March 17th - St Patricks Day is coming .. time to celebrate!!

March 17th is St Patricks Day, the national day of Ireland and, as usual, there will be big celebrations in Dublin, all over Ireland, and of course in the DLTC Language School.

So what is happens on St Patrick's Day? Well it's more like St Patricks Week because, in Dublin, the festival starts on Friday 12th of March and continues all the way through Wednesday 17th March.

• There will be a big fireworks display in Limerick on the evening of Saturday 13th.
• On Saturday morning there is a free Treasure Hunt around the city for all ages and all people - "Solve the clues, compete for spot prizes, complete the route and become the cleverest, fastest or best dressed team". Register online to beat the queues! A great way to discover and explore the city - we can even enter a team from the school!!
• There will be funfairs and amusements around the city all during the week. 
• And of course The St Patricks Day Parade - join the crowds at about 12-2pm along O'Connell Street or Dame Street to watch the colour, the dancers, the bands, the music - then dance in the streets and join the crowds in the city's pubs for music and fun.

On the Tuesday night16th March there will be a celebration in the DLTC school from about 8pm with some Irish music, food and drinks - afterwards we'll all go into Dublin to continue the party there.

We have some special offers at the DLTC on our general English language courses for St Patricks festival week - so tell your friends and join the party!!!

englishforums.com - another great learning resource

Another website for English language learning topics that I like to check out from time to time is http://www.englishforums.com/ . There are sections for teachers, for students, forums, chat and for asking questions - so if you have a question about English grammar or vocabulary and you need a quick answer, why not post it here and one of the site members / teachers will usually provide it - I might even answer you myself! You can also set up your profile and make friends with other learners which is a great way to practise your English. Oh ..  and you can log in very easily just by using your Facebook account - good huh!?
Enjoy,

Bob
DLTC Language School Ireland

Well done to everybody at the DLTC Language School

Well done to everybody at the school. At the end of every course, we ask students to tell us what they think of our language courses and our school. We ask them what they liked and what they didn't like so that we are always improving our courses and delivering what students want. This is what the students who were leaving last week said about our school:

"The course was good. I found everything useful. The teachers are very good and well-skilled. The school was super and the extra activities were well-organised. Thanks everybody!" - Samantha, Italy, General English course.


"Good atmosphere. Well-organised. Interesting material. Good teachers. The activities were excellent and everybody at the school was interested in us (the students). Thanks a lot." - Nacho, Spain, General English course.

I think all the staff at the school deserve a big congratulations! Well done!

For more information on our courses, see the DLTC Language School website

Cambridge English Exam Dates May 2010

There has been a new set of Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE Exam dates announced for May 2010. DLTC Cambridge Exam students can sit the exams at UCD. For more information or to register online visit http://alcexams.ucd.ie/cambridge/. DLTC students can alternatively register in the DLTC school office up to 1pm on 26th February.

Level	Written & Listening Exam	Window for Speaking Exam	Closing Date	Fee
FCE	15th May	7th-16th May	26th February	TBC
CAE	16th May	7th-16th May	26th February	TBC
CPE	16th May	7th-16th May	26th February	TBC

The dates are published here as guide and we cannot be responsible for any changes. Please check with your local examinations office.

The DLTC offers part-time evening courses to prepare students for Cambridge FCE (First Certificate) and Cambridge Advanced (CAE). Please note that when registering for the exam through theh DLTC office an extra admin fee of 15€ is charged.

Special Offers at DLTC on English Language Courses

BRING YOUR FRIENDS!

We've got 2 great special offers on our English language courses at the moment for existing students.

1. For evening course students, if you introduce a friend to our courses, we will give you 15% off your next four weeks payment AND we will give your friend 15% off their first 4 week payment.

2. For full-time students, if you introduce a friend to our courses, we will give you two weeks of free evening courses (available Monday & Wednesday OR Tuesday & Thursday from 19:15-21:15) AND we will give your friend a special offer price of 100€ per week on our full-time English course (Monday-Friday 09:20-13:00)

If you like our courses, we're sure your friends will too. Bring them along!

usingenglish.com - learning resource

Here's a site I found recently http://www.usingenglish.com/. It seems like a very good resource for learning (and teaching English) with articles, forums and reference materials. It has areas for both teachers and students and a search engine for idioms, irregular and phrasal verbs. Try the idiom reference search engine .. http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/ .. now can anyone tell me what it means if I say "I'm not going to bust my chops" ???? .. just type in the word 'chop' and see what idioms it gives you!

Enjoy!
Bob
DLTC Language School

Dun Laoghaire World Culture Festival 2010

This year the 2010 Dun Laoghaire World Culture Festival takes place on 23rd, 24th, 25th of July. The culture festival started 10 years ago and has become one of the most popular festivals in Ireland and certainly the biggest in Dublin. Each year hundreds of thousands of people visit Dun Laoghaire on the weekend of the festival to listen to live music, taste cuisine, and buy products from all around the world. All day on each of the three days, there are events and activities for all age groups in the many different venues around the town. So it really is a fantastic weekend of the year to be in Dun Laoghaire and to make friends with people from everywhere. If you are planning on attending an English language course at the DLTC language school, this would be a perfect time of the year to come - but do book early, as there may be a big demand for courses and accommodation at this time. For more information on the festival see http://www.festivalofworldcultures.com

Para comparar academias de ingles en Dublin

http://www.spaniards.es/wiki/academias-ingles-dublin

http://www.blogturistico.com/2010/02/26/cursos-de-ingles-irlanda/

altrairlanda

Questa comunita' e' nata nel 2003 e tutto quello che trovi sul sito e' frutto della collaborazione di anni e di centinaia di persone che han voluto dare il loro contributo raccontando la loro esperienza. http://www.altrairlanda.it/

CORSI INGLESE PER RAGAZZI A DUBLINO

Things for English language students to do when visiting Dublin

When students come to attend an English language course at the DLTC Language School, we advise on places to visit in the local and wider area. Here are some of the better things to do:

Phoenix Park: to the west of Dublin. You can take the red tram (LUAS) line to get there and one of the nicest ways of seeing the park is by bike - you can hire bicycles in the park for 1, 2, 3 hours at a time: http://www.phoenixpark.ie/)
The Guinness Factory in Dublin 8. It costs 14 euros (for which you get a 'free' pint of Guinness in the rooftop bar). Take the red LUAS line or one of the many buses from the city centre - walking takes at least 30 minutes from Trinity College in the centre of Dublin: http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Index.aspx)
Kilmainham jail: Dublin 8. The historic prison has been converted into a museum that remembers Ireland's struggle for independence from Britain. http://www.kilmainham-gaol.com/why.htm)
Malahide Castle: North Dublin - you can take the DART (train)to Malahide Station: http://www.malahidecastle.com/)
Powerscourt Gardens: Enniskerry, these are beautiful gardens set at the base of the Wicklow Mountains. Typically beautiful Irish landscape. 6 euros (Take the number 44 bus that goes from Townsend Street or the bus from Bray DART station (only leaves about every one hour so check your times on http://www.dublinbus.ie/ . For Powerscourt see: http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/)
Powerscourt Waterfall: Enniskerry, beautiful waterfall set against the Wicklow Mountains. 5/6 euros (Difficult to get to without a car but you can take the above buses to Enniskerry and then its a 7 km walk through beautiful countryside - be careful on the small roads!)http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/waterfall/)
Howth: North Dublin, a fine place to eat and buy seafood. There is a beautiful walk around the headland and every few weeks a DLTC Language School teacher will bring English language students around this walk for free. Take the train (DART) to Howth
Newgrange: near Drogheda, these are tombs that are older than the pyramids of Egypt some of which you can enter (there are tours from the bus station in Dublin http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm)
Cliff of Moher: Incredible cliffs on the west coast of Ireland that fall into the Atlantic ocean (take a bus to Galway and after a bus to the cliffs - this will take at least a full day and we would advise two days - or you can take a one or two day bus tour: http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/)

Thanks to Xema on spaniards.es

Things for students to do when visiting Dublin

Cosas a hacer cuando estes asistiendo un curso de inglés en DLTC Language School o de vacaciones a Dublin.
Phoenix Park: al Oeste de Dublín (puedes ir con el tranvía línea roja: http://www.phoenixpark.ie/)
Fábrica Guinness: en Dublin 8, 14 euros (puedes ir con el tranvía línea roja, y con un mogollón de autobuses desde el centro, aunque andando no está lejos: http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Index.aspx)
Kilmainham jail: Dublin 8. Es una antigua carcel ahora convertida en museo (puedes ir en bus, pero no recuerdo que número: http://www.kilmainham-gaol.com/why.htm)
Castillo de Malahide: Norte de Dublín (puedes ir en el Dart (tren) dirección "Malahide" última parada: http://www.malahidecastle.com/)
Powerscourt Gardens: Enniskerry, son unos jardines preciosos. 6 euros (Puedes ir con el bus numero 44 que sale en Townsend St.: http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/)
Powerscourt Waterfall: Enniskerry, unas cascadas enormes. 5/6 euros (Puedes ir con el bus numero 44 que sale en Townsend St., y luego son 7 kilómetros andando: http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/waterfall/)
Howth: Norte de Dublín, buen sitio para comer y comprar pescado, y para visitar (puedes ir en tren dirección Howth (última parada) y en algunos buses: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howth)
Newgrange: cerca de Drogheda (hay tours desde la estación de buses de Dublín: http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm)
Cliff of Moher: Acantilados preciosos (un bus hasta Galway y luego otro bus hasta los acantilados... esto es si sacas un día entero libre, o incluso dos: http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/)

Thanks to Xema on spaniards.es

TEFL forums • View topic - Is the use of "littler" ever proper?

TEFL forums • View topic - Is the use of "littler" ever proper?

DLTC Language School Ireland blogs!

Welcome to the DLTC Language Schools blog on blogspot.

The DLTC is a language school based in Dublin, Ireland. We specialise mostly in teaching English as a foreign language but we also teach Spanish, Italian, French and some other modern languages.

The aim of this blog is to provide information on learning languages in general and particularly in Ireland. So we hope to post articles on everything from English grammar, to Spanish pronunciation, to advice on attending language study courses and tips on things to do in Dublin when not studying.

We will also provide some information on our English and foreign language school and the language courses we provide, but that is not the main purpose of this blog. For most of that information, you'd be better advised to visit our website http://www.dltc.ie.