Yes. We assess your speaking and listening ability in a relaxed and informal way when you arrive. There is no written test.

For most of the time you will be in a small class at your level. There are also times when we teach mixed ability groups to encourage clear communication between all the students here at Nab Cottage.

Our courses are not suitable for beginners.

Yes. We specialize in helping you to activate passive language. Because you will be hearing only English, all day every day, you will remember your English very quickly.

There are up to 20 students living at Nab Cottage at any time. They are from all over the world. The minimum age is 18 and the oldest people could be in their 70s. The mix is always different.

It is for anyone interested in a whole person approach to learning. We have created this course after many years working in the fields of education and personal development. The course will inspire cooperation, build community, develop confidence, enable communication and enjoy celebration.

For us experiential learning involves engaging our mental, physical, creative, emotional and spiritual capacities at a personal level. We encourage students own life experience to become the basis for communication.

There certainly will. And there will also be a lot more.

The course begins when you arrive at Nab Cottage and ends when you leave. Learning here takes place not just in the classroom but also throughout the day and long into the evening.

No, you don’t. Although we ask everyone to join the community meetings and morning lessons for the rest of the activities you can decide whether to join in or not.

Saturday is a free day though we’ll suggest different options and often small groups of people here will go off together, either to a local town by bus, for a walk in the hills, or organise a trip further away to Chester or Lancaster. On Sunday we do a walk with anyone who wants to join us. We then have a long dinner in the evening and meet the new students.

The average stay is about 3 weeks, though some people stay for just a week and some stay for longer.

Yes, over the years we’ve had an astonishing return rate – many people come again and again, many refer families, friends, and work colleagues.

Yes. Sometimes people ask for specific extra training; for work, travel or business. We organise this during afternoons or evenings and charge £35 per hour.

No. Unlike other schools where students need to go out and spend money in order to socialise and practise English, at Nab Cottage this isn’t necessary. During the afternoon, evening and at weekends there is a programme of activities designed to activate language in a natural and motivating way.

The earlier you book the more choice you’ll have over the bedrooms.