For those who have promised for years to get yacking in a foreign language, Yakety Yak Language Café now have an online offering for anyone looking to parlo Italiano, or indeed improve their French, Spanish, German, Gaelic, Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Chinese or Russian.
Pre-coronavirus, Yakety Yak met in small conversational group in cafes and bistros in Edinburgh, Glasgow and East Lothian, with each group hosted by a native speaking tutor. Participants need a basic knowledge of their particular language and to be able to hold a simple conversation and now Yakety Yak is keeping conversation alive with online sessions.
Yakety Yak director, Jordan Peyroche, said: “Zoom works very well for our needs and since going online, as well as our regulars in Edinburgh and Glasgow, we have had new participants from the Borders, the Highlands, London and the Netherlands. When our meetings get back to normal we will keep the online service for people who are isolated or who can’t travel to our meet-ups in person.”
For those who prefer 1-1 language tuition, Edinburgh based Italian-French couple Mariangela Cafagna and Julien Presles offer classes in their native languages from beginners to all levels. Tailored lessons, study plans or just the chance to chat to a fluent speaker, are provided on Skype or Zoom and they offer the first trial lesson free to see if it suits the starter student.
Mariangela, who hails from Puglia, said: “For people stuck at home in this strange situation it’s an ideal time to take up that language they always promised they would learn and to keep their minds busy. We have seen a real increase in the number of weekly lessons and if people can’t get away on holiday as thy planned at least the language can visit them.
“I have been teaching Italian online since 2016 and I really love my job. It is my goal to combine my range of experience with my ability to be an upbeat, enthusiastic and informative tutor who will make a positive contribution to the improvement of the student’s Italian.”
Parisian Julien moved to the UK in 2012 in order to perfect his English and has taught French to hundreds of students over the last eight years.
He said: “Over these years I have had the priviledge to teach a diverse range of people, from children to seniors, from beginners to advanced level, from people coming in to the UK to people as far away as South Korea.”
Online sessions can be 30, 60 or 90 minutes and Mariangela and Julien’s colleagues offer teaching in Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
