🍂 Welcome to Fall at Polyglottist Language Academy

Course availability update: This archived newsletter describes an earlier season. Polyglottist Language Academy no longer offers Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, or Swedish classes. Please consult the current course pages for available languages, formats, and levels.

Fall has always felt like a natural time to begin something new—or return to something you started and never quite finished.

For some students, that means opening a Japanese textbook for the first time. For others, it means finally getting comfortable speaking Spanish after years of understanding more than they can say. And for many of our returning students, fall is simply the perfect moment to get back into a regular learning routine and keep building on the progress they have already made.

Whatever stage you are at, we are very happy to welcome you to a new season at Polyglottist Language Academy.

Over the summer, our team spent a great deal of time thinking about how we can improve both language instruction and the overall experience of our students. We have been expanding our teaching team, bringing back instructors, developing new classes, and working on new ways for students to learn outside the classroom as well.

Here is what has been happening—and what is coming next.

🌏 Our Teaching Team Is Growing

One of the biggest projects this summer was finding excellent instructors for languages and formats our students have been requesting.

🇯🇵 Meet Elsiemae, Our New Online Japanese Instructor

We are very excited to welcome Elsiemae, a native Japanese speaker who joined PLA to teach our online Japanese classes.

Elsiemae began teaching with us a few weeks ago and is already working with our Japanese students online.

For students who have wanted to study Japanese but cannot attend classes in Berkeley, our growing online program gives you another way to learn in a small, instructor-led class from wherever you are.

🇯🇵 In-Person Japanese Is Back Too

We also have wonderful news for students who prefer learning face-to-face.

Our in-person Japanese instructor Mari has returned to teaching after taking several months away because of a family situation.

She is now teaching our beginner Japanese classes in person on Tuesday mornings in Berkeley.

We know some students have been waiting for in-person Japanese to return, so we are especially happy to have these classes back on the schedule.

🇨🇳 A New Mandarin Instructor—and In-Person Mandarin Is Coming

We have also welcomed a new Mandarin instructor Catherine to the PLA team.

Her first class begins September 17, and we are especially excited about what comes next: she is planning to offer in-person Mandarin classes on either Saturday or Sunday mornings.

So if you have been watching our schedule and wondering when Mandarin would finally be available in person again, the answer is: soon!

We will share the exact schedule once the new classes are finalized.

🇩🇪 🇮🇹 And Don’t Forget Our German and Italian Programs

While we are excited about all of these new additions, some of our longest-running programs continue to be an important part of PLA.

We offer German and Italian classes at several levels, particularly for students looking for small, in-person classes in Berkeley.

Whether you are beginning from zero, returning after studying years ago, or continuing toward a more advanced level, check our current schedule to see which group best matches your experience.

And of course, our other language programs continue throughout the year as well.

💻 Something Bigger Is Coming: PLA Digital Language Learning

If you have been following our newsletters or reading the Polyglottist blog, you may already know that we have also begun working on a much larger project.

We are developing a collection of digital language-learning products for students who want to study independently or supplement what they are learning in class.

The goal is not to replace instructors or live classes. Quite the opposite.

There are many things students want to practice between lessons: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, specific problem areas, and practical situations. Sometimes an hour-long weekly class simply cannot cover everything.

Our upcoming digital materials will allow students to focus on those areas at their own pace.

We plan to create resources for different languages, levels, and learning goals—from materials for complete beginners to focused products that help more experienced learners master particular aspects of a language.

This is a major project for us, and we will be sharing much more about it over the coming months.

🍁 Why Fall Is Such a Good Time to Learn a Language

Language learning works best when it becomes part of your life rather than something you do intensely for two weeks and then abandon.

That is one reason fall can be such a productive season.

Summer travel slows down. Schedules become more predictable. Classes, work, and family routines settle into place. It becomes easier to protect that one hour a week for your language—and to add ten or fifteen minutes here and there for practice.

If you are beginning a new language this fall, don't worry about how quickly you progress.

If you are returning after a break, don't worry about how much you have forgotten.

And if you have already been studying with us, this is a wonderful time to keep going. The difference between knowing “some” of a language and actually feeling comfortable using it often comes from simply continuing longer than you originally expected.

📚 Keep Learning With the Polyglottist Blog

We are also continuing to expand the Polyglottist Language & Culture Blog, where we publish practical guides for language learners, explanations of grammar and pronunciation, cultural articles, and resources for people trying to decide how and where to study.

Whether you are studying Japanese, Russian, Tagalog, German, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, or another language, you will find plenty to explore.

👉 Visit the Polyglottist Blog and discover something new.

🌍 Find Your Next Class

This fall, PLA students can choose from a growing range of languages, levels, and formats—including both online and in-person classes in Berkeley.

Our classes remain intentionally small so that students have time to speak, ask questions, and actually interact with their instructor.

✨ Why study with Polyglottist?

✅ Small group classes
✅ Experienced and culturally knowledgeable instructors
✅ In-person and online options
✅ Multiple proficiency levels
✅ Practical language you can actually use
✅ A welcoming environment designed for adult learners

Whether this fall marks your first language class, your return to a language you once studied, or another step in a journey you have been pursuing for years, we would love to have you learning with us.

Here’s to a productive, curious, language-filled fall.

Warmly,
The Polyglottist Language Academy Team

Polyglottist Language Academy
www.polyglottistlanguageacademy.com