On Wednesday April 17, 2013, Minister of Education Ms. Silveria Jacobs will be cutting the ribbon at the Grand Opening of the USM Inlingua Language Lab.
The reception will take place at 5.00 p.m at the University of St. Martin (USM).
USM has been working on establishing its language lab since 2009. The realization of the USM Regional Project, which became the USM inlingua Language Lab (UiLL), was made possible through a grant made available by the Social Economic Initiative (SEI) USONA in the realm of Economy, Education/Development and Economic Diversification of the department of Interior and Kingdom Affairs (BAK) of the Ministry of General Affairs. The project will be handed over to the University of St. Martin as having complied with all the financial and administrative protocols.
Recently USM signed a license agreement with inlingua international (inlingua) to operate its language lab under the inlingua umbrella and to use the inlingua method for its language training. inlingua operates a worldwide network of independent language service centers covering the fields of language, communications and intercultural services in over 350 locations worldwide.
One of the goals of the language lab for USM, which is now also known by the acronym UiLL, is to improve the chances of students to achieve the right level of language proficiency needed for their course of study. The USM inlingua Language Lab will cater to the linguistic needs of prospective students as well as fortify their language skills and offer language training, practical communication solutions for government and businesses on St. Maarten as well as the region.
USM is confident that the USM inlingua Language Lab will also contribute to the economic diversification as well by attracting tourists and visitors to St. Maarten.
USM Inlingua Language Lab will train professionals to communicate across borders with custom language-training programs designed around any schedule or budget. Whether you want to learn French over a six months period, or your company wants to train 10 engineers to speak Spanish in 30 days, the USM inlingua Language lab will have a program for you.
The USM inlingua Language Lab will assess current skills and plan the most effective language-training strategy to meet one’s goals. If you require business, financial or technical vocabulary, the course will be tailored to include special terminology and relevant occupational material. The programs include the three items you will need to succeed: 1. the inlingua method, 2. native-speaking teachers and 3. inlingua’s exclusive training materials.
The inlingua method will have the student thinking in the target or new language before they know it. Students will begin speaking a new language at the first lesson and continue to speak it at least 60% of the time throughout the course. The lessons will progress using structured building blocks that create real fluency. It is a faster way to learn any new language.
The programs at the USM inlingua Language Lab are built around the student and private, semi-private and group programs will be provided. Class lengths will vary from an hour and half to a full day. The USM inlingua Language Lab will design language-training programs with the student’s schedule and goals in mind!