SOL is a non-profit organisation and registered UK charity set up in 1991 by its current Director.

It is committed to:

• Supporting teachers of English in their professional work.
• Providing exceptional value and low cost English language and cultural experiences in Devon.
• Providing outstanding culture, language and methodology courses for teachers of English.
• Recruiting good quality native-speaker teachers for State schools and colleges.
• Encouraging a greater mutual understanding between Eastern European countries and the UK.

Whilst SOL’s focus has been primarily on providing this support in Eastern & Central Europe, we welcome the opportunity to assist both teachers and learners of English from any other country. They will receive the same warm welcome.

What we do:

SOL offers students something not available in their own school or country - complete immersion in the language and culture. SOL is not language school (we offer no study courses and no SOL programme is longer than ten days, unless specially requested). What we offer is far more effective for students learning English in their own country. We develop confidence in USING the English language and, of course, improved confidence means better motivation and accelerated progress.

The focus of each programme are the visits and the time in the family. Without any regular classrooms and no desks and knowing that grammar is best taught over a long period by teachers back home, we do not try to replicate that. Each programme is suited to the various levels that the students have reached in their own countries. Bringing the passive knowledge of the language to life is a key aim. Observational skills are very important here and everything we do is something that the teachers back home cannot do. So, talking to local people, asking them questions, researching shops and local history, discussing food, understanding the importance of charity giving and volunteering in the UK, and recognising the importance of the Sea in moulding our history, and our everyday way of life are all strongly featured in each programme.

A typical SOL day has three main elements:

Evenings and Sundays are spent with a local host family. Our families are all important in providing a ‘home’ for the stay Time with a British family gives a real insight into British culture and also gives students the opportunity to practise their language skills in a relaxed and supportive environment. Sundays are always family days. Tasks are given to students to complete each evening with their host family. Food, Leisure, the home routines, pets, are all issues considered.

On each day we arrange a visit to a nearby place of interest. Being close to the Atlantic, this will often be to one of the beautiful locations on the coast, but there are many interesting towns and villages inland as well. Most excursions are for half a day with the other half being spent at the SOL Centre but a typical programme will include one or two whole day trips. Each visit will be with a guide who, through stories and information, provides the cultural background but, in addition, students will have observational and fieldwork tasks to complete at each location.

At the SOL Centre, our staff witll discuss with the students their feedback from the families and the visits, as well as prepare them for future visits and to set future tasks for the evenings. They will prepare them for interviewing people and will also help their presentations. This is especially important for the ‘Town Challenge’ on the final day and which is one of the highlights of each programme. In this, students interview up to a dozen people in the town on a chosen topic and then prepare their presentation to be given to the rest of the group. All sessions in the centre are highly interactive and may include games, creative work and role play and will ensure that every student is using English for communication.

All our staff involved in the programmes are selected for their expertise, experience and ability to relate to students and establish the trust which is so important in developing the confidence to use English for real!


For more information on SOL please watch our DVD... Enjoy SOL DVD

NewsletterDecember2011

NewsletterOctober2011