Language Groups
Françoise Wyatt
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Weekly on Thursdays, 11.00 – 12.30 at The Bushell, St. John St.
What do we do?
This is (still) a ‘Culture et société’ group reading, writing, discussing all sorts of cultural and social issues, following/based on our current book ‘Sans frontières IV’ . It is conducted all in French. The general level of language is fluent.
The group is currently full, with a short waiting list.
Jennifer Baker
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Weekly on Mondays, except for the first Monday of the month
11:00 – 12:00
Abbeygate Cinema
What do we do?
A new group for absolute beginners or those with very rusty, school-level French that started at the end of June 2025.
We use our own combination of resources (online apps such as Duolingo, and books) to self learn, along with group learning at our regular meetings.
The group is currently fully subscribed, if you would like to be placed on the wait list please email Jennifer : (login required)
Gisela Oram
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Second and Fourth Thursdays of the month – 10.45 to 12.45
Venue: All Saints Church, Park Road, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3QW
What do we do?
The group’s focus is to share members’ interests in the culture of German speaking countries, alongside discussing and enjoying the finer details of the language, whilst advancing our speaking skills.
This is a conversation and reading group rather than a teaching group and members should have a good knowledge of German, with experience of actually speaking the language, as well as enthusiasm to participate in discussions, and so, unfortunately, would not be suitable for beginners.
Our meeting includes:
German conversation – a lively mix of sharing our news or interests, sometimes a presentation about the arts, history or a biography, quick quizzes, word games & jokes.
We also have a chosen book, which we read aloud for pronunciation practice and discussion.
We would welcome some new members, who need to have a reasonable grasp of the language.
Italian Beginners Conversation
Lynda Cornish
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
or
Angie Smith
When do we meet?
Second Tuesday of the month from 2:00pm until 3:30pm
Upstairs at Oakes Barn in the centre of Bury St Edmunds
What do we do?
A beginners Italian conversation group hoping to develop our verbal language skills by discussing, in Italian, various topics and scenarios in an informal and fun way. As we will learn both with and from each other, this group is suitable for the absolute beginner as well as those with a smattering of Italian.
The group is currently full, please email the group organiser to be added to the waiting list.
Caroline Byrne
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet in each other’s houses most Tuesday afternoons in term time, from 2 – 3.30 pm.
What do we do?
We are a small group of enthusiasts who enjoy studying and speaking Italian and learning about Italian culture.
Our language skills are roughly Intermediate level, although some of us have more experience than others. Since none of us is either an Italian teacher or a native speaker, we help each other and learn from each other, taking it in turns to host the meeting and prepare a topic for the week. We generally start the meeting with a general conversation in Italian, before moving onto a more structured activity. This could be a more advanced grammatical point, a short text to read and discuss, or a listening comprehension.
This group is currently full.
Ros Sennitt
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Thursday morning from 10.00 till 11.30am.
Group meets at the Group Leader’s house with the option to take turns at hosting these lessons at members houses.
What do we do?
Small group of Italy-lovers who meet to improve their Italian.
As a life-time Italian resident and teacher I am willing to instruct and guide others to achieve a working knowledge of Italian in a spirit of light-heartedness.
Members must have good (Intermediate level ) Italian.
The group is now full.
Stuart Lee
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet every Friday from 11:30 to 12:30 at the Abbeygate Cinema. We sit in a niche at the far end of the restaurant.
What do we do?
We are a Spanish conversation group, with the aim of discussing a wide range of topics, rather than formal structured learning, so the ability to converse in Spanish is neccessary, with experience of actually speaking the language, as well as enthusiasm to participate in discussions, and so unfortunately it would not be appropriate for beginners.
There are still places available for people meeting the above requirements.
