THE
KEYS
YOU SEEK
IN JUST
5 DAYS
YOU WILL :
ENHANCE
YOUR COMPREHENSION
IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION
ELIMINATE THAT FEELING OF NOT
PROGRESSING
ACQUIRE
A MASTER KEY
SPEAK WITH
PLEASURE
NEGOTIATE
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 ELSEWHERE
NO
CLASSES - ONE-TO-ONE
INSTRUCTION ONLY
EXCELLENT VALUE
SPECTACULAR
PROGRESS
TOTAL
IMMERSION THROUGHOUT THE
WEEK
THE DIALOGUE
NATURAL APPROACH |