Beginners’ French and Italian

This is as far as many of us get. If you want to go further  - well, you don’t have to go far: there’s a great opportunity right on our doorstep at the Yorebridge Centre next to Askrigg Primary School. Not just French conversation classes – Italian, too. Both are being held at the Yorebridge Centre every Monday in term during 2011/2012.
Tutor Judith McLeod travels to Askrigg from her home in Richmond to take the back-to-back classes. French Conversation for Beginners started on Monday 19 September 2011 at 10.00am and lasts two hours. Italian – same place and starts at 12.30pm. The emphasis is on real communication with real people – chatting about your home town, or the weather, or family. Asking for simple directions on holiday in a strange town; booking rooms, asking for train times, shops and leisure facilities.The Brits are notorious for relying on the ability of everybody else in Europe to speak English, but it’s good to have even a basic knowledge of the essentials when you’re on holiday in someone else’s country.
The classes are not at all intimidating: nobody laughs at your efforts and Judith is a great teacher who injects a lot of humour into the proceedings. We pay, of course, but there are some concessions – the courses are provided by North Yorkshire County Council and you can find details here   Once there just follow the links. It’s very easy and you can enrol and pay online if you want to. You can see what other adult education courses are on offer throughout Wensleydale and indeed the whole of North Yorkshire. It’s a great service whatever you want to learn but one that isn’t advertised widely. The more people take up these opportunities the more chance there is of them continuing.
Picture (above) shows tutor Judith (head of the table) with students from both classes enjoying an end-of-term lunch in July 2010 at the White Rose, Askrigg.

Bon appetit - a friendly learners' lunch