3 reasons to join an intensive summer course with the BSN Language Centre

Have you ever had a job interview and been rejected because you didn’t speak Dutch? Or because your English wasn’t good enough?

As an expat living in another country, not knowing the local language is obviously a huge disadvantage in the employment market.

But did you know that mastering an additional language, such as English, can move your CV to the top of the pile?

Language: a career hurdle

In the ICP's 2014 Survey on "The Perceived Quality of Professional Life in the Netherlands", language is the number one hurdle to overcome when looking for an international career change. Within the survey, 29 per cent of respondents had been looking into taking language courses.

Intensive language courses with the BSN Language Centre

Every summer the BSN Language Centre in the Hague offers two weeks of intensive language learning for both English and Dutch.

Why an intensive course instead of a weekly lesson? The benefits of intensives are not just about urgency.

3 reasons to join an intensive language course

Consider these three reasons why you should join an intensive summer course to quickly improve your language level:

1. Increased exposure makes language absorption easier

Having classwork and homework spread across two full weeks means that you will be exposed to far more grammar and vocabulary than at a weekly lesson.

Such constant and repeated exposure is far more effective than compressing your language learning into just a couple of hours per a week.

Ongoing contact with the language gives you time to reflect on all the grammar and vocabulary that you are learning. With this extra time you can take small bites of the language, instead of mouthfuls, making it easier to mentally digest.

2. The importance of immersion

Studying any language with a form of "immersion" gives you less opportunity to rely on the comfort of your own language.

The more you use a new and unfamiliar language, the more familiar and comfortable it becomes. Using the language more often settles it in your brain, and on your tongue, much faster.

3. Less time to forget what you’ve learnt

Just as the act of immersion gives you less opportunity to "fall back on the familiar", having less time in between lessons reinforces what you’ve already learnt in your brain.

As with any form of learning, language or otherwise, the pure repetitive process creates memory.

When you attend weekly lessons, it is far more difficult to remember words learned in the previous week’s class. But with a shorter interval in between, you can digest much more information in a shorter period of time.

In addition, the fact that you are speaking your native tongue for fewer hours in a week creates a new reliance on your new language.

Reach your language goal!

Whether you learn a language to improve your daily life, or boost your career opportunities, enrolling in a Dutch or English Intensive course can bring about the results you are looking for within a short period of time.

With several July courses to choose from, the BSN Language Centre is committed to your success!

Intensive Dutch Summer Course

› Dates: July 6-17, 2015
› Time: 9.30am-12pm weekdays
› Course fees: 475 euros for 25 hours, excluding materials
Visit the Intensive Dutch Summer Courses page for more info and to register.

Intensive English Summer Courses

› Dates: July 6-17, 2015
› Time: 9.30am-12pm weekdays
› Course fees: 475 euros for 25 hours, excluding materials
Visit the Intensive English Summer Courses page for more info and to register.

If you are looking for other courses for either adults or children the BSN Language Centre website is a great place to begin!

Contact information

› T: +31 (0) 70 315 40 80
› E: languages[at]britishschool[dot]nl
› A: Vrouw Avenweg 640, 2493 WZ, The Hague

Useful links

› BSN Language Centre website
› Facebook page
› Contact info & Route description