Intensive summer camps with VivaLing

Why learning a foreign language during summer is fun and easy (with VivaLing)

There is nothing better than intensive practice to learn a foreign language.

Immersion has its qualities, but teleportation has yet to be invented.

Time and budget are sometimes too scarce to include a stay abroad in the summer schedule.The winning alternative to learn a language is to register for intensive online language camps at VivaLing!

Intensive summer camps with VivaLing

Why we favour customised individual courses

The debate, never settled, on innate and acquired skills is still raging. Studies pile up and contradict each other on the respective percentages of acquisition, including the now famous 10,000-hour rule stated by Malcolm Gladwell. But all those studies agree that practice makes the difference, however, not just any practice.

Professor K. Anders Ericsson, a psychologist at Florida State University, has demonstrated that focused learning allows you to develop your skills in an infallible way. This approach involves individual sessions where the teacher motivates the student, gives immediate feedback, and the student bounces back from mistakes to improve. That is the reason why VivaLing’s holiday camps offer one-to-one sessions and give maximum priority to interactivity with teachers, giving learners the opportunity to actively dive into their practice.

Is immersion always the best way to learn a language?

An intensive online camp is different than an immersion camp, but is immersion always the ideal solution?

Living in the target language environment and having no choice but to communicate in the language to be studied is a conditional accelerator.

For a beginner, a total immersion will titillate curiosity, but not necessarily multiply his language skills as learning skills are overstretched.  There is a limit beyond which new information won’t penetrate. Therefore, a tailored intensive online course offers a more targeted and effective learning curve.

Immersion also has an important psychological aspect. A shy or reserved personality may experience it as an unpleasant baptism of fire and develop an aversion to the foreign language. Additionally, immersion isn’t suitable for very young learners or people who have difficulty moving around. Nevertheless, a qualitative online course is open to all.

VivaLing Summer Course

You want to prioritize motivating criteria to maximise attention

When enrolling for a course or a camp, you must set realistic objectives. A one-hour session per day for a week will not take you to the pinnacle of bilingualism, but you can acquire the tools to have a specialised conversation (on the Women’s World Cup in football, for example), master your next professional presentation in English or play Fortnite online with players around the world!

Of course, for regular repetition, same as Sisyphus pushing his rock, it is imperative to plan regular sessions after your camp.

Another advantage of personalised camps: sessions are adapted to the learner’s level, objectives and interests. We have more appetite to communicate on subjects that matter to us. Selective attention is one of the pillars of learning, as learning specialist and neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene points out. For that reason, VivaLing has developed exciting themes to make our summer camps fun and engaging. Of course, if our student has a specific passion or needs help to prep for a particular project, VivaLing’s coaches love challenges.

Do choose a camp that tackles all language skills!

As a sports session requires mixing endurance, strength, stretching and cardio to stimulate muscles effectively, learning foreign languages involves mixing various activities within a session.

A language skill studied in isolation limits progression. You can watch 100 hours of subtitled films, improve your comprehension and vocabulary level, but remain paralysed when it comes to communication. Similarly, repetitive language applications develop lexical and syntactic knowledge, but isolate these skills from the practice of a foreign language, which discourages many vocations.

VivaLing camps are carefully masterminded to offer simultaneous exposure to all 4 core skills: communication and oral comprehension, writing and reading. An interesting language camp offers a varied and engaging study environment.

Focused Practice with feedback of teacher

Intensive Camp on holiday? Help!

But casually lying on a hammock with fresh lemonade and a recyclable straw, it changes everything!

Research in neuroscience has shown that knowledge is acquired when it becomes automated. Automation is achieved through training and repetition. How to build a new habit? It is necessary to come back to a concept at least 3 times in order for it to become firmly established. VivaLing integrates the review of previously studied elements with the acquisition of new knowledge at each session.

Oh, no! Not the screens during summer.

For the youngest, and rightly so, parents want to control screen time, especially on holiday. The interesting nuance is to balance control and intelligent learning of their usefulness.

In many Anglo-Saxon schools, children work exclusively on computers from secondary school onwards.  Teachers do not control the use of screens during lessons, and the first steps are quite chaotic. But the pedagogical approach quickly educates students to manage their relationship with the screen. The students are taught to check the quality of the information found (sources must be mentioned and selected), and powerful software programs check that the answers are not copied and pasted from low internet materials.

Exposing children to intelligent digital resources is very formative.

Smart learning with screens

Why shouldn’t you be able to tailor your program?

Being able to plan your classes at a time that is convenient for you or your family is a must –  for children during their holiday stay with grandparents, during lunch break at work, in the evening before an aperitif on the hammock.

Choose a duration that is compatible with your schedule (the most important thing is to be regular, not a marathon runner). The ability to concentrate is a key element in choosing the right daily time. We all have that choice time when learning is easier and more efficient, and individualised and personalised sessions require a great deal of attention.

VivaLing offers intensive personalized online courses for the whole family and every vacation – at your own pace (25 min or 55 min per day, 5 days per week), at your own time and in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin, French and German.

Native and graduate teachers build your tailor-made, interactive and stimulating sessions, from age 3 to 103. So, a hammock, a fresh lemonade, and

Amusez-vous bien !  Enjoy ! ¡Que la pasen bien ! Eine schöne Zeit wünschen wir Ihnen ! 祝学习愉快
Developing a Cultural Quotient is an asset for children

Cultural Quotient: an asset of children who study foreign languages.

Today’s time with its artificial intelligence likes arithmetic. After measuring the Intellectual Quotient and the Emotional quotient, the Cultural Quotient constitutes a new grail to be quantified and valued. How can we anticipate and improve the use of cultural differences on the globalization highway? Why is it advantageous for a professional career in the future? It provides an asset and challenge for our children, and a necessary (though not sufficient) condition is the learning of foreign languages!

What is the Cultural Quotient?

A developed Cultural Quotient is an asset

The cultural quotient is a measure of the appetite for and mastery of intercultural performance.

Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne have formalized the concept of Cultural Quotient, which has existed in our historical and cultural background for many years. The Iliad and the Odyssey describe an uninterrupted enterprise of navigation between unknown cultures. Montesquieu organized the Persians’ trip in his Persian Letters to summon the cultural differences between Europe, Asia and the Russian Empire. The Travels of Marco Polo transformed Europe’s vision of its place in the world.

Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne focus on the economic implications of cultural intelligence. How to measure and predict intercultural performance, a precursor to an open attitude towards difference and an index of adaptation in international environments.

More broadly, the cultural quotient also implies the adaptation to the codes of educational environment, work culture and hierarchy.

The cultural quotient, how is it an asset for children?

Even Magic Tricks answer to Cultural Quotient

Even before talking about professional opportunity, a developed cultural quotient impacts their ability to access and assimilate information available only in a different language. Information is key in our highly communicative society. Online translators are certainly becoming more and more efficient, but they do not offer the footnotes that signal the importance or indifference of another culture to a given detail. Let’s take the example of magic. Valentine Losseau, co-founder of the (fabulous) New School of Magic AND anthropologist specializing in Indian and Mayan cultures, discovered how a trick like the illusion of levitation could blow the mind of a Westerner and leave an Indian feeling indifferent.

Having a developed cultural quotient will impact a young person’s appetite to apply for camps, internships or studies abroad and get the most from this exposure abroad. Ultimately, this “curiosity” promotes the ability to work in a “mixed” cultural environment.

Don’t feel guilty! Obtaining a developed cultural quotient is learned..

Why developing your cultural quotient

Contrary to the overwhelming notion of an “innate” intellectual quotient, cultural quotient is acquired as a know-how, or a savoir-être. B
Based in Singapore, Véronique Helft-Malz, co-founder of culture-i, offers training to individuals and companies to better understand Asian cultures. Mission: to develop the cultural quotient of the participants. Objective: to improve cooperation, adjustment to host countries, limit the effects of disorientation and ensure that an individual or an organization can remain functional in a multicultural context.

Véronique Helft-Malz points out that not all individuals have the same “spontaneous” appetite for cultural diversity. The notion is obvious among siblings when a family moves abroad. The brakes and resistances are very different for each child. Some people need more time to adapt. On the contrary, children raised only in a monolingual context like France can show a devouring curiosity for foreign cultures through passions such as Japanese manga, Korean series, American music or Brazilian football.

What is important, explains Véronique Helft-Malz, is to find your own way into a new culture. If your child is not attracted to local markets or historical monuments, he or she may be sensitive to sports, crafts, technological bingeing or the diversity of local transportation, the zoo or square ice cream.

Foreign languages and cultures: “the chicken or the egg” debate?

Cultural Quotient develops through different channels

There is no study that has examined the relationship between foreign language learning and the variation of the cultural quotient in children. It is clear that an interest in culture makes it easier to master a foreign language, and it is obvious that the acquisition of a foreign language makes it possible to throw oneself into the cultural bath in a more direct and personal way.

A reference in the field, David Livermore, presents in his book Leading with Cultural Intelligence four drivers of cultural intelligence. They are easily available in the field of language learning.

1. Knowledge

Do I speak a language other than my native language?  What is my knowledge of the important information for understanding the culture and environment when I communicate in a foreign language?

2. Strategy

What do I understand from that knowledge that allows me to communicate effectively through its use? A side benefit: learning a language allows you to put in perspective your own language and place in the world.

3. Drive 

Do I like to communicate in a language that is still foreign to me?  What is my motivation to adapt?

Do I read everything that comes to my attention (posters, local newspapers, directions) when I travel to a foreign country? 

4. Action

How can I behave appropriately when interacting with a foreign culture? How do I adapt to changes (accent, tone, expressions)?  Do I try to communicate with the few linguistic elements at my disposal?

Have I integrated the codes of body language that go with that foreign language? For example, in the way I introduce myself (shaking hands, tilting my body)?

How to help your children develop their cultural intelligence

 🌍 Start learning a new language early. At VivaLing, children can discover 5 different languages taught by native coaches who use communicative approaches to motivate second language proficiency. In the regular relationship established with their learners, in total immersion in the target language, our coaches share the key elements of their native culture.

 🌍 Visit international grocery stores near home regularly with your children. The Orient, the Middle East, Africa, America and many islands offer different kinds of fruit and vegetables and a variety of spices. Teeming with unknown treasures, the cooking of these international ingredients is an endless source of curiosity and delight for the taste buds.

 🌍 Travel abroad with a notebook, scissors and glue. Build a travel notebook with your children on all the differences and similarities you see. It’s a creative activity perfect for filling idle time and keeping minds alert in search of cultural nuggets during the journey. Interest them in non-verbal language.

 🌍 Organize birthday parties with a foreign theme. Mexican/Spanish for the chips, guacamole and piñata. Chinese/Mandarin for the firecrackers and the lantern workshop. English for the pop culture and pancakes. German for a pretzel-salami marathon and the Ostereier (colored Easter eggs) celebration.

 🌍 Discover movies or foreign series in VOST. It’s great for educating the ear to the rhythm and phraseology of foreign languages. It’s also exciting to immerse yourself in different cultural codes.

 🌍 Watch again the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games (summer AND winter). There are great shows that highlight the cultural identity of the host countries.

Easter in Germany celebrates nature

Easter in Germany: Winter is Leaving

Easter in Germany (Ostern) symbolises the renewal of spring and the victory over winter (a spoiler for Games of Throne fans). The long weekend is a time of celebrations. Their origin is not necessarily religious. Many are inherited from pagan customs of Celtic and Scandinavian origin. The festivities celebrate budding nature and are a source of inspiration full of joy, colour…and hard-boiled eggs.

Eggs cecorated trees for Easter in Germany

Osterstrauch or Osterbaum,  Eggs on Trees

How can we symbolise the renewal of life with the arrival of spring? By adorning the buds of trees with decorated eggs.

Two weeks before Easter, the white eggs are hollowed out, a hole on top, a hole underneath. The washed and dried shell is then painted in an overflow of colourful patterns. The decorated eggs are hung in gardens on bud-bearing branches: forthysia branches, hazelnut or willow branches. This beautification of the gardens offers a perfect setting for walks.

Egg decoration provides a great cross-generational activity to fill the holiday schedule. On the eve of Easter, the DIY workshop continues! The family prepares straw or moss nests (still nature!) that they hide in gardens (or houses in the absence of a green patch) for the Easter hare to lay its eggs there.

Easter Hare hides the eggs for Easter in Germany

Osterhase, The Easter Hare 

Catholic countries have eggs distributed by bells from Rome. From a logistical point of view, the undertaking is very complicated. On the one hand, chocolate is not a Roman tradition. On the other hand, the law of gravity compromises the integrity of chocolate sweets when they fall.

In German-speaking countries, it is the Easter hare (Osterhase) that distributes the eggs. The hare – Easter Bunny for English speakers – is the pagan symbol of fertility. It is logical that he is in charge of distributing the eggs, an allegory of spring germination. Moreover, it seems to us that the hare has a better knowledge of the terrain to find the optimal hiding places.

The hunt for eggs during Easter Celebrations in Germany

Ostereiersuche, The Hunt for Hard-Boiled Eggs!

Once the hare has done his job, the egg hunt begins on Easter Sunday.

But Charlie and his chocolate factory can review their marketing strategies. While chocolate candies are gaining ground, the German tradition is that the osterhase hides hard-boiled eggs. Hard-boiled eggs tinted with primary, solid colours.

Indeed, finding the eggs is only a prerequisite. The highlight of the hunt is the hard-boiled egg battle! The rule is based on the marble game or the technique known as the Tac (or Touch Touch). It’s about aiming at the opponent’s egg and the one who breaks the other’s shell has won.

How to Get in the Mood?

VivaLing coaches make sure that their student learn as much about language as about its cultural environment. There is nothing better than practice to immerse yourself in tradition, and even better if that practice respects nature and protects our friend Osterhase, the Easter hare. While you prepare your eggs, VivaLing is very happy to wish you :

Frohe Ostern!

Optimize mistakes to learn foreign language

Mistakes, a tool to accelerate foreign languages learning

« When you forbid mistakes, you steal victory »  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Fear of error is the lock of learning. In the context of foreign languages, the avoidance strategy is its most common manifestation. The learner does not dare to answer, looks for the shortest and least risky sentences, or expresses himself in basic mode: “yes”, “no”, and “I don’t know”.

Are all mistakes equal when you speak in another language?
Is a fault more serious than a confusion?
Does a careless mistake carry the same weight as systematic misuse?
Can a false friend embarrass you?

Moreover, should errors be corrected?

To correct or not to correct errors when learning foreign languages

Using mistakes to give meaning


The question may come as a surprise, but the controversy is raging. Neuroscience supports correction. In his recent book, “Learning! The talents of the brain, the challenge of machines“,  neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene invites us to accept the error: “It is the very condition of learning, it allows the brain to update our mental models. »
(L’entretien du dimanche – Sud Ouest 21/10/2018)

When to correct? The dilemma in foreign language learning

When is correcting mistakes better?


“Mistakes should not be punished. They should be corrected. And the faster a correction is made, the more effective it is,” recommends Stanislas Dehaene. However, this advice is difficult to apply for foreign language teachers. Mastering a foreign language requires the acquisition of two skills: fluency and accuracy.

“Accuracy means the ability to speak correctly without mistakes. Fluency means speaking, reading, etc. with a natural pace and cadence without long pauses,” says Abbie, Master English Coach at VivaLingA language teacher must work to balance the emphasis on the two: not to ensure accuracy while sacrificing fluency and causing a learner to second-guess everything and speak with long gaps or pauses; at the same time, not only encouraging fluency with no consideration of correct usage, especially mistakes that can affect the overall meaning understood by the listener (such as using the wrong verb tense, a “false friend” from the learners primary language, or a word with the wrong connotation in the target language).”

Optimize mistakes as a learning tool

Mistakes as a learning tool



“Errors are part of the process of acquiring a new language. At VivaLing, our teachers spot which parts were hard for the students to learn and then reinforce and pay more attention to the similar points in the next sessions, explains Jing, Mandarin master coach.

“The most important thing I would like parents to understand, continues Coach Abbie, is that it is important that language learners develop accuracy and fluency simultaneously and that both are equally important. »

As is often the case, the solution lies in a wide range of strategies, to be adapted to the student’s situation and personality.

  When to focus on fluidity?

“If the teacher and student carry a meaningful conversation, communication should be the most important thing, points out Jing. Once students have expressed themselves, the teacher can repeat their general idea using the appropriate vocabulary, grammar or mode of expression. Most of the students will realize their mistakes.”

This constitutes the subtle principles of delayed error correction. “It means allowing the learner to finish their thought or sentence (fluency) before addressing the errors (accuracy)” states coach Abbie.

“If we are working on a free activity where there are no specific instructions (for example, “What do you usually do on a weekday?”), I don’t correct or only slightly” confirms Nuria, Spanish master coach. “I  just let the learner flow like it would happen in a real situation with natives (natives don’t correct you all the time).”

  When to focus on precision?

“On the other hand, when we are drilling a specific point of the language and the student makes mistakes, we correct them immediately. This part of immediate feedback is included in our Villa pedagogy,” says coach Jing, “so the students won’t repeat the same mistake over and over again.”

“In controlled practice activities,” Coach Nuria confirms, “the exercises involve specific instructions, such as: fill the gaps with the present tense. In this case, I try to point out all mistakes at the moment the learner says themI also go back, if needed, to read a certain word or a specific point, so it helps the student to remember and consolidate. »

Solutions in action

Solutions for optimizing mistakes


At VivaLing, our coaches use mistakes to transform them into a learning accelerator. The subject is too broad to cover in a few lines the full range of their pedagogical tools.  Let’s discover some of their basic strategies that will allow you to better decipher the videos of your children’s sessions….

   The coach helps the learner to focus on one or two specific mistakes at a time

Coach Abbie likes to identify specific areas rather than trying to correct everything at the same time. She uses goal-setting and cueing as a strategy.

“A lot of learners have fossilized errors that they carry over from their primary language or from years of bad habits. It’s important that they are aware of these trouble areas and know that their errors often come from the same core mistakes. By identifying a weakness, we can sharpen our focus and offer specific praise and practice to help them turn the “not yet” into a “yes!” For example, many French learners have trouble knowing which verb form to use in present simple tense: “He walks vs. They walk” or  “She has vs. We have.” Even when they do remember, sometimes they drop the pronunciation of the final “s”!!!

So I tell the learner that I’ve noticed they make this mistake often and I want to help them fix it. We come up with a cue or signal (such as drawing an “s” in the air with my finger) that we can associate with this specific error. Instead of interrupting them in the middle of a sentence, I will just make a motion with the signal, and the learner will restate what he/she has just said correctly. Another common error is forgetting to use the past tense. In this case, I just make a backward pointing motion with my thumb. The learner often knows the past tense form. He/she just forgot to use it and can fix the error without any interruption in fluency”

  The coach involves the learner in the correction process

“We play at solving the mistake together,” says coach Nuria, “as if we had to find the answer to a riddle.”

According to the principle of delayed error correction, coach Abbie waits until the learner has completed his sentence or exercise to throw a clue such as “Number 3 seems weird…What do you think?”

  The coach talks about mistakes in a positive way (and in affirmative mode)

“At VivaLing, “No, it’s not good” is prohibited,” explains coach Nuria. “We prefer to ask the learner, “Mh…. Are you sure about that?” because the last sentence stimulates curiosity and gives children a platform to think and decide for themselves. It teaches them to be critical of themselves. »

  The coach rewards the solution of the error

“I seek to reward my learners twice as much if they correct their own mistakes (even with help),” underlines coach Nuria. “Indeed, they are actively reflecting and consolidating the notion in their brains. It’s double effort and responsibility in their own learning process! ».
An approach approved by Carol Dweck, Stanford Professor of Psychology. Her research shows that it is better to congratulate the work done by the child (then the effort is rewarded, whether the result is correct or incorrect) than the child’s intelligence (mistakes would then be a sign of the limits of intelligence: “I am not good at it. It is not made for me”).

  The coach only corrects the necessary errors

How can a linguistic notion be corrected if the learner has not yet really learned how to use it? It is important to limit corrections to notions that the learner should already know. For the rest, the coach will be his student’s crutch to allow him to climb the successive steps.

Let us therefore encourage our children to consider their linguistic mistakes as an opportunity!

Learn English with coach Brittany from USA

Hello, can you tell us more about you?

My name is Brittany from New Jersey, USA. Currently, I live on a beautiful island called Puerto Rico. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister who live in New Jersey. I make every effort to try and visit them often.  

Have you always been a teacher?

I have been a teacher for many years. While I was in high school I started out tutoring students.  I have a special fondness for helping people learn new things. This is why  I went to school for cosmetology because I also have a passion for hair styling and making people look beautiful. Later on, I found myself working as an event and wedding planner.  

What do you like best about teaching your language?

The art of communication. English is a very expressive language. We don’t just speak with our words but we also speak with our facial expressions and our body language. My most positive experience in teaching English is that I have met hundreds of wonderful and interesting adults and children over the ye

What is your best memory about teaching?

I had a very difficult 5 years old student. He never wanted to sit down, never wanted to learn, and never wanted to engage me. After about 3 lessons, I felt like this was a lost cause. I really wanted to give up. Then this determination and drive just came over me and I said to myself “What can I do differently?”  Well, I dressed up like a crazy person :). One side ponytail. Bunny ears. Crazy makeup. Instead of teaching him sitting down I taught the whole class standing up. Instead of teaching 0 minutes in a 25 minute class I was at least able to get about 7 minutes teaching him. So I learned that moment that if I continue to create a fun loving experience really and put my love into the teaching to draw him out little by little, I’ll be able to complete a 25 minute session.

Do you have any favorite place in your home country? Why?

New York City ! I love all the lights. I love the fact that there’s always something to do. Broadway shows, food, jazz, walking around the city, museums, etc. NYC is known as the city that never sleeps and I love it !

What does a working day look like for you?

I wake up at about 6 o’clock in the morning and prepare my schedule for the rest of the day. I’m not really a breakfast person so I will only have tea or coffee. Then I check my emails and get dressed and ready for the day. Some days I teach in the mornings.  Other days I teach in the afternoon. On the days that I’m not teaching, I am involved in my volunteer work teaching people about the Bible in English. When I return home I always prepare my classes for the next day and send out any emails needed for my students and their parents. Sometimes I like to watch a movie or TV show with dinner and head off to bed.

What is your favorite hobby?

I love singing, dancing, and traveling.

Why do you think learning languages is important in life?

Where I currently live in Puerto Rico, I do not speak the language fluently, but I work diligently to communicate as best I can with these beautiful people.  Of course, I wish I had learned Spanish much earlier In life. The mind of a young child is like a sponge and it can absorb new information much more rapidly than adults at an accelerated rate. Being able to teach young children English is vital for them to be able to succeed in life. The world has become a melting pot of different languages and when you’re able to communicate even just a few words, it builds a common ground with whomever you encounter.

In one word, why should a child have language sessions with you ?

LOVE !!! I realize that I have great chemistry with children. My goal is to make learning English not only challenging but great fun. I love listening to children struggle through the activity of learning a new language and then successfully communicate the language with great ease. I love what I do!

Learn English with coach Ilse

Hello, can you tell us more about you?

I am Coach Ilse. I live in the breathtaking city of Cape Town in South Africa. I grew up in a small town called Somerset West. I have two naughty but adorable dogs, two beautiful cats and about ten Koi fish. I love hiking, camping, surfing and the outdoors. I don’t have a sweet-tooth at all, but I love baking for friends and family

Have you always been a teacher?

No, I studied CAD drafting and worked at an engineering firm. I used to teach Sunday-school classes and tutored a few students. I started working as an online teacher more than two years ago and I still love my job every day.

What do you like best about teaching your language?

English is and has always been my preferred language, as some things just sound better in English. I feel there is so much we can learn about the language, once you dig a little deeper. Idioms, poems, simile and phrases, to mention a few just makes life sweeter.

What is your best memory about teaching?

I would have to say the unique way in which my students surprise me. To see my students improve and to be able to help with their progress. Seeing how proud they are once they get there.

What is your favorite place in your home country? Why?

My favorite place is the beach. The crashing of the waves, the birds in the sky and sand between my toes, is better than therapy.

What does a working day look like for you?

I wake up and have a healthy breakfast. I start my sessions with my students, complete progress reports and after that I prepare my lessons for the following days.

What is your favorite hobby?

I have a lot of hobbies and changes with the seasons but at the moment my favorite hobby is definitely hiking.

Why do you think learning languages is important in life?

The world cannot function without language, we need a way to be able to communicate with ease. Learning a new language broadens ones listening skills and memory. It also helps us improve on our own languages.

What is the most important value of learning a language at an early stage for you ?

It is easier for younger learners to learn and remember a new language and it enhances future career opportunities.


Because of my enthusiasm! 🙂

Food in Spain: Tengo hambre!

Tapas, paella, sangría, jamón,… A lot of people around the world know and have even tried these typical dishes at least once in their lifetime. However, there are plenty of different local Spanish dishes which are more typical in Spain and even tastier than these world-known ones. I chose 5 dishes (although there are many more) from all around the “Península Ibérica”.

Pulpo a la gallega (originally called “polbo á feira)

Pulpo a la gallega

This delicious dish from Galicia (northwest Spain), can be challenging for those who don’t like or have never tried seafood before. “Pulpo” means octopus, and when it is fresh and cooked well… it melts in your mouth! It is usually served on a bed of boiled and cut potatoes, and has a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of paprika on top.

Pan con tomate (originally called: “pa amb tomàquet”)


Originally from Catalonia (northeast Spain), although you can find similar versions of it in other Mediterranean countries. It is made with just 4 ingredients: toasted bread, garlic, olive oil and salt. You can eat it by itself or with cheese, jamón, prouscitto… almost anything!

Bocadillo de calamares


If you ever go to Madrid (the capital of Spain) you should try this typical sandwich of fried squid rings. So simple but surprisingly good!

Paella Valenciana


Everybody knows paella, but not a lot of foreigners know that paella is originally from Valencia and is not supposed to have seafood in it (in other areas of Spain they created their own “seafood” version). The original paella valenciana typically uses rice, “judía ferradura” -a type of green beans-, “garrofón” -a special type of big white beans-, chicken, rabbit, tomato, water, salt, olive oil and saffron. If you are ever in Spain, you will need to know that Thursday is Paella day in every Spanish food restaurant!



From the south of Spain, this typical dish is made for hot weather. A cold soup, easy to make at home. The main ingredients are: tomato, cucumber, green peppers, olive oil, bread, vinegar and garlic. Quite light and refreshing!

Author: Nuria, Spanish Master coach at VivaLing

Why you should make a language study trip to France


Study Trip France - Accent Francais

The benefits of a language stay are many: a life experience, the discovery of another culture, self-discovery and a way of traveling “smart”

If you are not yet convinced, here are some excellent reasons why to try this adventure.

  • Linguistic immersion

An intensive practice of the language: A linguistic stay means real practice in the actual country. Progress is faster because you speak French, think French and even eat French! French classes, accommodation with a French family and the practice of cultural activities are the keys to effective learning.

  • The discovery of France and its culture

Beyond learning the French language, it is the experience of a culture different to yours and an ideal way to open your mind.

  • Getting out of your comfort zone and your family circle

Working life quickly teaches you that sometimes it is necessary to adapt to unfamiliar situations. Immersion in a different country and culture is an excellent learning experience: new encounters and situations different from what you are used to forges character. This experience is often a first for teens and young adults and a new step towards self-reliance.

  • New friends from all over the world

A language study trip allows you to meet students from all over the world who have the same goal: to learn French. When one is away from home, great friendships are made and good times continue to be shared, often through a professional social network,  well after the language stay has finished.

  • A way to enrich your resume

There is no longer any excuse to miss mastering a foreign language. A linguistic stay makes it possible to value the practice of a language and knowledge of the culture. A considerable asset in the labor market.

Smart holidays: Visiting a country, meeting new friends, having fun and learning a foreign language….. are these not the ideal holidays ??

If your children are aged 16 and above, let them enjoy the best study trip to France ever: contact our partner Accent Français and enjoy a $40 discount on your stay in Montpellier!

The Legend of Chinese New Year



An ancient Chinese legend about the origin of chuxi tells us that there was a monster called Xi. Xi would emerge from the sea on the 30th day of the 12th lunar month to dine on the locals. No one would dare sleep that night until, at last, they learned that the monster could be driven away by putting up red paper and setting off ﬁrecrackers. Since chu means “to get rid of”, the Spring Festival Eve was known as chuxi, meaning “to get rid of something”.

Have a look at a great video about this legend

The custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets, setting off ﬁrecrackers and staying up late at night is thus observed till the present day

The history of the character “福”

The character “福” is often seen pasted upside down during the Spring Festival. Do you know why?

Here goes the legend:

After the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, ascended to the throne, he secretly told all the people who had helped him to paste the character “福”, which means good fortune, on their doors. He would then kill those who hadn‘t put the character up by the second day. Aﬂer discovering the plan, the kind-hearted Empress Ma asked every family in the city to paste the  character before dawn hence eliminating the disaster. Thankfully the people listened to her.

On the second day, when the emperor ordered his soldiers to kill all those who hadn’t pasted the character “福”, he was told every family had pasted the character. This made him very angry. Then the emperor heard about a family had pasted the character upside down because they were illiterate. He became so furious that he immediately ordered the whole family to be executed.

Empress Ma then hurriedly explained to the emperor, “The family must have learned Your Majesty will come today, so they put the character “福” upside down”. The clever Empress Ma knew that when spoke in Chinese, “upside down”, has the same meaning as “good fortune has arrived”.

The emperor fell for her explanation and didn’t kill the family. A disaster was avoided. From then on, people have put the character “福” upside down, meaning “good fortune has arrived”.

What’s on the menu for Chinese New Year?

Chinese New year


Chinese people attach much importance to family reunion. No matter how far the family members live from each other, they will normally go back home to eat a family reunion dinner on the Spring Festival Eve. The dinner, usually a big feast, includes dumplings and all kinds of other food.

In northern China, each dish has a special meaning. The steaming hotpot signiﬁes prosperity. Since fish has the same pronunciation as “surplus” in Chinese, it means “surplus year after year”. Chicken has the same pronunciation of luck, which predicts auspiciousness while carrot heads, also known as caitou, express the wish to have a good luck. Deep-fried food, such as that of lobsters and whole ﬁsh, signiﬁes the auspiciousness of a family.  Dumplings, originated from the word “intersection”, which means the moment between the old year and the new year. Since a dumpling also resembles a shoe-shaped gold or silver ingot in ancient China, placing plates of dumplings on the table signiﬁes “the New Year will come with wealth”.

Families usually sit around the table on the Spring Festival Eve, eating the reunion dinner while watching the Spring Festival Galat and awaiting the ringing of the New Year bell. The sound of ﬁrecrackers will be heard and spectacular ﬁrework displays seen.

On the morning of the ﬁrst day of the ﬁrst lunar month, people put on their ﬁnest clothes and exchange New Year greetings. Elder members of a family give “lucky money” to the children and adults exchange greetings, wishing each other good fortune and a Happy New Year. With the development of communication tools, people send loving text messages to each other. All around there is a bustling and joyous atmosphere. No matter where you are, you’ll surely receive good wishes.

This is the Spring Festival of China. It is lively, jubilant and joyous,

Would you like to come to China now and experience it?