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Sally Pressler: A Local Bendite on the Go Sally Pressler has lived in Bend for 34 years and like many Bendites, enjoys the great outdoors including cross-country skiing, mountain biking and swimming. She is a petite and lively person who also loves to travel and learning. You can see her on the right in the photo. Sally first learned French when she moved to Ontario as a child and had [...]

Featured Student of the Week: Frank Ammirata By Charlie Miller | 2-minute read Frank Ammirata wears a lot of hats: husband, traveler, gravel biker, and most recently, a student of the Italian language. He moved to Bend four years ago from Santa Rosa, California. And while Frank didn’t originally have becoming a polyglot on his bucket list, he stresses how lucky he felt when he stumbled upon Bend Language Institute. [...]

American Sign Language, French, Italian, German, Spanish and English classes start in April! American Sign Language Introductory American Sign Language I American Sign Language II English Everyday English for Beginners Intermediate English Grammar (NEW!) French French II Advanced French German German Nights (beginner, adult, and youth sessions) Second Year German III (COCC Credit Option) Filmabend: Goodbye Lenin (NEW!) Spieleabend: Playing Games in German (NEW!) Italian Introductory Italian I Italian II Italian [...]

Who We Are at Bend Language Institute Christina Cappy, PhD | 5-minute read “Who typically takes your language classes at Bend Language Institute?” This is a question that I hear time and time again. Sometimes the person asking the question dives into more detail. “Why are they learning a language? Is it because they are about to travel somewhere, or do they want to learn a language for work? Are [...]

Learn About Our Story in Bend Magazine 3-minute read This winter we have been fortunate enough to work with Bend Magazine to share our story with the community. Check out this article to hear from the voices of our students, teachers, and founder. It was a pleasure working with everyone here! https://bendmagazine.com/multilingual-learning-hub-at-the-bend-language-institute/

Join Us for Winter Language Courses! The leaves have fallen, and winter is just around the corner – and so are more language learning opportunities! Starting in January, we will be expanding our range of courses in Spanish, Italian, French, German, English, and American Sign Language. And don’t forget, you can still sign up for the November sessions of our Thursday Spanish Conversation Group and Monday Spanish Book Club. Learn [...]

Join us for Multilingual Mondays at Boneyard Pub this Winter It has turned chilly, so we are moving indoors to the Boneyard Pub on Division Street for Multilingual Mondays!  And the next one is just around the corner on Monday, November 6th from 5:30-7:30pm. We host Multilingual Mondays on the first Monday of every month to give folks the opportunity to practice a range of languages – Spanish, Italian, Mandarin and ASL are some [...]

Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month Celebration Come celebrate the end of the Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month with us at Bend Language Institute! We will have a casual gathering to talk and practice Spanish, meet new people, eat, drink, and connect. This is a free, community event and everyone is welcome to attend. Join us on Friday, October 13th from 4:30 to 6:30pm at Bend Language Institute.

Fall is just around the corner and we are offering a wide array of courses to meet our community's needs. Sign up today! Fall Classes Starting in September Italian: Italian Travel Essentials, Accelerated Introductory Italian I, Italian II, Italian III, Italian IV, Italian Film Critics, Advanced Italian French:  Introductory French I, French II Conversation, French III Conversation, French IV and Up Spanish: Accelerated Introductory Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish Game Nights (NEW!), Spanish Book Club (NEW!) [...]

Join Us for Summer Language Courses We have a range of language courses and learning opportunities starting in July. Take your next step in language learning and join us for a summer of conversation and fun! Courses and Workshops French: French Travel Essentials Workshop, French II Conversation, French IV and Up Italian: Italian Travel Essentials, Italian II, Italian III, Advanced Italian Spanish: Introductory Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III Conversation, Spanish IV Conversation, Thursday Spanish Conversation Group [...]

Join us for a fun language resource giveaway! Our Central Oregon community has been incredibly generous in supporting Bend Language Institute the past few years. Every month someone offers to donate books and other language learning materials, which have been much appreciated by our teachers and students. We have a range of materials for beginner language learners and fluent speakers - and now we are overflowing with supplies! We would love [...]

Winter Course Registration Open Join us for some winter fun language learning! We are offering courses in Spanish, French, Italian, German, American Sign Language and Japanese starting mid-January. You can learn some basics in our introductory courses or master your written and conversational skills in our more advanced groups. Aren't sure which class is the best for you? Please reach out to us at 541-728-3022 or bendlanguageinstitute@gmail.com and we'll help [...]

Am I Too Old to Learn a Language? By Christina Cappy, PhD | 5-minute read Introduction “Am I too old to learn a language?” This is a question that I have heard time and time again. Popular sayings such as “children’s brains are like sponges” are used as justifications that there is a certain time of life to learn another language, and once past that point learning a language is [...]

Fall Classes Are Open! We have a number of classes in German, Italian, French, American Sign Language and Spanish and would love to see you there. You can dip your toes into language learning with a travel essentials class, or master your language skills with more advanced classes. All of our classes have a maximum of 10 people to ensure individualized language learning and ample room for conversation practice. See our [...]

Join Us For Multilingual Mondays Starting this winter, we will be hosting Multilingual Mondays at Midtown Yacht Club the first Monday of every month from 5:30-7:30pm. This will be a free event for anyone to stop by and practice Italian, French, Spanish, and possibly Arabic or Japanese with a teacher. This venue has tons of food delicious carts, fire pits, and a tent/indoor space so we will have plenty of room [...]

Winter Courses Are Open The time has arrived to get ready for more language learning this winter! Winter term starts January 10th and we have a number of interactive, small group classes that you should check out. Meet new people in our classes or learn with a friend -- either way it's always best to learn with others. Language classes make excellent gifts too and can motivate people to prepare [...]

Fall Classes Start September 27th Join us for interactive, small classes starting September 27th! This fall we are offering a range of in-person classes in Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, French and English. Click the links below to browse our classes, or give us a call at 541-728-3022 and we'd be happy to help find the course that best fits your language learning needs. Spanish Accelerated Introductory Spanish I, Spanish II, [...]

Connections in the Workplace People often ask us, who is your most popular kind of student? Why do they want to learn another language? The answer to this question is a hard one to nail down. Many of our students are learning another language to prepare for upcoming travel, connect with family, or join our growing multicultural community. Yet more and more we are seeing another type of student – [...]

How Effective are Language Apps? If you’ve been asking yourself this question, you are not alone. This is one of the most common questions I have received in recent months, along with questions about the best language learning apps, limitations of language apps, and how best to use them. In this article I will explore some of these topics with perspectives from researchers, language teachers, and our students. Benefits of [...]

Join Us for Virtual Happy Hour! Ready to meet some new faces and brush up on your language skills? Join us for virtual happy hours next week! This is a great opportunity to connect with your language community in Central Oregon in a fun and relaxed environment. You can invite your friends, meet native speakers, teachers, and language learners from the comfort of your home. Bring whatever beverage you like [...]

Ready to help your kids learn a new language? Recently a lot of parents have been interested in language classes for groups of 2-5 students. We've been having them all outside or remotely and it has been really fun! This fall we are organizing more small youth language groups to meet for outdoor learning. We are planning groups of 3-5 students according to their language level and age. If you are [...]

Do you remember being in school and trying to convince your teacher to have class outside? Well now the teachers are coming together to give everyone the opportunity to learn in the open air. We’ve set up an outdoor classroom just around the corner from BLI on a quieter street so we can practice our language skills when the weather is nice – so basically 90% of July and August [...]

Small Group Private Classes Want to learn another language with two of your good friends? We've had a few of these requests for adults as well as kids from the same class and they are a lot of fun. This is a great way to develop your skills and socialize - we can host them digitally so you don't even have to live in the same state! Send an email [...]

New Environment, New Learning Opportunities! In this rapidly changing environment, the teachers at Bend Language Institute are working together to adjust to our community’s language learning needs. Due to concerns over COVID-19, we will not be holding in-person classes or workshops for the months of March and April. We take social distancing very seriously and want to help protect the health of our community members. However, this doesn’t mean that [...]

New Year's Gathering at BendTECH on January 9th at 4pm Come stop by and meet the teachers! At this event you can hear more about our language workshops — Italian winemaking, Arabic cooking, yoga in Spanish, as well as our eight-week courses and new youth immersion program. Join us for snacks and refreshments, as well as some engaging conversation. We would love to see you there! See more about the event [...]

Scholarship announcement! We are offering scholarships for winter term to individuals who work with local nonprofits. Scholarships can be used to cover an eight-week course at BLI, or two five-week youth classes for a nonprofit worker’s dependent/child. We want to give back to the people who are supporting our community! You can see a press release about our scholarships on CBN: http://cascadebusnews.com/bend-language-institute-offering…/ If you are interested or know someone who [...]

Wondering what to get your family and friends for the holidays? Try a fun, cultural experience! Our language of food workshops -- such as German baking, French quiche, or Chinese potstickers -- make for a great gift and an enjoyable evening. Or, you can help support your family as they attend a language class to prepare for an upcoming trip! We have gift cards available so you and your loved [...]

This last week we were featured in Central Oregon Daily's Origin Story Series. Thank you to Samantha O'Connor for such a fun interview! Check out the full interview here: https://centraloregondaily.com/origin-story-bend-language-institute/?fbclid=IwAR3eGOQJiiIBP1IzrsCn-2JpbqcIO8hLkIrGGvJAK0fLsj2OZadR_tsL3Lw 

Fall Workshops are starting this week! We have a number of workshops that allow you to learn languages in fun and interactive ways – such as through cooking, yoga, painting and more. Be sure to sign up at least two days in advance to reserve your spot. Our upcoming workshops include: Italian The Language of Italian Food, October 18 4:30-7:30pm The Language of Italian Wine, November 16 4:30-6:30pm Spanish Yoga [...]

We are happy to announce our Grand Opening on Friday, September 27th from 5-8pm. This is an opportunity to meet the Bend Language Institute team and other members of the Central Oregon community who are interested in different languages. You can check out our new classroom space while enjoying tasty food and drinks. Our space is just inside the Mactek building at 416 NE Greenwood Ave. Please invite friends and [...]

Check out an article we are featured in about language groups in Central Oregon. This article is about an Italian conversation group that has been meeting in Sisters, Oregon. We eat, drink wine, and chat in Italian throughout the night. Bruce Williams, long-time resident of Sisters, has helped organize the group for many years. Give a shout and we'll get you connected!   https://nuggetnews.com/Content/Current-News/Current-News/Article/Sisters-folks-gather-to-share-language-learning/5/5/28597

Making pasta from scratch requires a great deal of communication. It's the perfect way to learn Italian in a group setting. With our Advanced Italian class we took up the task to make pasta, salads, bruschetta, tiramisu and more!