travel tips and tourist information for Malta

Tourist Information Malta: Essential Travel Tips

If you are planning to visit Malta, it is essential to have basic tourist information about the Maltese islands, their people, and their way of life. This is particularly important for English students who will be staying in Malta for extended periods. Our blog will provide a comprehensive guide to help you adapt to life in Malta and make the most of your stay.

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language school students having fun during an activity in Malta

8 Reasons to Join our Young Adult Programme

Why should you choose BELS Language schools in Malta?

Travelling alone when you’re 16 and 17 is tricky. You’re too old for fully-supervised teen trips, but too young to travel and book accommodation completely alone. The young-adult programme at our language school in Malta is the perfect balance for people in this situation. It includes airport transfers, English courses, half-board accommodation and an activity package.

Here are 8 reasons to join:

1. It’s safe, active and independent

We’re located in St.Paul’s Bay in the north of Malta, one of the safest areas (of a surprisingly safe island) and can provide host-family accommodation, which is the only legal accommodation option for young-adults travelling alone. Your accommodation will be a short walking-distance from the school, and you’ll have a roommate whose also on the same programme. While you’re asked to respect your host-family and their house rules, the programme is not supervised so you’ll free before and after classes.

Our host-families are licensed by the Malta tourism authority and have worked with us for many years. They’re all within the area of the language school too! Your roommate will be another BELS student of the same gender, and a similar age.

2. Your breakfast and dinner are cooked for you

Your host-family will also prepare breakfast and dinner for you every day. Apart from being extremely convenient (especially breakfast), it’s a chance to try a variety of mouth-watering Maltese dishes. If you have any special dietary requirements or allergies, they will also be catered for – just make sure to tell us in advance.

3. The culture, history, and activities

Malta has rich culture and an array of places to explore, such as visiting inspiring museums, charming piazzas, thousand-year-old Megalithic temples, touring fortified cities and towers. There’s also an underground world to discover, with prehistoric caves and catacombs spread across the island.

The programme also includes 3 afternoon activities and a full-day weekend activity that you can choose with your new BELS friends.

4. Experience the Mediterranean lifestyle and island life

Sunshine, delicious wholesome food, sun-kissed skin and long relaxing days running around beaches. Being an island, you can practice any imaginable water-sport (stand-up paddle, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, diving, boat rides, jet skis, snorkeling) with jaw-dropping backdrops and amazing diving spots. There are plenty of sandy beaches for volley-ball or a friendly soccer match, or simply tanning and enjoying the blue waters. These are all options to choose from when you’re studying with BELS Language schools in Malta.

5. Develop an important life-skill & improving your resume

Being well travelled and being fluent in English are both considered assets on a resume. So, you can enjoy a trip, discover a new culture and advance your career opportunities at the same time. At the end of your course, you’ll receive a certificate of attendance with the course duration, final level of English, and a personalised note from your teacher. If you have more time on your hands, you could even consider studying English during a gap year.

6. Meet new people

When you join a young adult programme like we’re offering, you will make new friends easily. Whether you’re travelling alone or in a group, you’re bound to make new friends from all over the world. Nothing makes us happier than seeing friendships start at our language school in Malta, and continue from different corners of the world.

7. Regular and inexpensive flights

As an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, you can find inexpensive, regular and short flights to Malta from most European countries. Many low-cost airlines provide flights to Malta. For the best deals for summer, we suggest booking a few months in advance.

8. We prepare everything for you

Apart from your flights, BELS take care of everything else for you. Bookings can all be made with us directly, and our team members are here to help you with you any questions you may have.

Read what Fanny had to say about her experience in Malta and our language school.

Do you have any questions about visiting Malta with BELS Language schools?

Send them to us at [email protected] or speak to us on livechat – we’re here to help.

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group of people in business meetings in English

A Complete Guide to Business Meetings in English

How to Prepare for Meetings in English

Read tips written by our in-house experts!

Business meetings in English can be tricky for all parties involved, not only the one running the meeting. Each role comes with unique challenges and tests specific sets of language skills. Maintaining proper business etiquette while using a secondary language is added pressure to your performance or ability to keep up with the pace of the meeting.

This guide will give you the confidence needed to not only survive, but to excel during your next business meeting in English.

Running a Business Meeting in English

Feeling confident in the meeting room is a must for anyone working in the business world. As the person running the meeting, you must exert confidence in your mannerisms, follow a strategically mapped out meeting. All while adapting your thinking in English!

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Be positive and upbeat

Light-hearted jokes and small talk are an important part of meetings in any language. It’s easy to forget this when your focus is on using accurate language to communicate your intentions clearly in a secondary language. When leading a meeting in English, remember you are still human – show your personality and try to be as natural as possible. Researching business networking and small-talk language phrases can go a long way.

2. Body language is International

There are no language barriers when it comes to body language. When you are speaking in English, your body language might be different without realising it. Make a conscious effort to look up body language symbolism prior to the meeting, even if you never need to do this in your first language.

3. Learn the required functional language

You may be an expert in business and the industry in your native language, but what about in English? It’s essential to develop your business English skills, functional language and industry terminology for optimal performance during meetings in English.

There are plenty of sites, that have dedicated sections to learn English online. Here’s a list of the essential functional language for business communication:

  • Introductions and openings
  • Stating objectives and introducing the agenda
  • Explaining, clarifying and repeating points
  • Sharing and asking for opinions
  • Agreeing and disagreeing with points made
  • Negotiating and discussing
  • Summarising, closing and assigning actions.

4. Plan, practice and repeat

Be well prepared to minimise the chance of errors. After you find the business English phrases and language needed, write up a script for the meeting in English. Then it’s time to practice, and if you feel comfortable, record yourself and review for improvements. And repeat the whole process till the script comes more naturally. You also need to remember that it doesn’t need to be flawless – mistakes happen even when using a native language.

5. Pre-empt Potential Questions 

The next step is to make a list of questions that participants are likely to ask, as well as issues that they may point out. Write a script of how you would reply in a similar way to above. This will be useful when needing to improvise responses in meetings.

Participating in Business Meeting in English

Even if you’re not in the spotlight, the pressure is felt! Important decisions and plans are made – so understanding what is being said is essential for all participants. Knowing when and how to provide input in also key.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Develop your listening 

As a participant in a meeting in English, most of your time will be spent listening and understanding. From a skills perspective, this requires a general high level of English with particular focus on listening skills. A solid range of vocabulary and industry terminology is needed – it is important to be quick with the language. Spend time listening to audiobooks and watching TED talks on the topic of business or your area of work. Casually listening to music and watching episodes will also help.

2. Focus on note-taking skills

One of the passive skills obtained at University is the art of notetaking. Trying to keep up with your lectures and every little thing they say paves the way for business meetings. You can surely do this in your first language, and what about in English? Are you as effective? It’s usually a less developed skill for most second language speakers. Nothing to worry about, just practice! Combine this with the activity above to get the best results.

3. Acquire the necessary functional language

Think of all the functions that are required in a regular business meeting, and make sure you know the appropriate and accurate way to interact in English. Here’s a list of essential business English language for meetings:

  • Introducing self and background
  • Agreeing and disagreeing
  • Giving opinions and explaining reasons
  • Stating facts and giving reasons
  • Building an argument
  • Responding to arguments
  • Brainstorming and making suggestions
  • Asking questions and clarifying

For personalised study-plan and courses based on business meetings in English, write to us at [email protected].

 

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