d formally learnt, definitely made me more aware of how difficult the English language is; but it also made me wonder why speakers of other languages were so good at it.  The answer is simple: in all European countries and so many further afield countries, it is the norm to learn another language. Yes, that’s it: it’s the norm, it’s expected, it’s compulsory and it’s one of life’s essentials! However, my learners then naïvely asked me two very simple questions: “Why don’t you British learn languages? How will you survive when you leave Europe?”

What simple, but crucial questions!  This then led me to seriously thinking and talking about setting up my own language school, which would aim to ‘get Brits talking German’, as well as continue to foster good relationships with those people making such an admirable effort to learn our complex language.  The latter also provides me with an opportunity to learn so much about other cultures too! Yorschool has only been going since December 2018, but it’s already a source of pride and real enjoyment. I really do look forward to seeing what each new day brings!

“It’s so important to engage in small talk, and really build that trust and a meaningful partnership between our companies.”

— Simon Pollard, Head of Manufacturing & Logistics, Portakabin (UK & Europe)

3. Why do you think languages are so integral for business in this day and age?

One businessman whom I currently teach German to expressed his frustration at having to rely on his German counterparts to speak to him in English.  Our European trade partners are slowly growing weary of holding every meeting in English (even if just one English person is present). “We are on the backfoot before we even begin to talk deals!”  He also wanted to know what the others were saying amongst themselves, before and after the meeting. “It’s so important to engage in small talk, and really build that trust and a meaningful partnership between our companies.” 

At the end of last year I was working in Frankfurt and listening to Angela Merkel discussing Brexit in Parliament.  She said that the UK was Germany’s fifth closest trading partner, but as a result of all the Brexit chaos, the UK has already dropped to seventh position and she fears that this drop will increase further.  She talked about the loss of trust between our countries which the UK would have to work very hard at to regain.  Surely we need to start with showing sufficient respect to learn their language? Nelson Mandela puts this in ‘an eloquent nutshell’: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

“Rita’s German lessons are both hard work and fun.  She achieves this by challenging the individual learner as part of a group, maximising the time spent speaking and listening.”

— Martin, an adult evening class student for German

4. What would you say to someone that’s totally daunted by the prospect of going back to learning languages?

Having taught adult evening language classes for several years now, I totally understand this stance.  This is one reason why Yorschool is unique, as our lessons are both light-hearted, but practical and engaging.  The learners themselves often determine the content and they all have slightly different reasons for wanting to learn German.  Their previous language learning experience is also varied and therefore at Yorschool, we use this wealth of experience, which adults bring to a class and before they realise, they are soon discussing relevant issues in German, which genuinely capture their interest.  This last year we’ve ranged from working out the German lyrics for Beatles songs, to talking through our holiday pictures in German and practising dialogues for car breakdowns on the Autobahn. 

“Rita’s German lessons are both hard work and fun.  She achieves this by challenging the individual learner as part of a group, maximising the time spent speaking and listening.  My enjoyment of her teaching has ensured that I will seek further opportunities to read and speak the language,” Martin.

“I thoroughly enjoyed learning German with Rita.  We all looked forward to the weekly classes as every one was enjoyable and varied, with a balance of communication skills and grammar points.  Rita was always very encouraging and we all felt that we made good progress.” Vivienne, a Yorschool student.

“[Rita] made us so more confident in terms of using the English language at work, school and leisure,” Catarina Gagula, English as a foreign language student.

5. What kind of lessons do you offer?

This is something which is constantly changing, due to client requests!  Our ever-increasingly more popular Business German has extended to small groups, with specific requests to prepare for business meetings.  However, the most exciting recent development has been to accompany clients on business trips to Germany and to facilitate discussions in meetings.  This has even extended to ‘walking a client around the city’, providing support (if required) with car hire or public transport, hotel check-in and using public transport.  I also do the reverse here in beautiful York, where I teach German students on Easter and Summer camps. We’ve branched out to teaching a whole family now online, which is such a fun and rewarding experience, as they all motivate each other and help out, so nobody feels worried about forgetting a word or phrase! 

In a similar vein, we now teach small groups of international business people who live and work in Germany and they need specific language for their jobs.  I must just mention one very talented and professional Romanian business person who is based in London. We work through her blog each fortnight, which gives her the incentive to write a regular blog and after our session, it’s ready to go live!  So as you can see, the Yorschool Way really is ‘your way’, as it’s totally bespoke and learner-led!

 “I just want to say thanks for those past months. It has been so nice and fun to learn a new language. You have been an amazing teacher! I have really enjoyed it!” Emil Telsgård, a Swedish Business German online client.

6. Can HR departments contact you?

Absolutely!  A good number of companies are now offering foreign language lessons as part of their ‘Employee Benefit’ package, which is very well received by their employees, as they are not only learning a new skill (at their company’s expense!), but they feel genuinely valued by their company and therefore are more likely to remain.

“Yorschool accommodates a range of learners, from different time zones, and therefore we recognise that flexibility is key to our success. Some clients are enjoying a hearty breakfast, or evening hot chocolate during our lessons! ”

— Rita Bose

7. For people who feel like they couldn’t possibly fit in language lessons on top of everything else, what can Yorschool do?

This is topical, as I’ve recently started having conversation sessions in German myself! I wanted online sessions, but to suit my busy schedule, and therefore by doing this online, I can choose when and where I’ll be for my weekly German catch-up with a real live German person! I look forward to our conversations, as they enable me to keep abreast of current German thinking, the latest trends and news updates. Yorschool accommodates a range of learners, from different time zones, and therefore we recognise that flexibility is key to our success. Some clients are enjoying a hearty breakfast, or evening hot chocolate during our lessons! For our face to face lessons, we travel to our students or clients, to their place of work, or we meet in a nearby coffee shop, to give them a welcome break from their screen!

8. What one piece of advice would you give someone about learning languages?

The piece of advice which I always give myself: I won’t become fluent overnight, but learning to speak another language liberates me.  I’m a real foodie person and when I’m in Italy, for example, I need to know what I’m ordering! Learn a little every day, keep a vocab book handy, make notes, and just give yourself small, weekly goals.  Never beat yourself up and lose faith, just keep going and very gradually it really will start to fall into place and as soon as that happens, that sense of personal achievement is the best feeling in the world!!  Oops, I think that’s more than one piece of advice! Here we go: Stop saying that you wish you could speak another language; just book your first lesson instead!

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