How to choose a language camp for teenagers?

The domestic education system is increasingly criticized for too long vacations, they say, children study abroad much longer and this does not cause any mental overload. However, it is unlikely that this situation can be radically changed; otherwise, you can get a real rebellion of children. It remains to make sure that the child does not waste time in the summer, but gains useful knowledge right in the process of rest.

With mathematics, for example, it is unlikely that it will be possible to do this, but foreign languages are quite possible to learn even in the process of rest, it is for these purposes that special language camps are created. However, not all of them are flawlessly good and suitable for everyone, therefore it is worthwhile to first figure out how to choose the right institution.

What it is?

In recent decades, any self-respecting camp has tried to focus on certain teaching specifics so that children do not just relax on the beach, but receive some kind of load. This, in a sense, is a kind of club of interests, located on the sea coast, in an ecologically clean forest or mountains: part of the time is spent every day on classes in a specialized subject, and the rest of the time you can relax at your pleasure.

Some camps will become a paradise for sports lovers (special football, basketball and other recreation centers), others should go to all lovers of creativity (options with an emphasis on dancing, drawing or music), and language camps, as the name suggests, are designed to help you learn that or another language. Although they themselves are just a variety of summer camps, they are also classified according to a number of characteristics.

Classification

Learning language

The first thing to understand is that usually such institutions do not represent a multilingual academy, so that each of them is devoted to the study of only one language. In the conditions of our country, the study of English is most often implied, however, there are options with other languages, first of all, German, French and Spanish.

It should be noted that within Russia there are also such camps that are designed for the study of Russian by foreigners. It will certainly be interesting for a child to go there, as he will have the opportunity to communicate with peers from other countries who will tell a lot of interesting things. In a certain situation, you can communicate with them in their language, however, all the same, new linguistic knowledge is usually not acquired at such a recreation center.

Estimated Age of Guests and Level of Language Proficiency

Children of different ages need completely different conditions for recreation, not to mention conditions for learning. Large centers can afford to teach groups of all ages, however, their specifics often suggest that they recruit either very young children or adolescents. This difference is largely due to one or another camp location.

For example, a camp for children learning English may well be located in the Moscow region. The staff here, as a rule, is completely Russian-speaking, just the rules of the center determine that communication, whenever possible, takes place in the language of instruction. This means that parents can safely send even a small child here, because employees in a critical situation will easily understand the baby and be able to help him.

The program is certainly designed for those who are not very strong in English, and if there is an urgent need, a small guest can even be sent home ahead of schedule.

It is quite another matter if the parents chose a foreign center for their child. On the one hand, such a solution has a lot of advantages - and there will be much more impressions from the rest, and the entire staff speaks only the required language, forcing them to adjust to it and learn the material faster in a relaxed manner.

On the other hand, such a choice puts forward several requirements for the child at once, which he may not meet.

Traveling to another country without parents in any case requires a certain degree of independence. The staff will do everything possible to make the baby feel good here, however, elementary sociability and independence must be present, otherwise it is not worth letting the child go abroad, especially since it will be very difficult to return from there ahead of time.
People go abroad to learn a language precisely because there you will have to use your own knowledge constantly, even in informal communication with potential new friends. This means that a young tourist must already have a certain level of language in order to have some kind of launch pad. Absolute beginners in a particular language do not reach foreign camps; with international staff and vacationers, they simply have nothing to do there.

When traveling abroad, a child must be asked whether he wants it or not... If many parents send a child to any other camp even of their own free will, then this should not be done here, because getting into a foreign language, incomprehensible environment will become a real stress for the baby, from which he can get even more mentally tired.

Location

All language camps can be roughly divided into domestic and foreign. Domestic ones are good for their comparative cheapness and orientation to almost all the languages u200b u200bfor our compatriots, but from such a vacation you will not bring either vivid impressions (familiar atmosphere, banal language lessons), or tremendous knowledge (there is no language environment).

A trip abroad is more expensive, but all the disadvantages of Russian camps at such recreation centers turn into advantages.

That being said, there are some typical overseas vacation destinations worth highlighting.

Most often, Russians want to learn English, and it is predictably better to learn in those countries where everyone speaks this language, therefore camps in England, the USA and Malta are very popular. However, it is not for nothing that this language is considered the main international means of communication - high-quality camps can be found, for example, in Finland or other countries.
The situation is similar with the German language, only the selection of finished items is already much smaller. This language is widely spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - these are the countries that you should focus on in the first place. Quite good camps can be found in neighboring countries like the Czech Republic, since the locals probably want to better learn the language of their larger neighbor. However, the language environment may be lacking here.

With French the situation is even more complicated: it is spoken only in France, and partially in Switzerland and Belgium, although the latter uses a dialect that is very far from the literary generally accepted norms.
Spanish in Europe is spoken only in Spainthough there is no shortage of language camps there. For those who are ready to go even to the ends of the world, there is a nice bonus - there are camps with the study of Spanish in America, especially in the southern states, where there are many people from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

Among other things, you can also classify language camps by what exactly they are good for actually for recreation. Being located on some southern coast contributes to a quality beach vacation, being in the mountains makes it possible to go skiing or snowboarding in winter, but a forest camp allows you to simply rid your lungs of the dirty city air at least for a while.

At the end of the day, it's worth figuring out what the kids will do during their vacation. For example, language learning can be provided with boring lessons like school lessons, or it can be achieved through interesting communication with peers who do not understand Russian.

Since in the camp you need not only to study, but also to rest, it is important to pay attention to the entertainment program. For example, children may not be left to their own devices: in English-language camps, thematic sessions are held dedicated to the work of Shakespeare or books about Sherlock Holmes. It is also possible to combine a linguistic program with a tourist or sports program.