Studying a Language for Free at the University of Chester

My name's Suki and I'm a second year BSc Animal Behaviour student. When I started studying at the University of Chester, I became aware of this amazing scheme supporting current students to learn a foreign language alongside their degree for free. As someone who has always been interested in languages and other cultures, this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. 

Why Learn a Language?

There are many reasons why someone might want to learn a language. For me, I’ve always done what I jokingly called 'Duolingo dating'. Essentially, I liked to learn the first language of the person I was in a relationship with. As a mature student with a long-term Italian partner, it seemed like it was about time I started to learn Italian, to enable me to communicate with my in-laws and try to disguise myself as a local when in Italy. There are many other reasons why you might want to learn a language. Perhaps you have family heritage from a country that you’d like to feel more connected to. If you love to travel, it’s always handy to be able to speak a little bit of the language of the country you’re visiting (Dov’è il bagno* anyone?). Not only is it great for travel, but learning a language also looks good on your CV and multilingualism is highly rated in many industries. Last but not least, taking a language class is also a great way to make new friends – I made friends with two wonderful ragazze Italiane** while studying Italian this year.

Which Languages Could I Learn?

It’s not just Italian that is available. You could try your hand at anything from French to German, Japanese, Welsh or even Arabic! Language classes in Europe are usually divided into levels. These begin at A1 (complete beginner) and go all the way to C2 (proficient). The different classes at the University of Chester follow a similar gradient – from beginners (~A1) and beginners+ (~A2) all the way to proficient (~C2). You'll be spoilt for choice as there are so many free part-time language classes at different levels on offer.

Wait, Did You Say Free?

Yes! How it works for University of Chester students is that when you sign up for an evening class, you pay £100 to join the class. This is already a significant discount from what non-students pay. The best bit is that if your attendance is above 80% (which it should be if you really want to make the most out of your learning), that £100 is refunded, so you have just studied a language for a whole year for free! And the opportunity to study a language is not just limited to one year –  you can continue to do this every year for the duration of your studies, leaving university after three years with a degree and language skills that are potentially at B1 level!

What is the Course Like?

Full courses run for 24 weeks of the year, taking short breaks for holidays like Christmas and Easter. For my Italian class, we met for two hours each Thursday evening from 6.30pm-8.30pm. Classes took a similar format – we'd begin by reviewing the short homework exercise we’d been set the week before, then delved into the new learning for that week. Learning was varied to cater for all learning styles – speaking practice, reading and listening comprehension, and new vocabulary and grammar, all taught in a fun and accessible way that gets you interacting with the people around you.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely. Language skills are invaluable, so being able to have university-taught language classes completely free is amazing. I can’t wait to start beginners+ in September!

* Where is the bathroom?

** Italian girls