Language & Life Skills

People-Places-Things’ goal is to provide quality language and culture practice experiences for language learners – and the way we do that is by training people to be interculturalists.

Our programs are highly flexible and highly effective, with a focus on encouraging people to learn from each other. In this way we help facilitate people’s understanding of other cultures, how to provide support, maintain confidence and self-awareness, and make an impact.

We understand that each community, business, school and/or individual is unique, and we will work with you to develop the plan that works best. There is no one-size-fits-all model, and we have a number of options for you to choose from.

Please contact us for more details, to get a quote, and to discuss which model would work best for your community.

Language & Life Skills Program

This is our flagship Community-based Language & Cultural Skills program. It is multi-level, open-entry, family friendly, based in the real world, and free for language learners. The typical class is 1.5 hours, 2 times a week, and runs for 4 weeks, either continuously or in short sessions.

If you don’t have funds to pay a language skills development specialist, you may be eligible for our Volunteer Training Site Program. We train facilitators (who are enrolled in our English for the Community Certificate Program) who then provide you with a program at minimal or no cost.

You can find full program details here, in the ProgramBooklet.

Cultural Case Management

This program area involves working within your community and identifying the specific needs that individuals have, and creating a plan for them to get there. Think of a sports fitness coach or a life coach for language & cultural skills. We work with learners to develop Individual Learning Plans, motivate and guide them toward their goals, whatever they are.

Community Needs Assessment

We specialize in learning and communicating the needs of small to medium sized communities (1,500 or fewer) with people from varying different backgrounds. We can help you design community feedback channels and ways to ensure your messages are reaching the ears that you want.

Adult Dual Immersion (Spanish-English)

Imagine a group of 8 Spanish speakers and 8 English speakers, of varying levels, sitting across from each other at a long table. In front of the room, two people – a native Spanish speaker and a native English speaker, both of whom speak the other’s language very well. The bilingual facilitators give instructions in both Spanish and English, so everyone can understand what’s happening. As the facilitators finish their first set of instructions, the room bursts into chatter and the awkwardness turns to intense interpersonal engagement. And after 30 minutes, a relaxed burbling chatter.

This is our Adult Dual Immersion program, a way for Spanish speakers and English speakers to get to know each other through sharing langauge and culture. A session is typically a single weeknight over a four week period.

Buddy System

The simple truth is that language & culture learning is a social process – and spending meaningful time with people is a necessary component of language skills development. We work within your community to connect people in mutually supportive ways so that they can learn from each other. From workplaces to apartment buildings to communities of faith, we bring people together by showing them how to share their unique perspectives and connect with the common humanity underneath.

On-Site Clinic

If you have a location that has lots of people coming and going during specific periods of time, some of them repeating, others not, an On-site clinic might work for your location. Think of a library or an apartment complex office, or a church on a Sunday. Basically, a person stations themselves in this location at a specific time, ideally permanently as long as there’s need, and provides information and services to anyone who comes by. It’s similar to a help desk or a professor’s office hours.