Introduction to Language Centre provision for Politics and International Studies students

1. The Language Centre
Opportunities and resources for postgraduates
POLIS MPhils and PhDs
Emma Furuta, Language Adviser www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

2. Your postgraduate studies and beyond
• Do your studies this year require you to become familiar with a new
language? Or one that you have taken up quite recently?
• Would extra opportunities to maintain your current languages be useful to
you?
• Which languages may feature in your future career, or your personal life?
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

3. • POLIS PhD, studying Ukrainian for research trips to Kiev
• POLIS PhD, studying Russian, international perceptions of
Russian policy
• Social anthropologists, Lingala, research based in Kinshasa
• Sociology postgrad, Malay, field work in Malaysia
Postgraduates: some examples
1-to-1 appointments – Resources – Speakers of other languages scheme
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

4. Researching and interviewing abroad
• Informants: advantages and disadvantages
• Communicating cultural understanding
• The realistic goal of achieving a professional level of proficiency in a widely
spoken language (B2)
• The realistic potential of developing a lesser-known language with support,
one of the greatest needs identified in Lost for Words: the need for
languages in UK diplomacy and security.

5. Our provision www.training.cam.ac.uk

6. CU Language Programme (CULP)
Arabic Mandarin
French Persian
German Portuguese
Hebrew Russian
Italian Spanish
Japanese Swahili
Modern Greek Urdu
Taught courses in 14 languages

7. CU Language Programme
• Basic, Intermediate 1 & 2, Advanced levels, depending on the language
• 30 contact hours + 15 hours (online)
• Common European Framework levels
• 1) Standard, 2) Semi intensive, 3) Intensive
• Av. students per group: 17
• Drop-in for guidance from teachers 12-2pm, 13th
-16th
October
• Student fee in 2015-16: £230 for 30 classroom hours (£7.60)
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

8. CULP classes in Reading for Academic Purposes
• For learning to read documents you may encounter in your research
• Close textual analysis, grammatical and stylistic commentary, translation
• French (Basic, intermediate 1, intermediate 2)
• German (Basic, basic 2, intermediate 1, intermediate 2)
• Italian (Basic, intemediate 1)
• Russian (Basic)
• Spanish (Basic)
• Weekly
• 90 minute lessons
• Online learning objects
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

9. General courses Reading for Academic
Purposes
College support where poss.,
contribution to course fee
upon completion of the course
Researcher Development
Fund
Language training bursaries
for PhDs, applications 3 times
a year
Matt Lane, Grad training, PPD
Fully funded classes
Only for postgraduates in the
School of Arts and Humanities
& School of Humanities and
Social Sciences
Financial support for training in additional languages
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk
Occasionally departmental support

10. ADTIS In-Sessional Support Programme (formerly EAP)
UNDERGRADUATEUNDERGRADUATE
POST-DOCS,POST-DOCS,
STAFF, ERASMUS,STAFF, ERASMUS,
VISITINGVISITING
SCHOLARSSCHOLARS
POSTGRADUATEPOSTGRADUATE
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

11. First part of the provision
• Supervisor, 6 meetings over the year
• Focus on priorities you both identify
• Pronunciation supervisions
• Conversation practice sessions
• Facility to begin whenever you need to and have a whole year of support
• Fees
Unconditional students: £260
Post-docs and others: £485
Conditional students: £365

12. Workshops – an example:
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

13. Free to all, open courseware via Raven

14. Learning Resources
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

15. www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

17. Learner Support
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

18. Other learning events, some examples
• Free strategy building workshops in Reading for Academic Purposes in
your target language
• Workshops, one-to-one appointments and Moodle site to support with
Choosing a Short Language Course Abroad
• Friends Without Frontiers, volunteers who offer time to practise their
mother tongue with you, without needing to practise your language in
return i.e. not a Conversation Exchange

19. Language Study Group
Thursday night is Study Night!
17:00-18:30 in the Learning Centre
Reserve your place on the University Training Booking System (UTBS)
Or email enquiries@langcen.cam.ac.uk
to ask to be added to the mailing list
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

20. Language learning advisers
• Drop in and see us!
• Book a one-to-one appointment
• Discuss your language learning plans
and goals
See Advice
Language Centre homepage
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk

21. Indonesian
Twi
Arabic
dialects
Mandarin
Swahili
Mongolian
Amharic
Hausa
Hindi
Icelandic
Gujarati
Vietnamese
Lingala
Finnish
Tamil
Zulu

22. Downing Place
Tel.: 01223 (3)35058
Where are we?
www.langcen.cam.ac.uk