As we start a new academic year, we are looking eagerly ahead to 2021 and the chance to welcome our students back to the Marlborough College campus. This summer is an exciting one for many reasons: not only will it mark our return to in-person teaching but it will also mark the launch of our newest course, Open English.

Open English will join our Open Minds course as one of two available options for morning tuition and will provide students with a topic-based programme of study with a focus on language acquisition and will be offered in place of our previous language-based course, Learn English, while still retaining may of the elements that made Learn English so popular.

The School of English and Culture has always sought to provide students with a language-learning experience that departs from the usual prescribed pattern of textbook topics, offering instead a communicative approach that is carefully designed to emphasise conversation and collaboration with integrated language tuition and practise in its real-world context.   

Taking all these aspects as a starting point, Open English will focus on the study of weekly thematic modules that are designed to encourage students to develop their creativity and critical thinking skills while providing the language skills required to explore a range of issues and ideas and to express their views on these topics. For example, students may practise past tenses in a discussion around representing memory and nostalgia through photography, or utilize a wide range of vocabulary and hypothetical forms to consider our potential to access non-human perspectives.

Open English classes will be formed according to level (A2 – C1) and will integrate the relevant grammar and vocabulary for each level into classes that will see students stage performances, take part in debates and collaborate with their classmates to create a weekly project in response to each module.

With an emphasis on discussion and bringing curiosity into the classroom, Open English is a companion to our hugely popular Open Minds course and is designed for those students who are interested in challenging themselves intellectually and creatively but require extra language tuition and support in order to do so.

To learn more about both our courses, Open English and Open Minds, please visit our website here.