FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FRENCH IMMERSION
-
What
kind of progress can I expect to make at Dialogue ?
-
How
many people will there be in my group at Dialogue ?
-
Private
lessons and ultra-rapid progress sound perfect, but this must
be expensive ?
-
Group
study must be more interesting and motivating than private lessons ?
-
What
I need most is to understand better what other people are saying. Can
you help me to rapidly improve my listening comprehension ?
-
How
can you
summarize the ways in which Dialogue is truly different ?
-
You
have
mentioned a natural approach. What do you mean by that ?
-
All
language schools talk about the benefits of total French immersion. How
does
Dialogue view this ?
-
When
can I start a course at Dialogue ?
-
What
length of stay and what programme would you recommend ?
-
I
am a beginner. However, I need to learn a language for business or
professional reasons. Do your programmes suit me ?
-
I
am an advanced-level speaker and I am having trouble finding training
at a high-enough level. Do your programmes suit me ?
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Q.--- What
kind of progress can I expect to make at Dialogue French immersion ?
A.--- Our students tell us that they make as much progress at Dialogue
in two weeks as they would have made in four full semesters at
university. However, we would prefer to be modest about this: We
guarantee twice the rate of progress as in other schools that
specialise in intensive French courses. Dialogue is particularly
suitable for people who have little time to spend on French study and
who are looking for a highly efficient language training programme. You
will receive a report at the end of your stay that evaluates your
progress and recommend strategies for consolidating your progress after
your stay.
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Q.--- How
many people will there be in my group at Dialogue ?
A.--- Just one. You, and no one else. The core of Dialogue's philosophy
is total personalisation. Unlike in other schools, you will not be
expected to adapt to a general and impersonal teaching method. Instead,
we will adapt to the way you learn best. As in other schools, you will
make progress in general language and communication skills. However,
you will also focus on and achieve your own communication objectives.
Every moment of instruction at Dialogue is 'a la Carte', designed
according to your learning style, and the specialised vocabulary or
subject matter you need to know in French. If you need to, you can
solely work with the material that you bring with you.
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Q.--- Private
lessons and ultra-rapid progress sound perfect, but this must be
expensive ?
A.--- Our prices are competitive and similar to those charged
by
other top quality language schools. However, there is a difference :
most other schools will put you into a small group of 4 or 5 people
with a big surcharge for private lessons. The groups are even larger
outside of lessons (mealtimes and breaks). Dialogue is
strictly
one-to-one, and we only accept a limited number of participants per
week to ensure personalisation also outside the lessons. Therefore, for
the same investment of money and time, you can obtain at least twice
the results you could obtain elsewhere.
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Q.--- Group
study must be more interesting and motivating than private lessons ?
A.--- Yes and no. At Dialogue, you'll have all the advantages of a
group with none of the inconveniences. It's always pleasant to be in
good company of course. During breaks, meals, the evening hours, our
students appreciate their opportunities to interact with one another.
But during lessons, the presence of others is usually an obstacle
rather than an advantage. Others will rarely share your objectives,
your style, your level, your reactions, your needs. In groups, the
slower student can be maddening, and the faster one can be just as
maddening. Group training is, more often than not, group plodding. A
chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In a group, it's easy to
become confused and disoriented by the mistakes others make. It's just
as easy to become apprehensive about making mistakes in front of
others. In language learning, group dynamics aren't always beneficial.
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Q.---
What I need most is to understand better what other people are saying.
Can you help me to rapidly improve my listening comprehension ?
A.--- Yes, we certainly can. It is difficult to communicate if you can
hardly understand what other people are saying. To achieve quick,
tangible results in this area, we have developed a unique method to
rapidly improve your French listening comprehension. Your ear, despite
every effort on your part, does not naturally hear all the sounds of
the French language. If you cannot even hear the sounds in the first
place, you cannot be expected to reproduce them. The fact is that you
have already had a lifetime of ear training in your own language that
affects your ability to hear in the French language. We can open your
ears to the sounds of French in just one week. Your open ears can once
again have the child's ability to distinguish between
words such
as, le vin, le vent, and levons, that may sound identical to your ears,
but that have obvious differences to the trained ear or to the native
speaker.
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Q.--- How
can you summarise the ways in which Dialogue is truly different ?
A.--- Most schools attempt to instill linguistic confidence in their
students. This is an admirable goal. However, it is just not enough if
you need to learn the true 'ins and outs' of the French language. Every
Dialogue session simultaneously works on four essential goals:
Developing listening comprehension and pronunciation skills (the
listening threshold), learning to speak without making mistakes (the
linguistic threshold), practising appropriate means of expression (the
cultural threshold), and finally, gaining pleasure in speaking the
target language (the psychological threshold).
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Q.--- You've
mentioned a natural approach. What do you mean by that ?
A.--- The Greek philosopher Socrates said that hidden inside every
human is a philosopher. We, at Dialogue, believe that virtually
everyone has the resources to be a master of 'multiple' languages. We
follow the Socratic Method of eliciting our students’ unconscious
knowledge and latent skills, and correcting mistakes through a natural
and communicative system of dialogue building. The European Commission
is very interested in our de-schooling approach. Our students do not
attend a ‘school’ or have ‘lessons’ with a ‘teacher’. Instead, they
join a ‘family’, and participate in a ‘learning experience’ with their
personal ‘coach’.
(top)
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Q.--- All
language schools talk about the benefits of total French immersion. How
does Dialogue view this ? ?
A.--- Total immersion sounds great, but the question remains, total
immersion in what ? Hearing French for a week instead of
your own is a fine idea, but true immersion, the Dialogue way, is so
much more. To ensure true immersion, Dialogue accepts only a handful of
participants (our term of choice) each week, who immediately become
part of the family, all in the French environment. At meals,
during breaks, after dinner, native speakers always predominate at
Dialogue. At many other schools the ratio is just the reverse, with a
single instructor for up to ten students. Dialogue dinner-table
conversation is the real thing, not student or tourist talk. On
weekends, participants aren't left to their own devices; Dialogue
people are always there to show them around and to satisfy their
curiosity as tourists.
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Q.--- When
can I start a course at Dialogue ?
A.--- Whenever you wish. Whether you are a beginner or almost
bilingual, you can begin on any day of the week, and for as many days
or weeks as you wish. You can give yourself a break during weekends or
work through them.
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Q.--- What
length of stay and what programme would you recommend ?
A.--- It all depends on your objectives and the length of time you have
at your disposal. The best way is to contact us to discuss
your
needs. Our advice is free and without any obligation on your part. In
any case, you will achieve your objectives more easily and rapidly than
you can imagine at Dialogue.
(top)
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Q.--- I am a
beginner. However, I need to learn a language for business or
professional reasons. Do your programmes suit me ?
A.--- Absolutely. Whatever your level is, our personalised method
enables us to start working on your target professional vocabulary from
the first session.
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-----------------------------------------------------
Q.---
I am an advanced-level speaker and I am having trouble finding training
at a high-enough level. Do your programmes suit me ?
A.--- Dialogue trainers recognise the special needs of very advanced
language students. They know how to structure advanced training so that
the advanced student makes just as much progress as students at any
other level.
(top)
DialoguE:
" One of the best French immersion courses"
The Wall
Street Journal
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