Tuesday 29 September 2009

The journey begins

Everything has to start somewhere and a new law school is no exception. I had not imagined that I would begin to accept students until absolutely everything was in place; website, stationery, registration with TOLES, advertisements in legal publications and so on. All of those things are on the way but already I have lawyers asking for lessons. So far I have accepted them for one-to-one sessions based on their needs and it seems to be going well (at least, they keep coming back!) I have had another enquiry today so all looks well for the future.

I have always believed that the best form of advertising is personal recommendation; if the product is good enough people will tell their friends about it.

Monday 14 September 2009

Professional and Legal English at Anglaw Kft., Budapest's Language School for Lawyers




What Anglaw offers

Anglaw aims to give its delegates the opportunity to:

Practise and develop their professional and legal vocabulary in English;

To increase fluency and confidence in using English in professional and legal contexts;

To enable participants to identify their own language learning needs with a view to continued English language development after the course.

Topics are determined according to the needs of delegates and might include aspects of:

Hungarian, EU and UK legal systems;

Case law;

Company law;

Contract law, particularly in relation to insurance contracts;

Financial Regulation in different jurisdictions.


Anglaw’s approach to teaching and learning

The school focuses on developing and practising reading and speaking skills through cooperative task-based work in pairs or small groups.

Delegates read and discuss legal material in order to exchange information and compare aspects of their own legal systems.

Delegates will also be given opportunities for more individual work, such as preparing and giving a short talk or presenting a summary of a legal case.


Anglaw courses include the following activities

Presentation of specialist vocabulary by lecturer;

Vocabulary building exercises;

Reading and discussion of legal text, including case reports;

Giving short presentations on legal topics;

Written tasks.

If you would like to find out more then please email anglawbp@gmail.com

Saturday 5 September 2009

Budapest's Language School for Lawyers



I've spent much of the summer feeling that I ought to be paying more attention to the task of setting up Budapest's first language school for lawyers owned and run by native English speakers who are also legally qualified. A few days after August 20th, the national holiday that in the minds of Hungarians spells the end of summer, Budapest is bursting with creative energy. From no activity to overload in a just a few days. For the last week friends and colleagues have been ringing, emailing and sending me messages on Facebook, all offering help, support, ideas and suggestions. I cannot believe how lucky I am to be living and starting a business in such a fantastic place.


This blog will be a mixture of reflections on the joys (or otherwise) of getting the language school off the ground and, as time goes on, tips, ideas, topical items, and so on that might be of help to language teachers and students, particularly those whose work or study includes the law and all things legalistic. Welcome!