Course Outline: British Life, Language and Culture

Here at Pilgrims we are amazed at the growing popularity of the above course over the past two years and we can only put it down to word-of-mouth advertising of the course by people who have been on it and found it valuable. We have not gone out of our way to “push “ it.

If you come on the course you find yourself out-and-about visiting and interviewing priests, publicans, minority community members, managers and the Samaritans who offer a listening ear to potential suicide victims. In the past participants on the culture course have visited the local fire station, a brewery, the Student’s Union at Kent University and primary and secondary schools.
No, it is not all galavanting fun! The course will try and offer you some elements of social anthropology and will introduce you to important books in this area like Kate Fox’s WATCHING THE ENGLISH and Gill Johnson’s CULTURE IN OUR CLASSROOM.
A part of the course deals with how you might go about teaching your students something about UK culture. With some tutors you will go home from the course burdened down with photocopies of newspaper articles on topics like the British class system, the police, the treatment of women, education and UK relationship to the EU! ( If you can, avoid these paper-chase tutors!)

The above humdrum description of the course does not capture its magic that, I think, makes participants recommend it to people they know. Central to the whole course is RELATIONSHIP, the way the participants relate to each other, to the tutor, and to the to the Brits from every walk of life whom they interact with. Pivotal, as well, is the way the participants see their tutor relating to the Brits they visit or who come into class. It is in the area of relationship that the participants directly live and experience the texture of UK society... I think they do this both awarely and subconsciously.

Maybe the British Life, Language and Culture Course is the only one that we could not adequately offer you in your own country. You really have to come to UK for the experience.

We hope to see even more people this coming Northern Hemisphere holiday period, July and August 2010, at Easter 2011 and in July and August 2011. The figures show that this one of our most appreciated courses.

Please check the British Life, Language and Culture course at Pilgrims website.