Welcome to the blog of our English Course in Rotselaar

Sunday it’s the first day of our English Course in Rotselaar. We’re looking forward to meeting all of our students and to spending an excellent week together! Believe us, it’ll be an incredible adventure. With one clear rule: we talk English always and everywhere!

Are you ready for the start of your week with Ruysschaert? You’ll find all the practical information about the English Course via the personal link you’ve received by email. Just to make sure:

  • We expect pupils to arrive between 10h30 and 11h30. On arrival you’ll receive the first practical information. Then you can take your luggage to your room and make yourself at home. If you still have time, feel free to get to know the other participants.
  • At noon the director warmly welcomes everybody, parents and pupils, to the opening session, explains the arrangements and calls out the pupils’ names so that they can join their class
  • Then comes the official start of the course.
  • We start with the midday meal followed by the tests and the first lesson.

See you soon!

PS: Are you curious to see how it all plans out on our language course? We post photos and videos on our Facebook & Instagrampage and our blog every day so that we can keep you up-to-date with our activities. We’ll post the first pictures from tomorrow! Follow us @ruysschaertlanguageacademy!

Day one: Sunday 

This morning, our students arrived for their English course. Some were in high spirits, whilst others perhaps showed a bit more of the enthusiasm of someone who has suddenly realised that the holidays are really over.

Then came the first challenge: from now on, we’ll only be speaking the target language. No quick words of French thrown in here and there, and no secretly switching over when that one word has suddenly slipped your mind completely.

That took some time to get used to for many. Here and there, people struggled to find the right words, and sometimes they had to get quite creative with their descriptions, but our team noticed above all that everyone was doing their best to express themselves. And that’s exactly what it’s all about.

The first day was entirely devoted to assessment. Not to hand out marks, but to discover where our students’ strengths lie and where there’s still some work to be done. Based on that, tomorrow we’ll be able to place them in the class group that best suits their level. From then on, the real work can begin.

We have to be honest, though. If we had organised a popularity contest today, the table tennis table would have won by a mile. For now, it’s generated just that little bit more enthusiasm than the lessons.

But it’s only day one. We’re hopeful that our teachers will turn that around tomorrow.

On to day 2!

Day two: Monday

Today was the first full day of lessons. And our pupils passed it with flying colours.

They were immediately faced with a lot to take in. We covered grammar, scrutinised spelling, practised pronunciation and also looked at proverbs. In addition, they worked hard on the various language skills: listening, reading, writing and, above all, speaking. After all, you don’t learn a language just by looking at it.

After all that mental effort, it was time to give our muscles a workout during our first volleyball tournament. We soon discovered that some students are just as competitive on the sports field as they are in the classroom. The first sporting rivalries have now officially begun.

And because a full day of lessons naturally needs to be rounded off in style, The Language Academy was briefly transformed into a real casino in the evening.

During our casino night, the pupils were given virtual money with which they could try their luck at blackjack, slots, roulette and higher/lower. There was calculating, gambling, cheering, losing, betting again – and here and there, probably also the realisation that a foolproof casino strategy is harder to come by than one might think.

Fortunately, it was all just virtual money. Some pupils will no doubt be particularly grateful for that this evening.

Tomorrow, we’ll carry on as usual. New lessons, new challenges!

Day three: Tuesday 

Today we could clearly see that quite a few students are already feeling a lot more at ease. The initial nerves are fading, they’re getting used to their surroundings, and even those students who found it a bit harder at first are really starting to come into their own.

And perhaps best of all: new friendships are forming. Getting to know new people is one thing, but making new friends in a language you’re still in the process of learning? They’ve every right to be proud of that.

Of course, this growing familiarity also has a slight side effect. Some pupils start to feel so at home that they occasionally think the rule about speaking only English might be taken a little less strictly. Nice try. Unfortunately, our teachers are just a little too observant for that. Fortunately, the pupils are also coming to understand better and better why this immersion is so important, and they quickly switch back to the language they’re learning.

After the lessons, it was time for some action. During Minion’s Escape Room, groups of children went head-to-head with groups of Minions. The task was simple: escape before the Minions caught them. In practice, of course, it turned out to be a bit more chaotic, noisier and, above all, much funnier than this description suggests.

And tomorrow? Well, we’re going to take it up a notch. With the heatwave forecast, the water games couldn’t have come at a better time. Cooling off is guaranteed; staying dry, not so much.

And as if that weren’t enough, we’re also in for a solar eclipse tomorrow.

Learning a language, making new friends, dodging Minions, splashing each other and gazing at the sky whilst we’re at it. Just another ordinary week at The Language Academy, then.

Day four: Wednesday

A day with an extra dark twist… but in the best possible way!

Today, of course, there were once again plenty of fun and interesting language lessons on the programme. Because, well, at The Language Academy, we believe that grammar, vocabulary and fun fit perfectly together in one classroom.

But today we had two extra surprises in store.

In the afternoon, the students were allowed to close their books a little earlier for a very special reason: the solar eclipse. No verbs, vocabulary or speaking exercises for a while – just looking up together. After all, some lessons are simply a gift from nature.

After that, we switched to a slightly slower pace. After a few intensive days, our pupils had more than earned a cosy evening. They could watch a film, challenge each other in sporting and intellectual competitions, or simply relax and catch up with the new friends they’d made this week.

And the Perseid meteor shower tonight? Well… we have to draw the line somewhere. This time, they’ll just have to admire it in their dreams. Or from their bedroom window, for the real die-hards.

We’ll make sure there’s plenty of excitement in broad daylight tomorrow.

See you tomorrow!