Language courses in England may be provided by schools, colleges, universities, adult education centres, private language schools, and other businesses.   They vary considerably in quality and character.  When selecting a language course ask about:

• language level (try to get a course that is just a little difficult for you)
• class size (6 to 12 is a size that seems to suit many people)
• hours per week 
• total length of course
• facilties available e.g. satellite TV, listening lab', library ...
• qualifications of the teacher
• native speaker teacher or not
• percentage of time that the target language is used in class
• book or other materials used
• focus of the course e.g. travel, business, examination ...
• cost

Traditional courses will focus more on grammar and give you more written exercises e.g. essays, summaries, translations and dictations,   They may be of a more academic or literary character.  The focus during these courses is often on pronunciation of particular sounds, manipulation of linguistic forms and accuracy.  This type of course can sometimes build a suitable foundation for later communicative work.

Whatever the approach used during classes, it is important that you find a teacher that you can develop a good rapport with.  In the end, this more or less comes down to trial and error.  Try to sit in on a class, if you can (this is not always possible), before paying your registration fees for a long period.  Everything may look fine on paper, but you might not like those aspects of the course that are not in the brochure: the atmosphere in class, the pace of the lessons, or the sense of humour of the teacher.
 

Lire Français Comprehension and grammar exercises based on on-line articles from Sud-Ouest, a regional newspaper. 

Meirionnydd Languages - The site is mainly information about homestay individual crash courses and distance learning for Russian, French, Welsh and English

Old French Language Page Course on Old French

Phonetics for students : a comprehensive course

Resources for Learning French  A summary of resources found to be useful in learning French, slanted explicitly toward the goal of survival. Personal recommendations from John Walker.

  Study for a BA Combined Honours in Languages and Internet Systems at the University of Portsmouth

Survival French Basic French with sound file (Download realAudio)
 

German for Beginners, an online course from the University of Victoria, Canada - exercises, grammar, exams and links elsewhere. 

GermanForTravellers.com offers extensive FREE resources to help you learn German, and to plan your next trip.

Institut für deutsche Sprache includes a section on Rechtschreibreform. There are plenty more resources for this at Würzburg. 

  Study for a BA Combined Honours in Languages and Internet Systems at the University of Portsmouth

Doki Online - explore the virtual city and have fun with the cartoon characters

Learn Spanish
Includes penpal exchange between native Spanish and English speakers

Spanish Class Some phrases relating to Costa Rica

Spanish Language Exercises
A series of language exercises.

Spanishprograms.com -  Free Interactive Spanish Lessons with audio/visual buttons. Spanish CD-ROM and Cassette Lessons teach Spanish for Business, Basic Communication and Travel!

  Study for a BA Combined Honours in Languages and Internet Systems at the University of Portsmouth

Sueños Online. An online multimedia course for beginners in Spanish, from BBC Education Languages. 

Tecla Home Page
Texts for learners and speakers of Spanish. Birkbeck College, London, provides regular reading passages complete with exercises and vocabulary. 

Web Spanish Lessons  Mexican Spanish for beginners in three lessons (including audio files).