Artspeak: English Language Workshop

International art English may be everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy! In this workshop you can boost your language skills by analysing artworks in the classroom as well as visiting exhibitions and discussing
ideas in the museum/gallery context.

Despite the dominance of English as the international language of art, many people still lack confidence when discussing more complex ideas. This four-day workshop for art English will give participants the opportunity to critically engage with images and exhibitions, discuss theories of art and articulate individual ideas.

Integral parts

The first part will include classroom-based seminars where particular themes such as 'the museum and curating practices', 'language and art', or 'post-internet art' will be analysed and explored. Here we will look at a diverse selection of modern and contemporary artworks and focus on making logical arguments based on visual or theoretical evidence, defending theoretical positions, using socio-political vocabulary when forming opinions, and identifying appropriate language for debating and disagreeing. Participants will first gather ideas in small teams and later present them to the wider group.

In the second part of the course, language skills will be challenged within the real-world context of the gallery or museum. It will involve getting to know the Berlin art scene through gallery and museum trips and discussing exhibitions in situ. 

By the end of the course students should have:

• increased confidence when describing artworks
• increased ability to express complex ideas
• increased confidence in forming opinions and calmly debating with other students
• widened their vocabulary and become aware of any recurring grammatical errors

Daily schedule

10:00 – 13:15               Seminar (15 minute break)

13:15 – 14:00               Lunch break

14:00 – 17:00               Museum/gallery visit

Rosemary Hogarth is a visual artist, English language teacher, and translator based in Berlin. Born in Scotland, she trained as a painter at the Glasgow School of Art and studied art history and theory at the University of Glasgow. She has been teaching English for ten years and specialises in interdisciplinary lessons where language and subject matter are given equal weight.

rosemaryhogarth.com