Student blog

Blog number: 6
Student: Olena
Date: 02/08/2012

Olena is from the Czech republic and studied at Harrow Academy UK for 6 months. Here she tells us about how she has felt during her time in London – and how her English has improved.

 “London – is a great place, enjoy it!“, “London is one of the most exciting and enjoyable cities in the world“ etc. I remember reading sentences like these several times in my guidebook before arriving in the British capital personally. And at that time I could hardly imagine becoming a part of the Great British Summer 2012… but I did! Now it’s already 11.5 months since I first came in London. Back then: nervousness, fear of loneliness, insecurity of speaking English and homesick! However, these feelings disappeared very soon, just thanks to such nice and kind schoolmates I’ve met here, great English lessons at Harrow Academy UK, friendly Londoners and loads of fun, trips and attractions around.

27th of July – the world’s biggest sporting event – the London Olympic Games 2012 could start and thousands of top-level sportsmen were ready to give the best performances. Even though I’m not any kind of sports professional, on the same day I had to do my best as well since I took my FCE! Working hard on the English course at Harrow Academy UK, doing plenty of exam preparation with our teacher Denise and some revision enabled me to sail through. After taking the exam & getting rid of stressful time I’ve found London an even more amazing and wonderful city:-) Let’s enjoy the rest of the memorable Great British Summer, which will stay in my mind and heart not for ever, but until my soon (perhaps very soon!) comeback to London…

All the best!!!

Olena

 

Blog number: 5
Student: Szilvia
Date: 17/07/2012

Szilvia, a student from Hungary, has just begun studying at Pre-Intermediate level.  She works in a small care home in Stanmore, but lives nearby Harrow and Wealdstone – where she sees lots of activity from Northolt RAF airport!  Here are her likes and dislikes of living around London so far:

I like walking in Oxford Street

I don’t like the English weather

I don’t like the dirty streets

I like seeing some different nationalities

I like eating English food

I love old church buildings

I like travelling on the Overground trains, not the Underground.

From my bedroom window I like watching the aeroplanes flying low.

Szilvia

Blog number: 4
Student: Laura
Date: 03/07/2012

Our next blog is from Laura (Spain), an outgoing part-time student who studied at Harrow Academy UK for 5 months.  Laura progressed from the Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate group and combined her English classes whilst working as an au pair.  Here’s a short piece of writing about her life in the UK and what it was like when her parents came to visit her in London:

I have been living in London (in the Wembley area) for four months.  My time has passed quickly and… I think that now I can speak much better.

When I first came here, I didn’t speak any English words… mainly just “Hello, how are you?”  But, now I can say things like “I’m fine thank you, and you?”  Haha!  I’m only joking! My English has improved a lot and I have a lot more vocabulary and expressions that are useful.

I’m going back to Spain in a couple of weeks and I feel good because I think I have learned a lot – I feel satisfied.  For example, one month ago my parents came to visit me and they were impressed at my speaking level.  I was speaking English with the receptionist of their hotel to organise things for them – it was a nice surprise for them!

Finally, I would like to say thanks to my teacher James (and of course to Josie, my best friend in my class!) because I had very nice time with them.

Good luck,

Laura.

(Oh!  And I have an apology, too… sorry for being late all the time!  Haha!)

Blog number: 3
Student: Gabriela
Date: 27/06/2012

Gabriela is from Ecuador and has recently joined one of Harrow Academy UK‘s Upper-Intermediate classes.   The article below is an interesting account of what it’s like to move to an English-speaking country while coping with trying to improve language skills alongside finding a job:

I have been living here for one month; my plan was to do an intensive English course for three or four weeks and then try to find a job.  So two weeks ago when I received a phone call from a marketing company asking me to attend an interview with them, I was really surprised.

Before I did the personal interview I was so nervous because I felt insecure about my English level, but the interview was successful for me – on the same day they phoned me to tell me “Congratulations!”

I accepted the job and I was so excited at the beginning but I decided to quit because every day I worked until 10pm, which was very stressful for me.  However, now I feel happy to have made that decision because first of all, I need to focus on my English language classes.

That experience was very useful for me, though.  Now I think I am more confident when I speak in English.  So if you are reading this, I would like to say if you really want to do or try something, just do it and grab the opportunity!

Gabriela

Blog number: 2
Student: Clair
Date: 13/06/2012

Clair, from South Korea, studies at Harrow Academy UK three times each week and has recently moved from our Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate class.

Determined to make the most of her time in the UK, Clair has combined her English studies with some part-time work, but has also taken trips to different European cities, too.

Below is a short piece of writing she produced which reflects on her time in London so far:

Time goes by so quickly.  122 days have already passed since I arrived in the UK.  And now I can only stay 200 days more.

I’d planned to do so many things before I arrived here:

1.       Run more times around the park

2.       Travel to 10 countries

3.       Watch 3 musicals

4.       Attend a BBC broadcast

5.       Enjoy afternoon tea at a high-class hotel in the UK

6.       Enjoy a festival in Europe

7.       Not be absent from Harrow Academy UK for a month

8.       Make British friends

9.       Perform on the street myself

10.    Skydive

I thought I had plenty of time to do these things, but I can’t believe 2/5 of my time in London has passed!  Time seems to fly so fast thanks to the great people I have met.  I’m making good memories every day in the romantic city of London.  I hope that, a few years from now, I may look back on these days as some of the most rewarding of my life.

Clair (left) with her classmates Razia and Phillip

Blog number: 1
Student: Mona
Date: 12/05/2012

Our very first blog contribution comes from Mona… and it’s a bit of an emotional one.

Mona learned English at Harrow Academy UK for ten months, but early this week she bid farewell to her classmates, returning home to attend university. However, she will arrive back in Saudi Arabia having made great progress – beginning in the Pre-Intermediate class and progressing to the Upper-Intermediate group is quite an achievement!  Here’s what she had to say:

On my last day, I would like to talk about my exciting journey to the capital city of the UK.

London, in the beginning for me, was the worst city I had ever been, but now I’m feeling so sad to leave it and go back home after 10 months.

I’m feeling happy and proud of myself because I have improved my English and now I can say I’m a good English speaker.  Now, I can manage or deal with any situation which needs English.

Harrow Academy is one of the best English language schools.  The atmosphere there is amazing!  It’s like a family and they encourage students to study interestingly.  In my opinion, if I went to another school instead of Harrow Academy, I wouldn’t have learned as much English.

Finally, I would like to say to everyone who is reading this, ‘I’m sorry if I made any mistakes, but thank you for every moment you spent with me.’

Thank you!

Mona

Mona being presented with her Upper-Intermediate certificate by James