THE KEYS
YOU SEEK
IN JUST
5 DAYS
YOU WILL :
INHANCE YOUR
COMPREHENSION
IMPROVE YOUR
PRONUNCIATION
ELIMINATE THAT
FEELING OF NOT PROGRESSING
ACQUIRE
A MASTER KEY
SPEAK WITH
PLEASURE
NEGOCIATE
WITH EASE
|
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
about
the language courses
-
What kind of progress can I expect
to make at Dialogue ?
-
How many people will be in my group
at Dialogue ?
-
Private, ultra-rapid progress sounds
great, but isn't it expensive ?
-
Isn't group study more interesting,
and certainly more motivating ?
-
Will a course of just a few days
allow me to significantly improve my
pronunciation ?
-
How can I jump-start my
comprehension level over a short stretch of
time ?
-
How can you sum up the ways in which
Dialogue is truly different ?
-
You've mentioned a natural approach.
What do you mean by that ?
-
All the schools talk about the
benefits of Total Immersion. How does Dialogue
view this ?
-
When can I get started at Dialogue
?
-
I'm a total beginner, but I need to
learn a language for business or professional
reasons.
-
I'm an advanced-level speaker and
I'm having trouble finding training on a
high-enough level.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Q.--- What kind of progress can I
expect to make at Dialogue ?
A.--- Our students tell us that they make as much
progress in two weeks at Dialogue as they would
otherwise have made in four full semesters at a
university. But let's be conservative about this: We
guarantee twice the rate of progress than in other
private schools that specialize in intensive
language instruction. Dialogue is particularly
suitable for people who lack the time for long-term
language study and who are looking for the ultimate
in intensive language training for results. The
student receives a report at the end of his or her
stay at Dialogue that includes a complete progress
evaluation and strategies for optimizing further
language study after leaving Dialogue.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- How many people will be in my
group at Dialogue ?
A.--- Just one. You. And no one else. The heart of
Dialogue's philosophy is total personalization. At
Dialogue, you will never have to adapt to any
preconceived system. Rather, we adapt to the way you
learn best. You won't have to adjust to general (and
often impersonal) learning programs. As in other
schools, you will make progress in general language
and communications skills, but you'll also focus on
and achieve your own communications objectives.
Every moment of instruction at Dialogue is A La
Carte, molded to your learning style, and especially
to the specialized vocabulary or subject matter you
need to know in the target language. We've earned a
valuable reputation internationally for intensive,
effective, and ultra-rapid preparatory work for
specific business objectives (conferences,
negotiations on specific issues, seminars, meetings,
speeches, press conferences and interviews).
Dialogue is a restaurant where YOU write the menu.
If you wish, we can even put aside general language
study and concentrate solely on the specific
material you suggest.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- Private, ultra-rapid progress
sounds great, but isn't it expensive?
A.--- No. Not at all. Our prices are very
competitive, certainly in comparison with other
intensive language schools. But there is a
difference: most other schools will put you into a
small group of 4 or 5 people, with a big surcharge
for private lessons. Dialogue is strictly
one-on-one, and for the same price. For the same
expenditure of money, for the same expenditure of
time, you leave the course with twice as much
knowledge (and five times the confidence!).
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- All right, Dialogue's value
seems obvious, but isn't group study more
interesting, and certainly more motivating ?
A.--- Yes and no. At Dialogue, you'll have all the
advantages of a group with none of the
inconveniences. It's always pleasant to be in good
company of course. During breaks, meals, the evening
hours, our students appreciate their opportunities
to interact with one another. But during lessons,
the presence of others is usually an obstacle rather
than an advantage. Others will rarely share your
objectives, your style, your level, your reactions,
your needs. In groups, the slower student can be
maddening, and the faster one can be just as
maddening. Group training is, more often than not,
group plodding. A chain is only as strong as its
weakest link. In a group, it's easy to become
confused and disoriented by the mistakes others
make. It's just as easy to become apprehensive about
making mistakes in front of others. In language
learning, group dynamics aren't always beneficial.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- Will a course of just a few
days allow me to significantly improve my
pronunciation ?
A.--- Without question. We have developed an
extremely effective pronunciation improvement
method. A great number of university professors and
international businesspeople come to Dialogue to
improve their pronunciation in record time. Several
professors from Harvard University who gave
presentations at the Sorbonne in Paris directly
after Dialogue training were complimented by the
French themselves on their unusually fine
pronunciation skills.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- Your work with Harvard
professors is impressive, but I want to learn to
understand the everyday language. How can I
jump-start my comprehension level over a short
stretch of time ?
A.--- That's a good question. It's not easy to
communicate if you can hardly understand what other
people are saying. To achieve quick, tangible
results in this area, we've put into place a unique
oral comprehension method. Your ear -- despite every
effort on your part -- doesn't naturally hear all
the sounds of your target language. If you can't
even hear the sounds in the first place, you cannot
be expected to reproduce them. In only one week we
can change your ear. (Don't worry, there's no pain,
no actual surgery!) The fact is, you've already had
a lifetime of ear training in your own language that
tends to come in the way of your ability to hear in
the target language. With our method, after a few
hours, you'll be a little child again. Your open
ears will once again have the child's ability to
distinguish between words (such as, in French, le
vin, le vent, and levons ) that previously sounded
identical to your ears, but that have obvious
differences to the trained ear or to the native
speaker.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- How can you sum up the ways in
which Dialogue is truly different ?
A.--- Most schools attempt to instil linguistic
confidence in their students. This is an admirable
goal, but it's just not enough if you need to learn
the true ins and outs of a foreign language. Each
Dialogue session works with not one, but four
separate objectives. The Dialogue trainer doesn't
just help the student break through the
psychological barrier, he or she also helps the
student pass listening, cultural and linguistic
barriers. During each session, the learner gains
pleasure in speaking the target language
(psychological threshold), adds aural comprehension
and pronunciation skills (the listening threshold),
practices appropriate means of expression (the
cultural threshold), and increasingly learns to
speak without making mistakes (the linguistic
threshold).
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- You've mentioned a natural
approach. What do you mean by that ?
A.--- The Greek philosopher Socrates said that
hidden inside every human is a philosopher. At
Dialogue, we believe that virtually everyone on this
planet has the hidden ability to be a master of
"multiple" languages. We follow the Socratic Method
of drawing out what we believe is already inside
rather than trying to cram outside material into a
language student's already spinning head. The
European Commission is very interested in our
de-schooling approach. At Dialogue, students
discover that they've been made a member of a
family; it's not quite the school they expected.
Training sessions replace lessons. A true
home-away-from-home replaces the classroom.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- All the schools talk about the
benefits of Total Immersion. How does Dialogue view
this ?
A.--- Total immersion sounds great, but the question
remains, total immersion in what? Hearing the target
language for a week instead of your own is a fine
idea, but true immersion, the Dialogue way, is so
much more. To ensure true immersion, Dialogue
accepts only a handful of participants (our term of
choice) each week, who immediately become part of
the family, all in the target language environment.
At meals, during breaks, after dinner, native
speakers always predominate at Dialogue. At many
other schools the ratio is just the reverse, with a
single instructor for up to ten students. Dialogue
dinner-table conversation is the real thing, not
student or tourist talk. On weekends, participants
aren't left to their own devices; Dialogue people
are always there to show them around and to satisfy
their curiosity as tourists.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- Sound like just the thing for
me. When can I get started at Dialogue ?
A.--- Whenever you wish. Whether you're a complete
beginner or just on the point of total fluency, you
can begin on any day of the week, and for as many
days or weeks as you wish. You can give yourself a
break during weekends or work through them. You make
the schedule at Dialogue, and you can also adjust it
in mid-stream if you need to. Before beginning at
Dialogue, we'll discuss your needs and desires at
length.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- I'm a total beginner, but I
need to learn a language for business or
professional reasons.
A.--- At Dialogue, that won't present a problem.
We'll have you working in your target professional
vocabulary from the first session.
(top)
-----------------------------------------------------
Q.--- I'm an advanced-level speaker
and I'm having trouble finding training on a
high-enough level. Many schools simply refuse to
accept a student with my level of competence, yet I
know I can learn much more.
A.--- Dialogue trainers recognize the special needs
of very advanced language students. They know how to
structure advanced training so that the student
makes just as much progress as the less advanced
student, without being held back by the group
approach.
(top)
|
THE
ADVANTAGE
1 WEEK OF DIALOGUE
=
1 YEAR OF STUDY
ONE-TO-ONE
INSTRUCTION
EXCELLENT
VALUE
FOR MONEY
SPECTACULAR
PROGRESS
70 HOURS OF
TRUE
IMMERSION EACH
WEEK
THE DIALOGUE
NATURAL APPROACH
|
