What is Air Currents?
Air Currents is an cultural services company, with a focus on promoting cultural exchange, particularly through English language learning and art.
We offer a variety of online English and art courses and artist-in-residency program.
The English courses are specially tailored to achieve success in a variety of fields, from IELTS to international business and study of art at the post-graduate level.
Our art programmes (courses and residency programme) are designed for practitioners in the art sector as well as art lovers to gain more understanding, helping them fulfil their professional needs or personal interests.
All our activities aim to facilitate intercultural communication, in particular between China and the rest of the world.
What specifically do we offer?
Art
– Art education for adults, via video;
– An artist-in-residency programme in the UK and Tunisia.
Language
– General English language training for adults;
– Specialised English language training (Business English, English for International Relations) for adult professionals;
Art and Language
English language for post-graduate art study.
Who might benefit from our services?
You may benefit from our services if you:
– Want to learn English as an adult but are suspicious of poor quality language programmes and unprofessional teachers.
– Want to study an art-related subject at a university in an English speaking country, but do not have the technical vocabulary or cultural background to do so successfully.
– Are already studying art at an English-speaking university, but are struggling because IELTS has not prepared you properly for art study in English.
– Are an artist and want to experience what it’s like to make and display art in a major foreign city (Birmingham, UK or Tunisia, North Africa).
– Are generally interested in better understanding art tradition.
Why do we do what we do?
We at Air Currents believe in the importance of intercultural communication and think that our lives have been greatly enriched by the study and appreciation of other cultures.
Language and art are two major vehicles for intercultural communication, so we’re committed to providing linguistic and artistic educational programmes. In so doing, we hope to further understanding and appreciation of other cultures.
Core values
Our first core value is that we never compromise on quality.
Our second core value is that we believe in the value of intercultural communication.
Our third core value is that we always try to put ourselves in our clients’ shoes.
Our story
Air Currents traces its origins back to 2017 when founders Yiran Yang and Bryn James opened an Artist-in-Residence (AiR) programme in Tunis, Tunisia. The programme welcomed artists from the UK, China and Australia to Tunisia to experience its culture and produce art there, displaying their work alongside Tunisian artists and often working in partnership with national-level Tunisian cultural institutions.
The programme hosted exhibitions for artists from the UK, China, Poland, Russia and Tunisia. It was also a member of international Artist-in-Residence network Resartis.
After the programme had been running for two years and Yiran and Bryn moved to the UK, they decided to broaden the educational offering to include English language teaching to assist artists from non-English speaking countries.
Why choose Air Currents to improve your art knowledge?
- Air Currents leadership has an artistic background. The co-founder of Air Currents – Yiran Yang, studied art and worked in the field as both artist and art administrator since 2011. She has a deep understanding of the different requirements of artists, institutions, collectors and audiences and is experienced in both western and Chinese traditions. Our other team members have all been involved in art in one way or another.
- Our art programs are delivered by experienced art professionals but are designed to be accessible and fun for ordinary people.
- We don’t just do art lessons. Our aim is to make Air Currents a dynamic cultural community by providing cultural content of interest as well live events.
- A high quality language service team is an additional strength. This allows us to provide extra support to art practitioners, if needed, to enable them to better access the global art world.
Why choose Air Currents for English language learning?
We think we are better quality and more specialised in key areas.
Our tutors…
- Are native speakers, Oxford-educated with a TEFL certification.
- Are passionate about the correct use of English.
- Can speak a foreign language to a high level
- Are trained to understand issues faced by Chinese learners of English and how to solve them.
Our course material is…
- Based on Cambridge material for General English learners and Business English learners.
- Specialised and unique for Art English learners. We think we are the only company in the market to offer specialised art English aimed at Chinese learners. The Art English curriculum has been approved by our Art Consultant, Oliver Gosling, a Lecturer in Art at Brighton University, UK.
- Tailored to your requirements: if you need a curriculum with more emphasis on a different professional field, just let us know and we will consult our experts and develop the relevant course material.
- About more than just English lessons! Students improve their intercultural understanding, develop their professional knowledge and become part of a friendly learning community.
Further background to the language programme
Our team are multilingual: we know what it’s like to learn a foreign language and we understand what makes a course of tuition effective. That’s why our curriculums and our teaching methods work. In addition, at every step of the journey, we seek feedback from clients and adopt a policy of continuous improvement.
We also know what makes language tuition ineffective! In fact, the chief impetus for beginning Air Currents’ English learning programme was dissatisfaction at what is currently on the market. We want to offer people something better. Our co-founder, Bryn James, is an Oxford University graduate in Modern Languages and is passionate about the correct use of English (he even recently wrote to the British Council to alert them to a spelling error in one of their sample IELTS papers). Bryn brings that passion to our curriculum design.
We have the best tutors available, each with a strong academic background. Teaching English is a specialised skill, like being an engineer or a doctor – and we treat it as such. We regret that the global educational market is flooded with unqualified or uncommitted TEFL tutors and we are determined to be different.
Where we offer specialised language tuition, you can be sure that we know what we’re doing. For example if you want interview practice, our co-founder Bryn James, who has interviewed many people on behalf of the UK government, where he used to work, will guide you through the process. If you are an artist who wants to learn how to talk about art in English, our Art Consultant, Oliver Gosling, a lecturer in art at Brighton University and practising painter, will use all his experience to help you get to where you need to be. If you need experience with a variety of accents, Air Currents can provide that as well.
Please get in touch with us to learn more about our services. We’re looking forward to talking to you!
为什么选择我们
Air Currents是什么？
Air Currents（中文名：飞廉交流）是一间文化服务公司，通过英语学习和艺术交流的方式，致力于促进文化交流。
我们提供丰富的线上英语和艺术课程以及艺术家驻留项目。
英语课程是专门为能够成功掌握各个领域知识的学习者而量身定制的，从雅思到国际商务英语以及研究生水平的艺术学习。
而我们的艺术栏目（课程和驻留项目）旨在使艺术从业者和艺术爱好者可以获得对艺术更深入的理解，满足他们所需的专业知识或者个人兴趣。
我们所有的活动旨在促进跨文化交流，尤其是中国和其他国家之间的文化交流。
我们提供的服务有何特色之处？
艺术领域
针对成年人的在线艺术教育；
英国和突尼斯的艺术驻留项目。
语言
成人日常英语辅导；
成人特别英语辅导（商务英语，国际关系英语）；
艺术与语言
针对艺术专业研究生级别的英语课程。
哪些人群将从我们的课程服务中获益？
通过我们的课程，你将获益良多，如果你：
– 作为成人，想要继续学习英语却对低质量的语言课程和不专业的老师有所怀疑。
– 想要在英语国家的大学中学习艺术相关的课程，但是没有专业的词汇量或者深厚的文化背景去实施这一想法。
– 已经在国外学习艺术课程，但因雅思词汇无法适用于艺术专业课程的学习之中而感到困扰。
– 作为艺术家，想要了解国外主要城市的艺术是如何制作和展览的,比如英国伯明翰或者北非突尼斯这些城市。
– 对艺术感兴趣，想要获得更深入的了解。
我们为什么要做我们现在所做的事？
Air Currents（飞廉交流）相信跨文化交流的重要性，认为学习和欣赏其他文化可以丰富我们的生活。
语言和艺术是跨文化交流的两个重要载体，因此我们致力于提供语言和艺术类教育课程，通过这样的方式，我们希望能够带领学员更深入地理解和欣赏其他文化。
核心理念
首要核心理念是绝不在品质上妥协。
第二核心理念是坚信跨文化交流的价值。
第三核心理念是站在客户的角度思考，了解客户的需求。
我们的故事
Air Currents（飞廉交流）的发展可以追溯到2017年，创始人杨伊然与Bryn James共同在突尼斯成立了艺术家驻留项目，协助了来自英国、中国以及澳大利亚的艺术家在突尼斯进行人文考察和艺术创作、举办展览活动、与当地艺术家进行艺术文化交流等。我们也与国家级突尼斯文化机构也有多次合作。
我们也为来自英国、中国、波兰、俄国以及突尼斯等国家的艺术家举办展览，同时也是国际驻留机构Resartis的成员。
这个项目运行2年之后，伊然和Bryn搬到了英国，他们觉得应该扩宽教育服务的范围至英语教学，帮助非英语国家的艺术家提升语言水平。
为什么选择Air Currents（飞廉交流）提高你的艺术知识？
-Air Currents（飞廉交流）的领导者具备艺术文化背景。共同创始人杨伊然，大学学习艺术专业，自2011年以来，一直作为艺术家和艺术管理者工作。她对艺术家、艺术机构、收藏家以及观众的不同需求有着深入的理解，并且对西方和中国艺术文化传统都有足够的经验。我们团队的其他成员也均也不同的方式对艺术有所涉猎。
-我们的艺术课程由丰富经验的艺术专业人士所提供，在教学设计上通俗易懂且有趣，专业但并不晦涩艰深，考虑到了普通学员的需求。
-我们不仅仅提供艺术课程，我们的目标是通过提供具有趣味性的文化内容和活动，使Air Currents（飞廉交流）成为一个充满活力的文化社群。
-高素质的语言服务团队是一个额外的优势，这使我们可以为艺术从业者提供额外的帮助，如果有需要的话，使他们能够更好的进入全球艺术领域。
为什么选择Air Currents（飞廉交流）学习英语？
在这个领域的许多重要方面，我们都更优质和更专业。
我们的导师…
– 英语母语，毕业于牛津大学，拥有TFFL认证；
– 致力于推进英语的正确使用；
– 至少精通一门外语；
– 接受过训练，了解中国英语学习者所遇到的问题以及如何解决这些问题。
我们课程的材料是…
– 基于剑桥日常英语和商务英语教学材料优化；
– 专业而独特的艺术英语课程：我们是市场上唯一一家为中国学生提供专业艺术英语的机构，艺术英语课程得到艺术顾问Oliver Gosling的认可，他是英国布莱登大学与牛津大学的讲师。
– 根据您的要求量身定制：如果您需要定制不同专业领域的课程，请告诉我们，我们将咨询我们的专家并制定相关课程材料。
– 不仅仅是英语课！学员提升他们的跨文化认知，发展他们的专业知识，并成为友好型学习社区的一部分。
关于语言项目的进一步介绍：
我们的团队精通多种语言：我们清楚学习一门外语是什么样的，我们了解什么方法可以促使一门课程变得高效。这是为什么我们的课程与教学方法奏效的原因。此外，教学的每一个阶段，我们都在寻求客户的反馈并持续改进。
我们也明白什么促使语言教学无效！事实上，最初Air Currents（飞廉交流）英语教学项目的主要动力是对市场上的教学产品不满意。我们想要提供大众更好的教育。我们的联合创始人Bryn James,毕业于牛津大学现代语言专业，热衷于研究英语的正确使用（他甚至写信给英国文化教育协会提醒他们雅思试卷中的一处拼写错误），他将这种激情带到了我们的英语课程设计之中。
我们拥有最好的导师，每位导师都有深厚的学术背景，英语教学是一项专业技能，就像一名工程师或者医生一样，我们对于教学就是秉承这样专业的态度。我们很遗憾全球教育市场充斥着不合格或者无承诺的TFFL导师，我们力求与众不同。
在我们所提供的专业语言教学中，你可以确信我们知道我们在做什么。例如，如果你想进行面试练习，我们的联合创始人Bryn James将会全程给你指导，他曾在英国政府工作，并代表英国政府面试过很多人。如果你是一位想要通过英语谈论艺术的艺术家，我们的艺术顾问Oliver Gosling将用他的经验帮助你解决问题,他是布莱登大学的艺术教师和职业画家。如果你需要感受不同的口音，Air Currents（飞廉交流）也可以为你提供帮助。
想要更多地了解我们的服务信息，可以与我们联系，我们很期待与你交谈！