“It gave me a different and unforgettable experience in my life. It not only improved the level of my English, but also gave me the chance to make a lot of new friends, and also to experience the culture of every country in the world.” – Claire, China

中文 | English

My Languages International

I have studied for 16 weeks at Languages International and I was impressed with these four months.

The school has beautiful surroundings

I walked through Albert Park on the way to school every morning. I liked walking slowly amid the fragrance of the flowers and the lovely bird song. I like all of the trees. White magnolia, pink cherry and purple jacaranda mimosifolia bloom successively. I enjoyed the blue sky, white clouds and green trees. I really like the three historic classroom buildings. Sitting in the grass outside the building enjoying the sunshine, or chatting with classmates from all over the world really relaxed me. A beautiful learning environment makes me felt great.

There are excellent staff here

The first time I came to Languages International I was applying for a student visa. I got a friendly reception from Charlene. She was very enthusiastic about helping me handle a variety of matters. Because I was leaving in a week, according to the regular student visa processing time I might not have got my passport back in time. As a result, there would be no passport in my hand and my return date would be affected. Charlene learned of this situation and actively coordinated with the Department of Immigration and repeatedly communicated with me via email. She eventually successfully got my student visa and passport the day before I went back to China.

On the first day of school, students of different nationalities will be taken away by Student Advisors from their own country for further orientation after their introduction and testing. Compared with other language schools, such initiatives were more effective and efficient for new students. After all, it’s hard to ensure that everyone understands the content in pure English, and there is a lot of important information students should know. My Student Advisor, Amy, who received me was very enthusiastic, like an older sister. She not only explained the details in the guide book, but also made me familiar with the surroundings.

Ideas are reflected through details. I observed a small detail at the school: there was a small vase of flowers in almost every bathroom. Flower arrangement is my favorite hobby. I felt joy every time I saw those little flowers blooming in the lovely vases. Although I did not know which employee or teacher had done that, I knew that this was a cultural manifestation of the school – allowing people to feel a different kind of beauty in every corner.

There is a professional team of teachers

I attended many teachers’ classes in the four months. Martina, Christine, Katie, HD, Fiona, Karen, Liz, May…although they have different personalities and different ways of teaching, everyone gave me a lot of enlightenment and help.

Martina is my favorite teacher in this school. She was humorous in class and the classroom was always full of laughter. Her attitude toward work and her extreme responsibility to students changed my prejudice against foreign teachers. (Because I had always thought that foreign teachers were only responsible for teaching in class and that the rest of the time was left up to the students own understanding.) In the first week of school, Martina asked me to go to the Learning Center and then taught me how to use the learning resources on the computer. She also told me about some good websites for learning English and wrote down them one by one in case I forgot, which was of great help to my study.

Christine is very gentle and kind; Katie’s teaching is more academic, and she enriched our knowledge and helped us extend our vocabularies.; HD has many years of teaching experience and his teaching skills are perfect. He filled our minds with knowledge, step by step. Liz, Karen, Fiona, May…every teacher has their own unique teaching methods that have benefited me.

There are a variety of teaching styles

Learning is a bit boring at times, but studying at Languages International is very interesting. Teachers pay attention to students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and encourage them to boldly express their point of view. Teachers often play some entertaining games in the class in order to help students to remember new vocabulary and grammar such as the word-guessing game where students are divided into groups, some explain the word, a classmate guesses the word); HD made some listening materials which are interesting because the teachers from different countries who are in them introducing their hometowns are familiar to us; Another example was the vivid class presentation. Each student produced a beautiful PowerPoint presentation to introduce their own city or country. There are also art galleries to visit near the school. All of us went out of the classroom to appreciate sculptures and paintings, and then came back and described our favourite works of art to our classmates. All of these courses are carefully prepared by the teachers and the students really enjoyed them.

There are a variety of after-school activities

The school sometimes organizes a BBQ in the park beside the school buildings and every student can enjoy a free lunch. Bread, sausages, salads, drinks, sitting on the grass while chatting with classmates, enjoying the food, this experience is really great. The school will often organize a hike for students. For me, it was not only a great way to enjoy nature, but also to make a lot of new friends.

Although the 16-week English course is over now, it gave me a different and unforgettable experience in my life. It not only improved the level of my English, but also gave me the chance to make a lot of new friends, and also to experience the culture of every country in the world.

Really rewarding!

Manxiu Zhang (Claire) from Beijing, China