Student: Casey from China
School: Languages International Auckland
Course: General English and IELTS preparation
Having studied at Languages International for 4 weeks, I finished my General English and IELTS courses. This is my first time studying in a foreign country, and the experience is totally different from what I had in China.
The first day here, I was shown around the school and the University of Auckland, which is just opposite our school, by the Chinese advisor. I was really impressed by the beautiful view and the strong academic atmosphere here, and from that moment on, I deeply believed that I would have a wonderful time here at Languages International.
As for the classes, they are quite interesting and lively. The one I can still remember is a game, which helps us with pronunciation. Just use four words, “bread, butter, jam, cheese” and try to read them with rhythm. And then gradually add some linking words, such as “and, then, some”. This exercise seemed so easy, but when I practiced it, I found it was harder than I thought, and this made me realize that I had a long way to go if I wanted to make my English perfect.
In the IELTS class, our teacher not only helped us with the IELTS exam attentively, but also tried to combine the exam skills and real language skills together, so that we could improve our English comprehensively, which is to say not only could we get a higher score in the exam, but we could also improve our language ability in all aspects. I did writing exercises every two days and asked our teacher to check and mark them for me. I made a lot of progress in writing in just two weeks. It was really great because now I can easily deal with any topic or form of writing in the IELTS exam – thanks to our fabulous teachers.
Another lovely aspect of my study at Languages International is the self-assessment in the learning center. This is an amazing place for us to go during our spare time. We can do homework here and ask for help if we have any problems, and the teachers there are patient and experienced enough to solve any problem we have. Books and software on grammar, pronunciation and other skills are available in the corners. The teachers can help me to choose the right book to improve the aspect which I’m weak in and I benefitted a lot from those exercises.
There are also some activities in learning center. The most popular two are the “Conversation Exchange” and the “Writing Exchange”. The former is more like free talk, and the latter is really interesting. The writing exchange is like free talk on paper. You can choose any topic to talk about with your friends, but the only difference is that you don’t talk with your mouth, but with your pen. Writing your words down is sort of recording your way of thinking, and the teacher checks it for you to find the mistakes. I used to be quite confident in my speaking, but after this activity, I found my weakness, and then I tried to practice my speaking with more attention. It actually works!
I spent almost every hour that I wasn’t in class in the learning center and doing exercises or doing some research on the Internet. Also, the online Learning Web provides us with many useful resources and tests so that we can trace our own progress. 4 weeks passed quickly. My happy time at this school has come to the end. I have to say goodbye to the wonderful teachers, lovely friends and the learning center. I was so lucky to have this experience and I think I will cherish this memory for a lifetime.
