Русский | English
Hello! I’m Julia, from St.-Petersburg, Russia. I took the English for University course (EU) at Languages International school and I strongly recommend this course if you want to improve your English.
I chose the school very meticulously. I paid attention to:
- Teachers’ education level and how long they have worked there: all teachers in Languages International are experienced and have been teaching for a long period of time, they are a team… no! They are a family!
- Location: Languages International is in the centre of Auckland, in Albert park, near Auckland University – great!
- Course program: I’m a doctor and I use English in my job. That’s why I tried to find an academic course – okay, English for University is a good choice.
Languages International has different classes where the students study according to their English level. First of all I studied General English (upper-intermediate level) for two weeks – it was a “preparation course” for me. Then I had two classes: my morning class was EU, and the ones were IELTS preparation (2 months) and Business English (1 months).
The main treasures of the school are the teachers, their knowledge and innovative education methods. They use a lexical approach, communicative method and a lot of education portals, like edmodo and kahoot. All teachers are highly-qualified creative professionals, however, for me, Fiona and Michael are the best. I really loved their lessons. The learning process was difficult and fun at the same time: a lot of new words, collocations, phrasal verbs, writing homework every day… sometimes I thought that the advanced level was “too much” for me and I was ready to give up. However, my teachers inspired me to learn English deeply because they love to teach students and sincerely want to help you. Their enthusiasm gave me energy for studying and guaranteed my success.
For me the most challenging part of the EU course was writing an academic essay (no less than 1000 words!) and giving an oral presentation after it (15 minutes!). Just imagine: you have to speak English fluently in front of an audience for 15 minutes and then answer the questions! I remember my first experience of training for the presentation: I only had to speak for one minute, but it was horrible… and funny (afterwards we watched a video of our presentations together in class).
My classmates were amazing! All of us were high-educated and qualified specialists who wanted to improve our English. We were from different countries and cultures (Russia, India, China, Brazil, Argentina and Columbia). However, we became a team. Our discussions were about everything from Harry Potter to nuclear energy and ecofeminism. Despite our heated (sometimes) debates we supported each other and helped each other to overcome difficulties in the learning process. After class, we had lunch together. We talked a lot about everything and discussed our cultural similarities and differences, and it was very informative.
The English for University students know how to have fun.
But, they can be serious too 😊
After lunch we went to the comfortable Learning Centre where the students can do further study, always with the supervision of a teacher. There is a library with books for different English levels, movies, students’ books, audio and other materials for IELTS, CAE and CPE preparation. If you have a question or a problem and want to discuss it with a teacher – you are welcome to! Teachers were responsive and understanding. They gave us individual programs to improve our English.
I’m so happy to have had the experience of learning at Languages International. I’ll remember this time all my life – it was exciting! Now I can understand all the lectures and specialist medical articles that I want to read, and I can also speak English with my colleagues. Thank you, Languages International! You are the best!
