Language study trip England: Liverpool
If you spend your language study trip in Liverpool, you can't miss the Beatles. The city of the world's most famous mushroom heads is a magnet for millions of tourists who come to this city steeped in history every year. But Liverpool has much more to offer than just the most successful band in music history. Liverpool is not stuck in the past, but lives in the modern age - and to the full.
Which language school to choose for a language study trip to Liverpool?
Liverpool is a large city with over 470,000 inhabitants, so you might think that the language schools you can choose for your language study trip are spread across the entire city. However, this is not the case. Almost all of Liverpool's language schools are centrally located in or around the city center, so you can easily walk or take the bus from almost any school to the city center and the River Mersey. It takes a good 20 minutes to walk from the more distant language schools to the Albert Dock, and a little less to the city center. The location of the language school therefore doesn't have to play too big a role in your choice of a suitable language school. Other criteria should be much more important in your decision, such as the range of language courses on offer and the size of the individual classes. The school's infrastructure can also serve as a selection criterion, such as the availability of modern computers, a common room, large, bright rooms and modern teaching technology. You can find all this out from the language travel providers, who will be happy to send you all the information you need by email or post. The leisure program offered, which may include excursions, sports activities, visits to museums and pubs, cinema evenings or quiz nights, can also be an important criterion, as can the type of accommodation provided for students. Find out what experiences other language travelers have already had with the individual language schools and benefit from this feedback. You can often obtain these reviews directly from the schools or language travel providers, as well as via social media or Google reviews. You can also find out which other selection criteria can help you find the right language school for your language study trip to Liverpool in our guideLanguage study trip England.
Where to live in Liverpool?
Those who complete a language study trip to Liverpool usually choose to live with a host family during this time. This has the great advantage that you can immediately use and refine the language skills you have acquired in your English course and also participate in the life of the family. You will usually receive half board, i.e. breakfast and dinner, and sometimes even full board at weekends. Alternatively, you can also book breakfast only with some tour operators. The option of accommodation in a school residence or apartment does not include meals at all. There you have to pay for your own meals, which also means that you will spend considerably more money in this type of accommodation. For people who do not want to live with a family and prefer to live flexibly and independently, such accommodation can be advantageous. However, you should bear in mind that English communication is also much less encouraged in such a case and your language progress will not be as fast as it would be with a host family. Think about this decision carefully.
You should also consider the distance between your accommodation and the language school during your language study trip. Depending on the school, different host families are arranged, all of whom live at different distances from the school. You won't find out exactly where they live beforehand, but you will find out the maximum distance to the school. This can be 20 minutes for some schools and 45 minutes for others. Make sure you clarify this in advance. Alternative accommodation is usually more centrally located and can therefore be reached quickly. You can ask the language travel providers for the exact address so that you can get an exact idea of the location and accessibility before you book.
What to do in Liverpool!
Although the Beatles are still revered in Liverpool, the city has much more to offer. Football, for example. Liverpool FC plays an important role in the lives of many Liverpool residents and is sure to inspire the odd language traveler. Tickets for a football match can also be purchased directly on the club's website, as can tickets for the Anfield Stadium Tour, which takes you right into the team's changing rooms.
If you're not much of a football fan and don't necessarily want to go on a guided Beatles tour, you might be more interested in Creamfields, the annual electronic dance music festival that takes place every summer, or the Liverpool International Music Festival with many national and international bands. Outside of the festivals, Liverpool also offers a very diverse range of musical and gastronomic entertainment, for example in the city's countless clubs, which are mainly located in the Ropewalks district. Live music can be found at the O2 Academy or the Cavern Club. A good club for electronic music at 24 Kitchen Street and the only listed toilet in England at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a truly impressive pub at 36 Hope Street.
During your language study trip to Liverpool, don't miss out on a visit to the Albert Dock, which is also home to many interesting museums, the Tate Gallery and fine bars and restaurants. And be sure to take a trip on one of the ferries, which will take you past many of the sights of Merseyside. Liverpool Cathedral, the largest church in the UK with an organ consisting of 9765 pipes, is also worth a visit, as are the Walker Art Gallery, St. George's Hall, the International Slavery Museum, which impressively shows the horrors of the slave trade in Liverpool, and the Beatles Story Museum at the Albert Dock, for those who can't get enough of the band. The Beatles Museum is Liverpool's most popular museum. At Alberts Dock you will also find the tourist information office, which will provide you with all kinds of information about the city's attractions. The Liverpool Echo will keep you informed about all the events and nightlife during your language study trip.
How to get around Liverpool?
Many routes in Liverpool can be covered on foot, while others can be covered by public transport. Merseytravel is the public transport operator and offers bus, train and ferry services. You can find out about the current timetables and tickets on their website and purchase them in many of the city's stores and post offices. We recommend the Saveaway ticket, which allows you to use buses, trains and ferries throughout the Merseyside area for just £5, but only after 9.30am. For longer stays in Liverpool, however, the Trio Ticket is more suitable, which can be purchased as a weekly pass, monthly pass, season ticket or annual pass and gives you free travel at any time of day in your chosen zone during this period. You can purchase these tickets at the Travel Center.
What can you afford in Liverpool?
Weekly tickets for Merseytravel Zone C1, including Liverpool, West Derby and Garston, cost £18 for adults and £63.70 for monthly tickets (as of 2017). If you would also like to travel on the Mersey Ferries and explore the city and region by water, a River Explorer Cruise costs £10 for adults and just £9 for online bookings.
Being on the road, but on a guided tour, is not exactly cheap in Liverpool. For a two-hour Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour you pay at least £50 per cab, for a three-hour Beatles Tour of Liverpool £70 (1-4 people). These tours are only cheap if there are four of you and the costs are shared. Otherwise, the Magical Mystery Tour, which of course also has the Beatles as its main theme, is cheaper at just under £18.
If you don't want to go on a Beatles tour, there are of course alternatives in Liverpool. Entry to the Museum of Liverpool, for example, is free, as is entry to the Tate Liverpool, the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the International Slavery Museum. However, a visit to Liverpool Cathedral costs £5.50.
You can spend a lot of money shopping in Liverpool ONE, a gigantic temple of consumption with over 170 stores, bars and restaurants. And of course everywhere else during your language study trip to Liverpool, if you're up for it. However, the language schools in Liverpool and the accommodation are generally relatively inexpensive by English standards, so you can get a four-week language course with 20 lessons per week, accommodation in a host family with half board, flights and transfers for less than £2,500. It can often be cheaper if you fly to Manchester and take a transfer to Liverpool from there.
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