Intermediate or advanced does not mean very much on its own.
Two people can have the same level on paper and struggle in completely different ways.
One freezes during small talk.
Another overthinks simple answers.
Another avoids speaking unless fully prepared.
Those difficulties are not random.
They are patterns.
And at a certain stage, progress depends on those patterns being recognised and worked with — not just more material being covered.
Classroom learning has a role. Good teachers do careful, attentive work inside that structure.
But many language school holidays sell something slightly different.
They sell “immersion” simply because you are in an English-speaking country. They promise that being surrounded by culture will transform your language effortlessly.
Culture does not make English easy.
Not in a silver bullet sort of way.
There’s still a lot of work to do.
Culture can help you want to wake up and do it.
What Culture Does Do
Culture makes the work meaningful. It gives rhythm to the day. It softens frustration. It gives your tired mind somewhere to rest. It rewards you with real conversations.
But culture is rarely found in a classroom.
It’s not found in a prewritten course.
It’s not powerful because you are within it, visiting. It gets powerful for language only when you interact with it.
What Classrooms Don’t Do
A classroom can simulate immersion.
Real immersion requires unpredictability — and support inside that unpredictability.
You Don’t Need a Classroom, You Need an Arc
Immersion is not a location.
It is a condition.
And conditions have to be designed.
You don’t need a classroom.
You need an arc.
A day that begins with intention.
That stretches you in the right places.
That exposes you to real language.
That lets frustration rise — and then settle.
That gives your brain somewhere to rest.
That is what holds progress together.
I design language holidays to learn English. I design ‘arcs’.
Every day of our holidays has arcs
It has a starting point and a clear language focus — perhaps asking questions more naturally, interrupting more confidently, or responding without over-preparing. It unfolds around the person in front of me, and it has a clear ending, where the mind can switch off and settle.
Today we had a two-hour language workshop where my client, R., met and questioned a friend of mine who works in an unusual industry.
I set it up this way to practise asking questions. It was relaxed: we drank tea and chatted – and we followed the conversation wherever it felt like going.
Next we went outside for a walk and saw three deer and a red squirrel. We wandered into the local hotel and discussed their art collection and the comfortable seating.
They have a promotional film playing in the lobby, so we watched how some of the walks and experiences we have already shared are portrayed by the hotel.
We walked through their stables, then found a big frog precariously close to the road, so we lifted it to a safer place.
Welcome, Unpredictability
None of this is random. The workshop stretches one kind of language. The walk shifts the register. The shared spaces reveal different patterns. I do not script the conversations, but I know what we are working on and I hold the thread through it all.
The whole holiday has an arc. There is energy and expectation to be managed. Today is day five. On day three I shared a meal with a family, with R., and the next day he was disappointed and frustrated that he had understood so little.
I am used to holding this too.
There is such a difference between the English used in international commerce and the English used between friends. It is not only about accent. It is about phrasal verbs, speed, overlapping voices, references to shared history. It is normal, natural conversation — and it is part of learning.
Yes, it is difficult. You would not learn more simply by sitting in a classroom for longer hours. You might feel more exhausted, but exhaustion is not the same as progress.
Learning how not to understand everything is a skill that takes a lot of time to develop.
It is possible to enjoy a family meal for what it gives, not to judge yourself for the parts you miss.
R. understood much and took part a great deal. That is worth celebrating.
So I hold these arcs. I hold the arc of a lesson, the arc of a day, and the arc of the whole holiday. I make it rich with experience, but your brain is working hard. Progress may feel slower than you would like.
The remedy is not to remove the difficulty. It is to design the conditions properly.
To allow culture to support the work, not pretend to replace it.
It is an error to assume that because most language learning happens in classrooms, that must be optimal.
Standard does not mean optimal.
It means scalable (for the language school).
For a mature and professional learner, efficient progress often requires something more precise: real exposure, careful attention, and a container that adapts as patterns emerge.
That is what I design.
It is not lighter in terms of progress.
It is lighter because the energy of that progress is held.
All images on this page were taken during our workshop and walk.
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