Learn Arabic, British Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian or Spanish and discover how the award-winning Languages for All programme can supercharge your degree and boost your future prospects.
Languages for All consists of two programmes;
These carefully developed programmes have been designed to complement your studies, helping you acquire an incredibly valuable skill, without compromising your existing degree.
Language Express is taught through in-person evening classes which will not conflict with your studies.
Classes are designed to be accompanied by a course book and are communicative in nature. This means that there will be group activities and pair work, as well as games, listening exercises, speaking role-plays, reading, writing and grammar exercises.
The lessons are specifically tailored to help you study or live in another country, with the aim that:
We offer modules at beginner and post-beginner level:
To enrol on a course you will need to choose the right level of study. Our course summaries will help you choose the right level for you:
Why not try online language learning with the Language Portfolio instead? Visit the Language Portfolio guide to discover more.
You will be assessed through class tests of your reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. To discover more about the assessment criteria, please read the course summary of your chosen module.
If you successfully complete a module, you can request a certification letter with details of your achievement. If you take all three assessments, obtain an aggregate mark of 60% or higher, and have 70% or higher class attendance, you can gain 50 units for the Big Essex Award.
Language Portfolio allows you to learn a language at a time and pace that suits you, through flexible web-based learning alongside your degree, from beginners, through intermediate to advanced level. This programme is available at all campuses; Colchester, Southend and Loughton.
Using well-established academic language learning software from Rosetta Stone, you can study French, German or Spanish at any level from beginner to advanced. After an initial assessment to establish your level, your language tutor will develop a tailor-made learning programme for you.
Prior to your assessment, your tutor will provide you with guidance on using the Rosetta Stone software and completing the initial online assessment. Your tutor will monitor your progress and support you throughout the course so there is no need to worry about being left on your own. You can also contact your tutor at any time via email and Moodle. For extra support you can arrange to speak with your tutor in-person in the LfA office or via Zoom.
You'll be expected to do between two and three hours of online exercises per week in order to progress to a sufficient standard. Your tutor will assign weekly lessons for you to complete - how and when you undertake your study is up to you.
Language portfolio gives you the opportunity to:
The course is tailored to any level, from complete beginners (A1) through to fluency (C1). The content for all levels combines a mixture of language relating to everyday situations and language used in a study or professional context.
Your proficiency level will be assessed by an initial placement test through the Rosetta Stone software and weekly lessons will be assigned by your tutor based on your level.
You have two assessments - one written and one oral, which you complete in the first and second term. You also complete a portfolio of online work with Rosetta Stone. The assessments and portfolio consist of different tasks designed to determine your overall language proficiency in different areas of language learning.
If you successfully complete a module, you can request a certification letter with details of your achievement. If you take all three assessments, obtain an aggregate mark of 60% or higher, and have 70% or higher class attendance, you can gain 50 units for the Big Essex Award.
Before making your application you must confirm the following:
Places for the Languages for All programmes are subject to availability. To avoid disappointment, we advise making a timely application.
All students are entitled to one free Languages for All module alongside their degree course regardless of their year of study.
If you would like to learn more than one language in your first year with LfA or continue learning in subsequent years then a small fee is payable. The fee for the academic year 2025-26 is £280.
I studied Japanese in my first year, with Languages for All. I loved every second of it! I took Japanese because I love their culture and the language couldn't be more different from English. Thanks to the classes, I'm able to hold a conversation. Which will be super helpful when I travel to Japan next year!
If you would like to find out about studying a modern language as a degree subject, or as a credit-bearing module option forming part of your degree studies, please contact the Department of Language and Linguistics.