Chat Time

Chat Time is one of the informal English-language sessions at the Discovery Museum, and the current run is coming to a close on Tuesday 13 October. It's been going since Tuesday 29 September, with sessions starting at 10:00 am, so there's still a bit of time to get involved if you haven't yet.

The whole thing is built around helping visitors improve their speaking and listening skills. Instead of sitting in a classroom, you use the museum's galleries as a starting point: the sessions draw on themes from the displays to spark conversation in a supportive environment. It's a good way to get talking without the pressure of a formal lesson, and because you're moving through the museum while you do it, you're picking up language and seeing the exhibits at the same time.

One thing that's worth knowing is that any children being cared for are very welcome, so you don't have to leave them at home to make it work. Chat Time runs alongside the museum's other family sessions, too. There's Tiny Sparks, the hands-on creative sessions for young children inspired by the museum's objects, and Curious Crawlers, a session for babies who love to crawl. If you've got little ones, you can fit a few of these into the same morning.

It's all at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4JA. The sessions start at 10:00 am, and this run wraps up on Tuesday 13 October.