New Scholarship opportunity for wool/textile industry language student

An opportunity has arisen for the John Speak Language Trust to offer a language Scholarship to one lucky student.  To apply for this scholarship you must be studying textiles/fashion design with direct connections to the UK wool industry. Are you/do you employ/do you teach a British-born citizen currently learning another language who has aspirations for…

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Case Study: Joshua Hillis , Amman, Jordan – 2018-2019

I had studied Arabic as an extracurricular course, during my undergraduate degree at Oxford University. These weekly classes had given me a good grounding in Arabic grammar but I knew my spoken Arabic needed some work. The support of The John Speak Trust enabled me to devote three months to improving my Arabic, through an…

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Holly Henry: Case Study – Mexico 2017

During the first semester of my year abroad, I spent 5 months studying at UNAM in Mexico City. Looking back, I see in as both a turbulent but very exciting time. I experienced almost the worst weather the world could throw at me: hurricanes, tropical storms and earthquakes, along with a few stormy moments myself…

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Graham Moulson – Case Study 1963 to 1964

At age 72, looking back and having studied several foreign languages I have learned that language learning is similar to a jigsaw puzzle; learning one foreign language certainly helps when learning another.  “Once you start dreaming in a foreign language it means you must have learnt it”. I was fortunate to have an Italian Professor…

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Oliver de Planta – Case Study, Germany 2014 – 2015

During my studies at Sheffield Hallam University I undertook a year abroad in Germany from June 2014 to March 2015. I began my year abroad in Munich, Bavaria working for Robert Bosch GmbH then for the second half I moved to Berlin to work at Siemens AG. The scholarship from the John Speak Trust afforded…

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Geoffrey Padgett – Case Study, France 1953

In 1953 at age 22, I was fortunate to receive a Scholarship from the John Speak Trust to assist with my French studies.  The Scholarship provided a small amount of funding towards my travel, lodgings and food during six months abroad.   I received a mere £30 per month.  I worked in the wool trade (salary…

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Siân Summerton – Case Study Barcelona, Spain (2015)

Thank you to the John Speak trust for their invaluable support during my time in Barcelona As I chose to study French, Spanish and EU Studies (MA Hons) at the University of Edinburgh, I was aware that this would involve a year working or studying abroad in 2014-2015. The idea of working had always appealed…

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Jo Dawson – Case Study, France (1992)

Looking back, I can probably say that the 3 month scholarship from the John Speak Trust was one of the key defining points of my life – something for which I am extremely grateful. One of the many memories that I have of my John Speak Scholarship time in France was talking to the lorry…

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Edward Mortimer – Final Case Study

My John Speak Scholarship took me to Pakistan for a period of ten months to perfect my command of the Urdu language; widely accepted as the lingua franca of the Indian Subcontinent, a rich blend of Persian, Arabic and Turkish vocabulary with a Hindi grammatical base. Much like the English we speak today it could…

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