Embarking on a European study tour can benefit your language students in a range of areas and not just limited to improving their linguistic skills. Find out how your next European languages school trip can contribute to your students personal development and improve their well-being on a range of levels.
Taking your students on a European study tour will give valuable opportunities to immerse themselves in a brand new culture, recognise social differences and understand local lifestyles. These experiences will not only enrich their practical learning whilst travelling, but these real-world experiences will continue to enhance their learning well after returning to classroom studies.
Educational trips are suitable for a diversity of learning styles and utilises multi-sensory learning techniques. This is particularly beneficial for language students because they can combine auditory and verbal learning techniques in real-life, everyday environments. Plus, it has been scientifically proven that students learn best when they can experience situations first-hand. This is because it stimulates the brain in a variety of ways, developing the sensory system and improving essential brain functions such as listening skills, recognition and conceptualisation.
The developmental benefits for language school students from travelling is invaluable. Not only does it develop self-esteem, but it builds students sense of independence, responsibility, self-confidence and self-belief. It can be daunting for students to communicate in a foreign language outside the classroom, but the challenge will push them to step up their game, increase openness to making mistakes and ultimately become more confident in their abilities.
Travelling to your chosen destination will help school students experience other cultures and learn to respect and understand social differences. We include a range of study-focused activities and rich cultural experiences on our European study tours, so that your students ‘get under the skin’ of the culture and see it from a range of perspectives; whether that is meeting local people and tour guides, to educational bodies and linguistic specialists.
In addition to broadening your student’s personal growth, it will continue to impact their professional development past their educational career. Whether they choose to pursue a career in languages or not, there are a multitude of transferable skills that result from learning a new language. Whether this is supporting their achievement of a higher level qualification in languages, to impressing future career prospects with their linguistic skills or being able to converse with international colleges, there are just so many long-lasting benefits.
Your language trip is a great way to see how students react differently to everyday situations, converse under pressure and how willing they are to ‘put themselves out there’. Plus, the change in cultural setting will help you identify what scenarios, activities and locations engaged your students most. Whether they responded strongly to the structured lessons in a language school or loved conversing freely over casual tapas in the evening – this will give you a deeper understanding of your students learning habits and empower you with the knowledge to tailor your lessons back in the classroom to suit these behaviours.
It can be really difficult to maintain a sense of passion for the subject in a classroom environment. Travel will ignite their sense of enthusiasm for the language, as well as providing valuable opportunities to apply skills learnt in the classroom to a real-life environment. This is a huge confidence-builder for many students, as it provides a sense of accomplishment that will fuel their passion for learning and improving further. This can be as simple as successfully ordering food in a restaurant, but can really make them ‘light-up’ and is great for students just starting out or needing a confidence-booster.
Lastly, your language trip will ultimately leave your students with positive, long-lasting memories of their travel experience. It will combine invaluable linguistic lessons with the chance to travel, spend time with friends, meet new people and experience a new culture. Seeing more of the world will broaden their horizons and will inevitably stay with them well beyond their educational-life. It is also a great opportunity to strengthen your relationships with students, build trust and bond with them on a personal level, which will go on to enhance your lessons back in the classroom.
At WST, we offer French, German and Spanish language school trips to a variety of European destinations. Get in touch with the team today to see how we can tailor your language school tour.