Language lessons in Edinburgh

Known for its striking architecture, historic attractions and wonderful festivals, Edinburgh is a unique city. With a population of 527,620 estimated residents, it’s one of the largest cities in Scotland and one of the most popular among immigrants who decide to move to the country. According to the 2011 census, 16% of city residents were born abroad. The largest groups you can find within the foreign-born community come from countries like Poland, China, Germany and India. 

As you can imagine, being such a melting pot of cultures, Edinburgh is a great place to learn other languages. Whether you’re interested in learning Polish, German, Spanish, Chinese or any other language, you’ll find that the way you experience the city gets better the more languages you speak, as this will allow you to expand your social circle, become more employable and explore the different cultures you can find here. 

Where to study foreign languages in Edinburgh

If you’re looking for a traditional language course, you should check out what the University of Edinburgh has to offer. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or have been learning a language for a few years, at this university you’ll find courses at all levels in more than ten different languages, that include Danish, Greek, Turkish and Norwegian. On the other hand, if you want to find useful resources to immerse yourself in the cultures where your target language is spoken, there are more than 25 branches of the Edinburgh libraries where you can find books, music and films that will help you do just that. The Italian Deli Cookbook, written by Theo Randall, is a great way to familiarise yourself with Italian cuisine. In this fantastic book written in the sixties, you’ll find Italian family recipes that teach you how to make biscotti, limoncello and all sorts of pasta. Alternatively, if you’re learning French and are interested in expanding your knowledge of French cinema, French Film Noir by Robin Buss explores the fascinating history of this genre and analyses some of its most famous films. 

Language exchange groups in Edinburgh

One of the best things you can do to boost your language skills is socialise with other language learners in the city. Fortunately, there are a lot of meetings in Edinburgh where you can find native speakers from all over the world. Edinburgh Language Exchange (ELE) is one of the biggest communities of language learners in the city that holds weekly meetings. These events welcome speakers of all levels, so if you can’t hold a conversation yet, don’t worry, you can still attend. There are some meetings that are only open to learners of a particular language, like Learn By Speaking, a general chat meetup for Spanish, Italian, French and English speakers that takes place at Black Medicine Coffee, located at 2 Nicolson Street. Other events like Language Exchange Night, are the perfect chance to meet speakers of many different languages at BrewDog, located at 50 Lothian Road.

Cultural institutions and events in Edinburgh

There are many festivals in Edinburgh that showcase talented artists from all around the globe. The Edinburgh International Festival, for example, presents an impressive programme each August that features the finest performers and ensembles from the worlds of dance, opera, music and theatre. Established in 1947, this world-class cultural event has brought audiences and international artists together for over seventy years, making it one of the oldest events of this kind. For three weeks, you’ll get the chance to enjoy the best live music, plays and performances in venues across the city. What’s more, if you are on a tight budget, there’s a great selection of free events every year that you can’t miss.

If you love reading and want to find some of the best books in the country and abroad, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is just what you’re looking for. The festival takes place in August at the University of Edinburgh’s College of Art on Lauriston Place and it’s the perfect chance to meet authors, illustrators, poets, politicians, thinkers, prize-winners and rising stars from all nations. If you can’t make it to the event, you now have the opportunity to listen to most of the talks and interviews online. If you’re interested in this year’s programme, you can check it out here.

Language jobs in Edinburgh

As the most prosperous city in Scotland and one of the powerhouses of the UK’s economy, Edinburgh has many job opportunities for everyone. However, the job market can be quite a competitive one, so if you really want to stand out in any job interview, learning a language is just what you need. If you’re interested in European languages, you’ll be glad to know there are many job positions available for bilinguals in the area like Spanish Speaking Senior Account Manager, German Speaking Customer Service Advisor and French Speaking Escalation Specialist. But that’s not all, if you’re learning an Asian language like Chinese, Japanese or Korean, important companies in the city like PTW, Appen and Trip Group are looking for fluent speakers for positions like Account Assistant, Operations Manager and Localisation QA Tester.

In addition to this, if you stop being monolingual you’ll be able to build useful business relationships with the many immigrant communities in Edinburgh. Whether you’re looking for employees or business partners, these connections will help your business reach a bigger part of the local population and even other countries. 

Get started now!!!

Learning a new language has the potential to improve all aspects of your life, so there’s no point in spending any more of your time speaking only one language. Here at Listen & Learn, we’ll help you along your journey to becoming multilingual by offering you the best-personalised lessons tailored to your every goal and requirement. You can start learning with us by taking a quick level test on our website to check how good your skills are. After that, just send a quick enquiry and one of our team members will contact you in no time!