Located in the San Francisco Bay area, the city offers a striking combination of urban development and natural beauty and its sister city, Oakland, is so close that visiting is a breeze. Owing to these factors and more, San Francisco has developed a reputation as one of the finest cities in the country, and it is currently the city with the highest per capita income in the US. As a result, there is always something to do in San Francisco, regardless of your desires or interests. Read on to learn more about some of the exciting options available in the city for learning new skills, meeting new people and developing new hobbies that have been collected and curated by CourseHorse. To learn more about these or any other classes, visit CourseHorse’s webpage and search for classes in San Francisco.
Read on to find out more about selected classes from Pans on Fire, The San Francisco Wine School, Art School of SF Bay, The Richmond Art Center, Living Your Wild Creativity, CocuSocial, The American School of Flower Design, Aperture Academy, forageSF and ABC Languages SF.
Cooking Classes at Pans on Fire
Home cooking is one of the most valuable skills that a person can learn. Not only will you save money and be able to eat healthier, but you’ll also be able to make your home life more stress-free and you can start doing things like meal prepping, hosting fancy dinners or planning memorable date nights. Pans on Fire is one of San Francisco’s finest culinary retail kitchens, and they offer a wide range of different cooking classes. In addition to offering courses for adults looking to learn how to cook, they also offer corporate training seminars, youth cooking camps and customer appreciation events. Students enrolled in these courses will have the chance to learn a wide range of different cooking techniques and regional cuisines, so there is likely to be something offered in the program that aligns with your tastes.
Students looking to save on restaurant costs may want to enroll in a class like Pans on Fire’s Chinese Cooking class. This one-evening cooking class will teach students how to prepare authentic, restaurant-quality Chinese dishes from the convenience of their own homes. Students will have access to Pans on Fire’s professional-grade test kitchen and, with the help of an experienced instructor, they will learn how to prepare Moo Shu Pork and Mandarin Fried Rice, both of which are versatile dishes that students can prepare in their home kitchens with dozens of different ingredient variations. Students will receive all of the ingredients they need to cook the dish, and at the end of the course, they will have made their own dinner for the evening. In addition to their Chinese Cooking class, Pans on Fire also offers classes in Thai Cooking, Middle Eastern Cooking, and Mediterranean Cooking.
Students looking to spend a romantic evening learning a new skill or looking to prepare for a home dinner date might be interested in enrolling in the Date Night: Pork Tenderloin Medallions class. In this course, which can be taken as a couple or by individual students, will teach students how to prepare perfect pork tenderloin medallions. These succulent cuts of meat make for an affordable but delicious meal as part of any romantic evening. In addition to learning how to prepare the main course, students will also learn how to complement their pork tenderloin medallions by preparing a potato rösti, a savory brussel sprout hash, and a decadent chocolate soufflé for dessert. This complete meal will be a perfect centerpiece for a romantic dinner or a casual night at home. If you aren’t a fan of pork, Pans on Fire also offers a Date Night: Cacio e Pepe Ravioli, Mixed Green Salad course that is more vegetarian-friendly.
Even if you aren’t interested in learning to make food, Pans on Fire has you covered with their Cocktail Series class. In this course, students will learn the basics of professional cocktail making and mixology through hands-on instruction from an experienced bartender. Students will learn how to make two cocktails, a rotating collection of classic cocktails (like an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan) and a famous contemporary cocktail (like a Paper Plane or a Penicillin). In addition to learning specific recipes, students will also learn the fundamental skills involved in mixing cocktails. This includes practical skills like how to shake a drink and more theoretical skills like knowing how many dashes of bitters to add to a drink to perfect the flavor profile. Students who enroll in this course will get to sample the drinks they are making, and food will be provided during the class. Students are encouraged to check in regularly to see what kinds of cocktails are the focus of the course.
Wine Tasting Classes at The San Francisco Wine School
Northern California is one of the most important wine regions in the country, and San Francisco has been at the heart of the American wine industry since European wine grapes were introduced by Spanish missionaries. Since then, California has established itself as a worldwide power in the wine industry and has become the largest producer of wine in the country. As a result of this, visiting wineries has become a popular activity for locals looking for something to do on the weekend, and the wide selection of wines available in the region makes at-home wine tasting a common social event. However, if you want to take your wine events to the next level, you should consider enrolling in a wine tasting course at The San Francisco Wine School, the country’s largest wine school in the nation. In one of these courses, students will learn the techniques professional sommeliers use to taste and judge wine, and they will learn the history and science behind the process of wine-making.
Students looking to learn more about their local wine-making traditions will want to enroll in the Napa Valley course. In this class, students will learn about California’s most famous wine region's history and the science that makes this wine unique. The course will cover lessons in growing grapes and how specific regional differences produce significantly different flavor profiles in the wine produced. In this class, students will sample six to eight wines from Napa Valley (specific vintages are offered on a rotational basis), covering many of the different styles of wine produced in the region. This course aims to help students articulate the differences in flavors and distinct bodies of each wine and give them the tools they need to make more informed decisions and comments when visiting Napa Valley. Students interested in similar courses can also enroll in a class like Lake & The Sierra or Sonoma County Wine.
If you are looking for an introduction to styles of wine, The San Francisco Wine School also offers a robust collection of classes to teach students about common wine varieties such as their Chardonnays of the World class. Chardonnay is the most commonly grown wine grape in California (and in the world), so learning about its unique flavor profile and the wines it produces is a great introduction to wine taste. In this class, students will sample six Chardonnays from all over the world, and they will identify their similarities and differences. Students will discover the flavor profile that defines a Chardonnay, and they will learn how different regional variations in soil and climate produce subtle differences in the grapes. This course is perfect for anyone looking to start their journey as a hobbyist sommelier or just for anyone who wants to learn more about their favorite kind of wine. Other focused courses include Rieslings of the World, Syrahs of the World, and Sauvignon Blancs of the World.
Finally, The San Francisco Wine School offers a collection of blind taste testing classes for students looking to identify the subtle differences between similar kinds of wine. For example, in their Blind Testing Thick Skinned Red Wines course, students will undertake a blind taste test of six different red wines, each defined by the thick grapes used in their production. The goal of this course is to let students get practical experience tasting the wine, identifying what they see to be its common flavors and comparing notes with other tasters. Then, students will get a more detailed lesson on the individual wine styles and vintages they just tasted, helping them learn how cultivating and aging the grapes contributed to the differences in flavors they observed. In addition to the thick-skinned reds class, The San Francisco Wine School also offers blind testing in Thin Skinned Reds, Aromatic Whites and Bubbles, Botrytis & Fortified Wines.
Art Classes at Art School of SF Bay
There are few ways to flex your creative skills quite like learning a new artistic hobby. Students who want to learn to draw or paint should check out some of the classes offered at the Art School of SF Bay. The Art School of SF Bay is one of the most well-respected art schools in the city, and all of the classes are taught by experienced MFAs with years of training in art and art education. They offer classes in various subjects, styles and mediums, meaning that students will have a lot of different options for learning new artistic skills. The Art School of SF Bay is also one of the city's most well-established youth art schools, so students as young as six can find classes suitable for pursuing their artistic dreams. Classes for adults are beginner-friendly and offer a casual and inviting environment for students looking to learn the fundamentals of painting and drawing.
Students with no background in art may want to start by taking Key Elements of Fine Arts, a 16-session crash course in the world of fine art, the history of various artistic movements and an introduction to practical artistic skills. This course aims to give students the knowledge they need to start making informed creative decisions when working on their art projects. Students will learn about important theories of composition and design, including theories of color and perspective. Students will also learn about art history, including major movements including impressionism, abstract art and photorealism. By the end of this course, which meets once a week in the evenings, students will also have the opportunity to hone their practical skills by painting a portrait and a composition of human figure sketches. This course is an ideal introduction to the world of the fine arts, serving as an immersive experience that is well-suited for beginners.
Once students are comfortable with their knowledge of the fine arts (or as soon as they want to get started painting), they can enroll in Oil and Acrylic Painting, a course that teaches students the basic skills painters use to create evocative and memorable paintings. This is a 14-session program that aims to take students from complete painting novices and give them the tools they need to create art worthy of being displayed. Each session covers an important element of the painting process, including mixing colors and expressing mood through paint. Then, students will learn practical painting skills, including how to paint grass, sky, facial features and other common subjects of representational art. Students will complete three projects over the course of the program, a small still-life, a large portrait and a final project of the students’ choosing.
Students looking to enroll in a fun, laid back course that will let them produce a personalized and memorable art piece may want to enroll in the Pet Portrait class. This is an advanced discourse, so students should have some experience with oil or acrylic painting. In this class, students will learn the finer points of detailing animal figures, including how to paint fur, accurate animal anatomy and texturing everything from feathers to teeth. The aim of this course is to give students the opportunity to paint a portrait of their own pet, so lessons will be broadly tailored to the needs of your own portrait. This is a seven-session class that will conclude with students painting a personalized portrait of their pets that they can take home with them and hang in their own offices, living rooms or dens.
Art Classes at The Richmond Art Center
Anyone who knows art knows that there is more to the world of fine art than just painting. If you are interested in learning more about the plastic arts, you may want to consider enrolling in a course offered by The Richmond Art Center. These classes will teach students how to engage in a wide range of artistic endeavors, including weaving, pottery and jewelry making. In each of these classes, students will get hands-on experience working with the tools and techniques that go into a given plastic art and they will get direct instruction from The Richmond Art Center’s expert art instructors. In addition to learning practical art skills, students will find themselves as the center of one of SF’s historic artistic communities and they will have an opportunity to meet like minded artists with whom they can network and collaborate.
One popular plastic art is jewelry making, a skill that students can learn and practice in the Precious Metal Clay Jewelrymaking course. In this eight-session course, students will get hands-on experience in the art of jewelry making, including how to work with clay and precious metals, including bronze and silver. Students will be guided through the process of preparing materials for a jewelry project, firing clay and working with precious metals and ensuring that the completed jewelry is structurally ready to be worn. Students will also get experience setting stones and shaping the clay in such a way that they can include their own intricate designs. In this class, students will work on pendants, rings and stone-setting molds, and they will have access to all of the tools they need to complete their projects, including a kiln to fire their pieces. By the end of the program, students will have at least one completed jewelry piece that they can take with them to complement their wardrobe or gift to someone important in their life.
The Richmond Art Center also offers a wide range of loom weaving classes, including an Evening Weaving class for students looking to learn to weave their own thread art or practical garments. This is an eight-session, advanced loom weaving course that is designed for students who want to learn how to use studio floor looms to make complex and intricate fabric projects. Students will divide their time in this course between open studio sessions and focused lessons, giving students a chance to work on their own projects while still getting expert instruction in the fine art of weaving fabrics on a loom. Students can work on everything from tapestries and wall scrolls to shirts and blankets, making this an ideal program for students who are looking for serious loom time. Students are required to have completed an introductory or advanced loom weaving class offered by the Richmond Art Center within the last four years.
Finally, students interested in working with their hands can enroll in a Beginner / Intermediate Wheel class to learn how to work with potters’ clay. In this hands-on course, students will learn the intricacies of working with a pottery wheel, molding clay into a desired shape and kiln blasting that clay into an art piece or a practical object like a bowl. This course combines beginner and intermediate instruction, so it is an ideal class for students with no prior knowledge of pottery or students with a bit of experience looking to learn more advanced techniques. Students will get guided instruction on how to work with their materials, and they will be able to get help from instructors to build the kinds of projects that they want to build. There is a fee for materials and kiln usage, but this covers everything that a student needs to start working on high-quality clay goods and art projects.
Art Classes at Living Your Wild Creativity
Living Your Wild Creativity is a San Francisco-based art studio that aims to make abstract, modern art more accessible to students and novice artists. This school aims to help students use art as part of their inward journey of personal growth and development, viewing creative endeavors as a way to help students rediscover the creative joy and the exploration of play. These classes then are designed to encourage students to experiment with art in ways they might otherwise be hesitant to try, and the courses are designed to be freeform and open. These classes are as much opportunities to play in the space of the art studio as they are instruction in art, making them ideal for students looking to have a good time and potentially discover or rediscover something about the creative process that moves them.
One of Living Your Wild Creativity’s most popular courses is their Come to Your Senses class which aims to help students explore the creative potential offered by sensory experiences. Students who participate in this class will spend a day working on mixed media projects that help give artistic form and expression to the things we see, hear and taste. Over the course of this session, students will experiment with abstract representations of sensory experiences and they will contemplate how our senses inform the creative process. The aim of the class is for students to let go of their conscious mind and let their sensory reactions take over as they create vibrant and original works of art that let them experience the world in a new light. The course does require students to provide their own materials, but a list is provided for students.
Students looking to explore the world of abstract art further may want to consider enrolling in the Mark, Marks, Marks! class. This day-long abstract art course introduces students to the process of marking, which the school considers to be the basis of abstract expression. This course aims to give students a space to experiment with creating paintings using only marks, offering them the chance to let go of their inhibitions and allow the inner abstract painter to come out. Students will learn techniques for working with marks, and they will learn about the history of abstract art as a form. By the end of this class, students will have created their own abstract paintings and will be more in tune with what Living Your Wild Creativity calls the marks inside of them.
Finally, students who just want a chance to experiment with their own creative desires and have a space to play in the world of abstract art will want to consider the Studio Practice course. Each month, the course will focus on a different creative topic in abstract art, and the class will give students the time to explore this topic in detail during open studio sessions. Each class will begin with a group discussion of the topic followed by guided exercises offering students the chance to get a hands-on experience with an aspect of abstract painting. Once students have completed their guided exercises, they will have free painting time to start applying the new skills they’ve learned to their own creative expressions while still receiving one-on-one support from their instructors. This course is an ideal place for students to experiment with the possibilities offered by abstract art and to meet new, like-minded colleagues who share their interests in the form.
Cooking Classes at CocuSocial
CocuSocial is a national culinary education school with a location in San Francisco. At the school, students can learn the art of home cooking in a beginner-friendly environment overseen by professional chefs. Students with no prior cooking experience will be able to learn the culinary arts, and lessons focus on practical cooking skills that students can bring back to their home kitchens. All of the classes will see students preparing their own meals with the guidance of a professional instructor, and every class will conclude with an opportunity for students to eat and share their creations. These courses are also social events, and students will work in groups of 2-4 (you can bring your own party or be paired up with other students), and adult beverages will be available for students to purchase.
Students looking for a class that teaches them how to cook food that can complement a dish or become a meal on its own should consider enrolling in their Authentic Asian Dumplings class. In this course, students will learn how to make two different types of traditional East Asian dumplings, pork, chives and shrimp dumplings, and a vegetarian tofu dumplings. Students will learn how to mix and prep the dumpling wrapper, and they will compare their handmade wrapper to a store bought option. Then, students will learn how to prep the filling and portion out the protein before hand-rolling the dumplings. Finally, students will learn how to properly cook the dumplings in two different ways (steamed and fried). By the end of the course, students will have acquired the skills they need to customize their recipes and start preparing these delicious dumplings at home.
Another Asian food option for students to learn how to prepare at CucoSocial is available in their Make Your Own Sushi course. In this course, students will get practical experience learning how to prepare, roll, cut and serve their own sushi rolls. Students will practice preparing sushi rice through traditional methods and learn how to ensure their ingredients are fresh (which is especially important if you are working with fish). Students will make three different rolls, a salmon roll, a tuna roll and a California roll. In addition to working on these rolls, students will be encouraged to consider how they can present and prepare sushi creatively such as inside-out rolls or hand-rolls. Students who complete this course will be ready to start making their own homemade sushi rolls using various ingredients by taking advantage of the simple techniques they learn in this class.
One of the main challenges of eating vegan is that it can be slightly more expensive if you want to find non-dairy equivalents for common foods. One way to address this is to take a class like CocuSocial’s Homemade Vegan Cheeses class. In this course, students will learn how to use a wide variety of different nuts, flavorings, herbs and spices to create non-dairy cheese alternatives to use in your home cooking. Rather than relying on mediocre store offerings, students will be able to make homemade vegan cheese that they can modify to suit their particular tastes and flavor preferences, making this a great course for students looking to save money and expand on their repertoire of vegan recipes. The course aims to give students access to the tools and ingredients they need to feel comfortable working with vegan cheese in the kitchen, and this course is designed to be accessible for experienced vegan chefs and students who are just starting on their plant-based diets.
Flower Arrangement at The American School of Flower Design
Students looking to learn a creative form of expression that lets them work with nature may want to consider enrolling in a course offered by The American School of Flower Design. This program, taught by world-renowned flower design artist Michael Gaffney, aims to bring floral design training to people nationwide. These courses are intended for beginning floral designers who want to create their own arrangements and aspiring professionals who hope to start their own flower design businesses. No matter your experience level or goals, you can rest assured that you will get the in-depth training and attention needed to succeed in the world of flower design. All of the classes are taught using Michael Gaffney’s well-established flower design philosophy and pedagogy, and all students who enroll in classes will be able to take their designs home with them to display.
If you aren’t sure if floral design is right for you, you may want to consider enrolling in The American School of Flower Design’s Floral Design Sampler class. In this course, students will learn the basics of contemporary flower design practices and work on three projects covering modern American and European flower design concepts. Students will be given all of the necessary flowers and materials required to complete their designs and they will be able to take all of the flowers home with them at the end of the class. In addition to learning the basics of floral arrangement, students will also learn how professional floral designers prune and care for their plants to ensure that they survive and retain their color and allure for weeks rather than days. Students who complete this course will receive a comprehensive introduction to the world of flower design, and they will be ready to start experimenting with these skills on their own or continuing on to a more advanced training program offered by Gaffney’s school.
Students considering a more robust floral design education program should consider enrolling in the two-session Introduction to Flower Design course. This class is built with aspiring professionals in mind and aims to teach students many practical aspects of working in floral design. Students will learn approximately ten common design styles covering American, European and Bridal designs. Students will complete hands-on exercises covering all of these common styles, and they will be able to take their designs home with them, giving them a chance to showcase their arrangements or to prepare their arrangements for promotional materials like social media posts. In addition to learning how to keep the flowers alive as long as possible, students will also learn how professionals source their flowers and how to get the best deals on bulk purchases. Finally, students who complete this course will also receive a signed copy of Gaffney’s award-winning guide to floral design.
Students who are certain that they want to start a side hustle or a career in the flower design business will want to enroll in the six-session Flower Design Star: 1 Week Comprehensive course. This class aims to provide students with all the training and knowledge they need to start designing flower arrangements that are worthy of sale. Over the six classes, students will learn 24 different styles of flower arrangements, including American, European, Bridal and Asian design styles. In addition to getting hands-on design experience, students will also learn the practical side of floral design, including taking a field trip to a flower wholesaler market to learn about how to source their materials properly. The course culminates with a real-world design project in which students create the arrangements for a wedding, giving them a collection of samples that they can show to prospective clients. If you want to turn your floral design hobby into your career, this is the course for you.
Photography Classes at Aperture Academy
Founded in 2009, Aperture Academy is one of San Francisco's many boutique photography education studios. Promising to give students access to top-quality instruction from licensed experts in the field of photography, Aperture Academy offers some of the best photography instruction in the city. Students will be assured that their education is the primary focal point of any photography class that they enroll in, and class sizes are kept to a minimum to ensure that students get the one on one attention that they deserve. Courses are available for all levels of students, so regardless of whether it is your first photo outing or your one hundredth, you can benefit from the guided instruction offered in these courses. Aperture Academy is overseen by fifteen professional photographers, and they are fully licensed by the state to ensure that they can take you to all manner of amazing locations and vistas to practice your photography skills.
Students interested in taking pictures of the natural world may want to consider enrolling in the San Francisco Zoo Photography course. In this five-hour class, students will explore the San Francisco Zoo and learn the basic skills involved in wildlife photography. Regardless of your skill level, you will receive expert instruction designed to take your photography skills to the next level. For some students, this will mean simply learning to take compelling shots of animals and utilize natural and artificial light. For others, this will involve more complex skills such as framing photographs and utilizing advanced digital camera tools. There is something for everyone in this outing. The entire course will take place at the zoo, so students will have plenty of time to practice their photography skills and spend a wonderful afternoon at one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks.
Another option for students interested in nature photography is the San Francisco and Marin Headlands Photography course, which emphasizes the natural beauty of the San Francisco Bay and gives students a chance to photograph arguably the city’s most famous landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. In this course, students will spend five hours on location at the Marin Headlands, giving them unobstructed access to some of the most vibrant natural and architectural marvels of San Francisco. This course is a great way for beginners to take advantage of the scenic vistas of San Francisco, and it is a great opportunity for advanced students to get more practical experience with their craft as they photograph a wide variety of different landscapes and subjects. Given the importance of the location, special attention will be paid to photographing the bridge, and every student can be assured that they will leave the course with a professional-quality photograph of The Golden Gate Bridge.
Finally, students looking to take advantage of the urban landscape of the city can enroll in the San Francisco Night Owls course. Night photography is quickly gaining popularity in the world of digital photography, and beginners and experts alike can find inspiration in the city after dark. Students will meet in Sausalito, and the course will cover many of the same locations and landmarks in the Marin Headlands class, including The Golden Gate Bridge. Students will learn how to gauge the light conditions they need to capture a perfect sunset and how ambient artificial light can be used to enhance photographs taken at dusk. With these lessons in hand, students will move between several different locations, including Treasure Island, the Palace of Fine Arts, The Embarcadero and Lombard Street, to take evocative night photographs that they can add to their collection. Regardless of your experience with night photography, this course will offer a fantastic opportunity to hone your photography skills.
Foraging Classes at forageSF
One of the things that makes San Francisco such an amazing city is how close it is to some of the finest national parks and coastlines in the world. This makes it ideal for hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. forageSF is a San Francisco-based training center that offers classes in nature foraging, an important skill to have if you are hoping to spend a lot of time outdoors while minimizing the waste you produce and the weight you carry. These courses aim to give students practical advice for foraging and collecting plant materials that they can eat or utilize while camping or hiking. Courses like these can be invaluable because these are practical skills that students shouldn’t really attempt to learn without guided instruction. Plus, since these are practical lessons, all of the classes double as nature walks, giving students a chance to visit the natural spaces where they will do their foraging.
The Wild Food Walks: San Francisco class will take students to one of the city’s many national or state parks to go on hikes and learn about the edible and medicinal plants they are likely to encounter on their treks. This class aims to provide students with a practical education in foraging, giving them the skills to start foraging food and plants on their own future hikes. The class lasts two hours and is designed for beginner and intermediate foragers. Students discover what kinds of edible plants are common in San Francisco, from miner’s lettuce to wild radish flowers, and they will learn how to ensure that the plants are healthy enough to be eaten. Students will be contacted a week before the course with information about the location of the class, so it will always be a mystery where you will be foraging when you sign up.
Students looking to expand their foraging knowledge can enroll in the Wild Mushroom Foraging Adventure: Sonoma Coast expedition. Taught by a hiking expert with more than forty years of foraging experience, this class will teach students how to find, collect and prepare wild mushrooms native to the Sonoma Coast. Students will learn what kinds of mushrooms they can forage, how to gauge whether or not those mushrooms are healthy and how to prepare them (both in the outdoors and their home kitchens). Your instructor will have scouted out the location of the mushrooms ahead of time, so you can be confident that you will be able to find a healthy collection of mushrooms on your journey. The course runs regardless of the weather, so you may need to be prepared to hike in the rain. Also, the Sonoma Coast trials run at steep elevations, so the journey will take students over 5,000 feet above sea level (which means they must be prepared for an intense walk).
Since San Francisco is famous for its beautiful natural coastline, students can take advantage of this and enroll in the Seaweed Foraging Adventure: Sonoma Coast experience. This course will take students down to Sonoma beach, where they will spend two hours collecting and preparing seaweed for various purposes. Students will be able to collect about ten pounds of seaweed, and they will learn how to identify the best pieces and how they can prepare the seaweed at home to draw out and enhance its natural flavor. Students will learn the proper process for storing their seaweed and transporting it back to their homes (so they must bring ziplock bags and sheers with them). The course takes place at low tide so students won’t have to go into the ocean to forage, but forageSF does recommend students dress in rainboots and disposable clothing.
Language Classes at ABC Languages SF
San Francisco is one of the nation’s most culturally and racially diverse cities, and it is home to native speakers of almost every language on the planet. Whether you are learning a new language for practical purposes or simply to broaden your horizons, ABC Languages SF is here to help students build their linguistic skills. They are among the city’s largest dedicated language learning institutes, and their goal is to help make learning new languages a more enjoyable and accessible experience. They eschew traditional metrics of testing and requirements that aim to “keep students up” with one another, giving learners the chance to approach the new language at their own pace. This ensures that students are far less likely to fall behind in their studies and abandon their language learning journey.
San Francisco is home to one of the largest east Asian populations in the country, and as such, there are numerous professional and personal reasons to take a class like ABC Language’s Mandarin (Total Beginner) course. This course is ideal for students with no prior experience in Mandarin who are looking to learn the basics of the language. The course focuses on practical spoken pinyin with a brief introduction to writing in simplified characters. This is an immersive language course, meaning that students will spend much of the class receiving lessons in Chinese and responding in Mandarin. Students will receive all of the necessary course materials at the start of the first class, and they are included in the price of the course. ABC Languages also offers courses in Japanese, Korean, Cantonese and Farsi.
If you want to learn a Romance language, ABC Languages offers several courses, including a Spanish (Total Beginner) course. San Francisco, like most cities on California’s coast, was founded and established by Spanish missionaries, meaning there is a long tradition linking the city to the Spanish language. This course aims to lay the foundation of a Spanish language education for students, and it offers them practical language skills that they can start using immediately. Whether you want to become fluent in the language or prepare for a vacation, this course will help you reach your goals. This is a total beginner course, so it is designed for students with no prior Spanish language experience though it is a good refresher course for students with an intermediate level of knowledge. Students will need to acquire their own course materials, but used options are available at the school. ABC Languages offers similar courses in French, Portuguese, Russian and German.
Finally, ABC Languages offers an ASL (Total Beginner) course for students looking to begin learning American Sign Language. Whether you are working in an industry where you may need to interact with deaf colleagues or customers, trying to find work as an interpreter, or you need the learn the language to communicate with someone close to you in your personal life, this course is an ideal place to start learning the basics of ASL. Students will receive practical, guided instruction on sign language and learn how to communicate within various contexts. Students will learn fromE-Z American Sign Language (Barron's Easy Way) Fifth Edition, which they will need to acquire before the course begins. As with ABC Langauge’s other classes, this course is an ideal introduction to the world of ASL and will provide students with practical, basic conversational skills they can start using immediately.
Why Enroll in One of These Classes?
While it is going to vary from course to course, there are many reasons to enroll in these classes. Many courses such as a foreign language course, a home cooking course or even a foraging class, can have significant practical uses that can help improve your day-to-day life. Likewise, learning a new creative skill can help reduce stress and introduce you to a community of like-minded people, you may have never otherwise met. Some classes give students the skills to start new businesses or find new employment opportunities. Plus, whatever practical reasons you might have for enrolling in a course like these, they are a fun way to spend your time learning new skills, meeting new people and exploring what San Francisco has to offer. These classes offer a fun and exciting way to spend a few evenings or afternoons, which is often a good enough reason to enroll in a class in and of itself.