The overview

New York-based Cactus Language Training is one of the world's leading language training companies. Founded in 1998, our expert team delivers quality language training to individuals and businesses. Cactus helps over 15,000 people every year learn more than 30 languages, in 60 countries and 500 destinations worldwide.

The Cactus Approach

We believe that the best way to learn a language is with the support and guidance of a teacher who can inspire and motivate the course participants into successful language acquisition.

Working alongside a professional language teacher will help all students reach their objectives more quickly and effectively, and provide them with strong foundations to build on in the future. There are also other important advantages to having a teacher along the participants' side every step of the way. All Cactus trainers are the embodiment of the language and culture chosen, giving students a unique insight into a country's traditions and daily life.

Cactus can also provide participants with a vast range of online and self-study methods available, both as online resources and off-the-shelf packs of language learning materials. All these approaches have their place in language learning, and we believe that they are excellent ways of consolidating the students' language knowledge and of reinforcing what they have already learnt.

The evidence of our commitment to teacher-led language training has been our strategy to provide the widest possible range of 'live' language learning opportunities through a network of many thousands of qualified, expert Cactus language trainers and award- winning partner schools worldwide. We have one of the largest ranges of international language course locations, in conjunction with a wide offer of course formats, from individual home-based tuition, through to group language classes in International language centers.

The Programs

• Evening and Part-time Courses

  We run evening and part-time group courses in New York, Toronto & Boston. Customers can choose from different course formats including 10 week courses, 5 week fast-track courses, 1 week intensive courses, exam preparation courses and weekend vacation survival courses. We offer group programs in up to 15 languages, and levels from Beginner to Advanced conversation. Classes are taught in small groups by our qualified and experienced trainers.

• Tailormade and Private Tuition

  We provide custom-made language and cultural training for individual, business, corporate and public sector companies in the USA and many other worldwide locations. Tuition can be provided in-company, at the participant's residence, or in fully-equipped training rooms anywhere in the world.

  Cactus regularly provides online training via Skype™, one-to-one tuition and many other styles of teaching and blended learning:

  Lessons are taught by qualified, experienced, native-speaker trainers, using best-practice communicative methodology. Content will always be relevant and based on the student's language needs. Regular assessments will be built into course design so all parties can monitor the progress being made and identify work that still needs to be done to ensure the stated learning outcomes are achieved.

• Language programs overseas in-country

  Our specialist language travel agency offers English and foreign language courses and vacations in in-country, which can be personalised and tailored to suit all requirements. Courses may be executive, intensive or for leisure purposes and can include activities such as dance, wine tasting, cookery, music, art, culture, diving, photography, relaxation and many more. Cactus also provides courses for children, teens, families and the over 50s.

The clients

Cactus' corporate client list includes enterprises such as Coca Cola, Fidelity, Lululemon Athletica, Open TV, The Peace Dividend Trust, Rio Novo Gold, JP Morgan, and UNICEF. We have permanent offices in the US and UK and operate a global network of approved schools and qualified teachers.

The Quality

Cactus' Quality Program has been approved by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance to ISO 9001:2008. This confirms our commitment to consistently meeting and exceeding the needs of our customers around the world.

Details about all our other course formats, as well as a wealth of inspirational language and travel information can be found on the Cactus website: www.cactuslanguagetraining.com.

Why learn a language?

Learning a language enables you to...

• Start new conversations with confidence with friends, colleagues, new contacts, in-laws or while travelling.
• Enhance your career by adding to your skill set and CV, opening up international opportunities and more travel.
• Exercise your brain. Learning is good for the grey matter! It expands your mind and keeps it active, giving you new insights, ideas and challenges.
• Open cultural doors. The world is your oyster! Discover new places, people and experiences.
• Meet like-minded people. Make new friends and share a common interest in a relaxed, fun environment.

What will I learn?
Our Course Profiles give an overview of the content and learning framework of Cactus part-time group courses and include themes, grammar and vocabulary you can typically expect to cover. These are intended as a guide only and our teachers may at times adapt the course content to suit the specific level, aims and interests of the class.

What progress will I have made by the end of the level?
Our Learning Pathways provide a guide to what you can expect to achieve by the end of your course at any given level and also shows what progress you can expect to make if you stick with it and carry on studying subsequent levels.

At Cactus our goal is to offer a wide choice of course types, languages and levels, but most importantly, language courses and products we can be proud of. In order to give our students the highest quality of courses we work closely with our experienced team of teachers to ensure that every element of our courses – the teaching, syllabi, and materials – are the very best they can be for our students.

But there is only one true verdict - what our customers say about us. To ensure that we maintain the same high quality across all of our courses, we rely on you, our customers to give us regular feedback.

Read what our students have said about our courses, our teachers and our customer service.
View testimonials »

If you have a comment to add about your experience with Cactus, please drop us an email at info@cactuslanguagecourses.com

1. How do I book?
2. What is the profile of the students on Cactus courses?
3. Can I book at the last minute?
4. How soon do I have to enrol?
5. Can I book on the day the course starts?
6. Can I join a class in the second week?
7. How do I know there is space on a course?
8. Will my course run?
9. Can you issue a letter of invitation in order for me to get / extend a visa to study with Cactus?

1. How do I know what level I am?
2. Where can I study the language I want to learn?

1. Language Courses North America Refund Policy
2. Am I allowed a discount if I book two courses?
3. Can I pay by cash?
4. Can I pay a deposit and then pay the rest later?

1. Can I talk to a real person about the course I am taking?
2. How can I find out the exact address of the school?