Let’s Hope Austria’s Language Classes Go Better than This

Anyone who’s ever visited a country without speaking the language will probably agree: It’s no picnic. That’s why host city Innsbruck is offering intensive language classes to its citizens as Euro 2008 approaches.

The city authorities are eager to break down language barriers between fans from Austria and abroad, to help them enjoy the festival of football together. With the Spanish, Swedish and Russian national teams all playing games in Innsbruck, the town hall is offering short courses named Spanish in Two Halves, Swedish in 90 Minutes and Russian in Regulation Time, to give locals sufficient grounding in those languages and help them converse with visiting fans.

Let’s hope their source material is better than this: