“An insight into Croatian culture is a very important part of the language training”

Established in London in 1997, the Croatian Language School is the only dedicated language school in the UK devoted to teaching the Croatian language. Yes, a Croatian language school in the centre of London! The Dubrovnik Times caught up with the founder and director of the school, Linda Rabuzin, and discovered that interest in learning Croatian is high. Linda Rabuzin was born near Zagreb and has lived in London since 1996, she has a BA from the University of Zagreb and has worked as a Croatian and French language teacher in Zagreb, Lausanne and London in prestigious language schools and centres.Since Croatia became a full member of the European Union the number of potential students rose, although as Rabuzin mentioned, “everyone had envisaged some kind of boost in all sectors of Croatian business. As we all know, the pace has been somewhat slower than we had hoped.” The business has expanded online, over Skype and with study trips to Croatia; there is even the possibility of a new school being opened near Dubrovnik.Who are your students? Are they mainly children and students or do you have older business people or expats who learn Croatian? The majority of our students are adults and have a key goal to fulfil, such as they are either relocating to Croatia or have family connections and need to improve their understanding and fluency. We also have professionals from the EU countries working for EU organisations where they are required to learn an Eastern European language. Since the EU accession, students are not only from these EU institutions but also there is a growing number of entrepreneurs or business owners setting up in Croatia and this has culminated in new business or at the very least increased inquiries into all of the school’s services. We do indeed teach children and often their parents are or have been students as well."Many of our students are linked to Croatia either through family or business connections and in both cases," Linda RabuzinHow did you end up teaching Croatian in the middle of London? In 1995, as a part of an international team of art promoters, I worked on the cross-cultural project entitled the ‘Carmina Burana Experience’. The event was sponsored by Siemens and took place in the Barbican Centre in London from November 1996 to January 1997. I invited the then Croatian Ambassador, Dr Ante Čičin-Šain, to be our guest and to join us for the gala dinner, organised by Siemens. At that evening, Dr Čičin-Šain mentioned that London lacked a language school providing a high standard of Croatian language teaching. He knew that my background was in teaching French and Croatian and suggested that I reflect on the possibility of organising such a school as he considered it would be very worthwhile. In the autumn of 1997, The Croatian Language School London commenced its teaching activities, firstly only in London and subsequently spreading throughout the UK, Croatia and globally via Skype tuition programmes.Have you seen more interest in learning Croatian since the country entered the European Union? At the time of the EU accession, everyone had envisaged some kind of boost in all sectors of Croatian business. As we all know, the pace has been somewhat slower than we had hoped. The number of students from major EU countries enrolling with us, who are working for or are in partnership with EU institutions, has risen. They all have different requirements as regards what they wish to learn about the language, some very specific and technical, and so we have definitely seen an increase in our tailor–made courses. As an aside, while there has been a positive impact on the number of students learning with us due to the EU accession, there has been more evidence of the effect of the EU accession on our business services in that the amount of specialist translation/proof-reading work has grown.Croatia has a lot more work to do to attract investment and the economy has been lagging behind but in the past year I would say there has been cautious but committed interest from business owners and entrepreneurs. These are people who are taking a long-term view and have business interests across the region. They are developing and planning their future in the country carefully.In short – yes, there are new students due to the EU accession but the pace has not been explosive, just gradual.How easy do your students find it to learn Croatian? Before they start, many students think that the language is too difficult and some even think it is impossible to learn BUT once they start with their language training and begin to understand how the grammar works and how to absorb new vocabulary which, for many, is very different from any other language they have studied previously, they begin to enjoy learning not only the language but also about the culture. Giving an insight into the Croatian culture is a very important part of the language training. Many of our students are linked to Croatia either through family or business connections and in both cases, speaking the language and understanding the culture are of key importance for them.What are the plans for the future? Will you be expanding the business and opening more schools? Our headquarters were originally and are still today in west London but as technology, such as Skype, has arrived since the school’s inception; we have been able to embrace an open and international approach to teaching Croatian.Over half of our students are non-UK residents and that statistic is markedly different from our beginnings back in 1997. We naturally progressed to opening up the school in Lošinj as well as holding regular immersion courses in various locations across Croatia. For UK students who needed to maximize their learning and have more intensive tuition, these immersion courses offered a boost to this process. At the same time Skype students from abroad, in particular from the USA & Australia, also wished to go to Croatia to learn intensively and actually meet their Croatian tutor from the UK! The UK school is important, as are equally the immersion courses and the desire to hold courses in new locations across Croatia. We really strive to show the variety of lifestyles and culture in the country and each year there are opportunities to showcase certain regions and attract current and new students to our courses. Often students will start out learning via Skype and then decide to attend the immersion courses regularly. Therefore we try to inject these courses with novel locations and activities, such as running a course aboard a 30 berth boat and conducting those classes in different locations each day as we cruised along the Adriatic coast. Every year it is very exciting to plan the next cultural language trip as there is so much to choose from in Croatia.Currently, we are exploring the possibilities of opening a new school close to Dubrovnik on the Pelješac peninsula, so we definitely aim to evolve and continue to find new and interesting locations. Fundamentally, we find that teaching Croatian in the classroom is one skill but we need to provide a realistic and stimulating backdrop and putting the language training into context within the country is the way forward for students.Your students also travel to Croatia to study? Of particular relevance to your readers will be the news of our forthcoming week-long language and culture course in nearby Cavtat from the 20th to the 27th of June. This follows on from last year’s course in Orebić. Southern Dalmatia is a long-standing tourist destination and we really wish to continue our focus on the region. As usual study will be interspersed with sight-seeing in the area. Naturally, Dubrovnik will be on the itinerary as will be the smaller towns and villages of the Konavle region.Also we are extending the range of business services that we can offer, as institutions and larger multinational companies are showing a growing interest in enhancing their opportunities in Croatia now that it is a member of the EU. To date we offer translation and proof-reading services and we expect that more and more foreign businesses will establish a presence in Croatia offering their products and services to Croats. Companies such as IKEA and mainstream travel operators have understood the importance of having an area specific website and we are now seeing other smaller companies understand that this is what they need to do to create and grow their business. The Croatian Language School is now in the unique position of being able to offer a Website localization service for companies that want to target Croatian customers. This is due to a combination of high quality translation services from English to pure and authentic Croatian and cultural sensitivity.To find out more about what the Croatian Language School can offer, please visit: www.easycroatian.com