It is essential that all participants in our total immersion courses read and accept the following terms and conditions. Thank you.

Arrival in Ireland

• If you are staying with a host person/family on the Discover Ireland programme, you should arrive and leave on a Sunday. There is a charge of €35 for each additional night.
• You can fly directly to Dublin with Ireland’s national airline Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com) or with your own national airline or with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com).
• If a you need help organising your flights, contact The Language Place: info@thelanguageplace.ie
• You can travel with their passport or national identity card – please check in your country.
• To avoid problems when checking in, as well as your checked-in luggage, you can take on board one piece of carry-on luggage, which cannot exceed the standard measurements of carry-on luggage allowed by airline companies. It is strictly prohibited to take in your hand-luggage any type of liquid or gel etc. or any sharp objects such as scissors, nail files, knives etc.
• Once you arrive in Ireland, you can take a bus from the airport to Dundalk and a representative from The Language Place will pick you up at the bus station. There is a bus from the airport to Dundalk every hour during the day, it costs €15. |If you prefer, a representative of The Language Place can meet you at the airport and take you directly to your accommodation. This private transfer costs €75. The trip from Dublin airport to Dundalk is about 70km and takes about one hour.
• If you are coming on a Discover Ireland programme as part of a group, your airport transfer is included in the course price.

Accommodation:

• We recommend students on both our total immersion programmes, Discover Ireland and Just Study, stay with a host person/family. This is the best way to guarantee total immersion in English and to get to know Irish culture. If you prefer to cook for yourself or to eat out, you can stay in an apartment in Dundalk subject to availability. To see the apartments, visit www.lismar.ie
• All of our host persons/families are carefully chosen after a long process of interviews. We visit the families/people in their homes and we gather information about their ages, professions, hobbies, pets etc. The information which you give us on your application form is then compared with the host-family information we have and we match you to the most suitable host for you.
• All our host persons/families usually live in very comfortable houses in Dundalk or very near Dundalk. Some of our host persons/families live about 5-10 minutes from the centre of Dundalk by car or 30 minutes on foot.
• You will have your own bedroom. Most students have their own bathroom. If two friends stay with the same host, they can share a room or have their own bedrooms.
• If you would like to stay an extra night with your host person/family before the course begins or after the course finishes, please let us know in advance of your arrival in order to let your host person/family know. Extra nights cost €35 per night.
• If you have to stay in Ireland longer than planned for whatever reason (illness, strike, etc.), extra nights cost €35 per night.
• Students on total immersion usually spend their free evenings with their host(s). This gives you the opportunity to practise English naturally with native speakers.
• If you are a smoker, you can choose if you would prefer to stay in a house with hosts who smoke or who permit smoking in their garden.

Food:

• Irish people generally have breakfast between 7.00am and 9.00am, lunch between 12.00pm and 2.00pm and dinner between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. Breakfast and dinner are the main meals of the day. Lunch is usually light and typically consists of a sandwich, a salad, a yoghurt or fruit.
• The host person/family will prepare your breakfast each morning, or provide the food for you to prepare your own breakfast. Your host person/family will prepare a packed lunch for you to take with you, or provide the food for you to prepare your own lunch. Your host person/family will also prepare dinner for you on the evenings that you are at home.
• Before arriving, you can tell us about your food likes and dislikes on your application form. We will give this information to your host person/family. You can also give them more information when you arrive. If you have forgotten to include anything on this form (for example, you like salads but not tomatoes), you can mention it to their host person/family when they arrive.
• There is a section on your application form for allergies and food restrictions. The host person/family will know of your dietary needs before you arrive.
• Irish food is much more varied than it used to be in the past. If you have any problems with the variety of your food, you should mention it politely to your host person/family.
• All hosts want their student to enjoy their meals but it is normal not to like absolutely everything! Bear in mind that you are in a different country, with different ways of preparing food; this is part of truly experiencing another culture.
• On excursions to Galway, Kilkenny or Cork, meals are included in the price of your Discover Ireland course. Drinks are not included.
• If you stay in an apartment, your meals are not included in the price of your Just Study course.

Transport:

• Most of our host persons/families for the total immersion courses live within a 5-30 minute-walk of The Language Place. If your host person/family lives more than a 30-minute walk from The Language Place, they will take you to The Language Place by car.
• You will travel to and from activities by private bus.
• You will travel on excursions by private bus.

Clothes:

• You can use the laundry facilities in your host family/person’s house.
• The weather in Ireland in June and September is quite changeable (between 12° and 24°). When packing your suitcase, you should include warm clothes, for example, a fleece or a jacket, some sweaters, as well as some light clothes like t-shirts and shorts. It can be sunny but also cloudy and because we are so close to the Atlantic, and further north, we have rain quite regularly. The best thing is to be prepared for all types of weather.
• You should also bring some leggings or tracksuit bottoms and suitable footwear for horse-riding. It is necessary to wear footwear with a sturdy heel in order to better grip the stirrups.

Level of English:

• It is essential for students to have a sufficient level of English to enable them to communicate in English with both their hosts and the other students on the course. Therefore, we recommend you have at least A2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
• In order to ensure a notable improvement in your level of English by the end of the course, you must commit to speaking in English at all times from the first day of the course.
• Your host persons/families is here to help you improve their communication skills in English; they are friendly and patient. However, if you have a low level of English, it is normal that you will not understand everything or everyone on the first day. During your stay, you will learn to communicate better and gain more confidence.
• The Language Place team wants you to enjoy your experience learning English in Ireland and we are here to help you at any time with any problems.

English workshops and classes:

• All workshops and classes are specially designed to suit the needs of the students. You will spend at least 4 hours a day doing activities to practise your speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar skills.
• The cost of workshops and class materials is included in the course price. You will get a folder for your materials.

Activities and excursions:

• According to the aims and objectives of the total immersion courses, we guarantee that students will have maximum opportunities to practise English throughout the duration of the course and will take part in a great variety of activities in English. The programme of activities and excursions is specially designed so that you can spend time practising English outside the classroom in a very natural way.
• We recommend that you have an A2 level of English or higher in order to understand instructors and guides during the activities and excursions.
• The activities and excursions are great fun and students usually take part in all of them. However, if you do not want to take part in any particular activity or go on a particular excursion, you can let us know beforehand.
• We will always try to do the activities and excursions as they are planned in the programme but sometimes the days can be changed depending on weather conditions. If we have to change an activity because of adverse weather conditions, we will do the activity on another day.

Illness/emergencies:

• If you become ill and needs medical attention, a representative of The Language Place or your host person/family will take you to the doctor.
• If you are from the EU and you have a European Health Insurance card or equivalent, EU regulation 1408/71 stipulates that all carriers of the EHI medical card or equivalent are entitled to free medical care during a temporary stay in Ireland. If you do not have this card, you will have to pay for any medical care you receive so you must ensure you have the necessary medical cards before travelling. Medical care in Ireland is more expensive than in other countries. A visit to a local doctor costs €50-€60 while a visit to emergencies costs €100.
• If you have a medical condition which requires regular medication, it is imperative that you make sure you have enough medication to last the duration of your stay in Ireland.
• If you become really ill and have to return home without finishing the course, The Language Place will give you a partial refund.
• In case of an emergency, a representative of The Language Place will take you to hospital or accompany you in an ambulance. Your family will be contacted immediately.
• Although it very rarely happens, in the case of a host person/family having an emergency (an accident, a serious illness, a death in the family etc.), you may have to change host person/family. If there are only a few days left of the course, you will be hosted by the directors of The Language Place.

Money

• The Discover Ireland course is all inclusive. We suggest taking enough money for coffees, drinks and souvenir shopping.
• If you are on a Just Study programme and staying in an apartment, you will have to buy all your food or eat out. You should bear in mind that food in Ireland is generally more expensive than in other European countries.

Insurance:

• We advise you to take out private travel insurance to cover against injury, theft or loss of possessions during your stay in Ireland.
• Loss and theft: The Language Place does not accept responsibility for any loss or theft.
• Injury: The Language Place’s insurance policy covers students while inside The Language Place building but not outside the building or during activities or excursions.

Communication/ internet:

• Homes in Ireland have broadband .The Language Place offers free Internet access in the school to all our students.
• During the total immersion programme we will post photos, videos and comments on our Facebook and Instagram pages. If you would prefer us not to use your photo on social media site, please tell us.

Payment and refunds:

• An invoice will be sent to you by email and payment can be made by bank transfer.
• You must pay a deposit of €250 to reserve a place on the Discover Ireland or Just Study programme. This deposit is part of the full payment and is non-refundable.
• Final payment must be made at least 28 days before the start of the course.
• You can cancel their course up to 28 days before the start date and The Language Place will refund you the full cost of the course less the deposit.
• If you cancel your course with less than 28 days’ notice, The Language Place will not refund you the cost of the course but we will generally offer you a credit note for a course at another time.

Thank you again for choosing a Discover Ireland or Just Study course and please do let us know if you have further questions.

Richard Keogh, Managing Director, The Language Place
Annemarie Keogh, Academic Director, The Language Place