PE Off cycle internship before MiF in August ?

So I've applied to LBS/Insead/Cambridge for the MiF/MBA/MiF and think I have decent chances of hearing back on an offer (most of them will get back to me by December).

I've mentioned elsewhere that my current experience in emerging market equities (investment management) and I'm trying to make a geographic (London) and industry move (PE).

I have several months before the program I get into starts in August 2024. I've managed to secure a Tier 2 visa (wife works in the NHS) so work sponsorship is finally not a problem!

I wanted to get your opinion on trying to get off cycle internships before my MiF even starts just to get some experience/get ahead.

I have a list of 40-50 firms based on combing through the wso forums. How should I go about the internship process? Should I just reach out to people directly on Linkedin (I've done this in other countries and it works but I'm not sure how things are in London).

I've also picked up from this forum that knowing another language would be useful for European PE. What would you recommend? I'm thinking I have the time and instead of giving the CFA L3, I could pick up german/french instead if it is very useful?