EC Boston English Language School

Hi, my name is Hyo Jin Kang and I am from South Korea.  I have been here for six months and I am taking the General English Course.  I live with my host family with two adorable kids! Life in Boston is wonderful for me.  I want to talk about three parts of my Boston life which are the city of Boston, EC, and my host family.

First of all, my friend recommended that this city is a good place to study English and visit some places. Before coming here, I didn’t know that Boston is such an attractive city.  I think Boston is a small world, because there are various people from many other countries. Boston is the oldest city in USA so there are a lot of places to hang out with friends.  For example, the oldest park, Boston Common Park, is good to walk in especially during summer time.  There are many museums which are free on specific days.  I recommend visiting prestigious universities such as MIT and Harvard.  When I visited Harvard, it was crowded with many people because of the rumor that if you touch the foot of John Harvard, your grandchild will go to Harvard. In addition, Boston is famous for sports.  Even though I am not that into sports, Boston made me enjoy watching sports.  Last week, I went to watch the Celtics game, which is the basketball team and I had a lot of fun!

Second, when I arrived in the USA, I was suffering jet-lag and everything was new.  I didn’t know what to do so I was confused.  At that time, the EC staff helped me to adapt to the school.  When I asked something that I didn’t catch clearly, they explained slowly and patiently.  My favorite class was “Get Talking”, which was really useful and interesting.  Nowadays I am taking “Language through Music”.  It is also another favorite of mine because the teachers is really passionate about teaching us and the class is informative to understanding American music and culture.  Additionally, I am a long-term student.  It means I qualify to have academic meetings.  I have a meeting with my academic coordinator almost every six weeks.  It motivates me and tells my weak points which have to be fixed and improved.  In my case, it is helpful to have academic meetings with Sheley.

Thirdly, the best thing is the homestay.  Living alone is tough for me, but I am not that lonely because of my host family.  We all have homemade dinner every day unless I have an appointment with my friends.  On weekends, after dinner we spend time together playing board games or watching movies.  There are many neighbors near my host family so sometimes we have parties such as Super Bowl or block parties. These are good opportunities to experience American cultures and spirits.  That’s why I strongly suggest doing homestay.

The more I enjoy life in Boston, the more valuable this time is.  My life in Boston is full of experiences I will never forget.

The International English Language Testing System is considered by many the world’s most popular English Testing System.

At EC we offer an IELTS course in Boston.

There are 2 types of IELTS:  Academic & General Training.  Each one has a reading and writing section.

The writing section has 2 tasks.  Below is a practice IELTS essay that one of our dedicated students, Carlos from Venezuela, edited and re-wrote.  These are his final versions and we’re both impressed and proud of the progress he’s made and great work he’s produced so we wanted to share with you, the EC Community!!

On St. Patrick’s Day in Boston everyone is Irish

From the Dropkick Murphy’s to the Kennedys, Boston has always been known for its Irish Connection.  Boston is even home to an Irish Heritage Trail, a self-guided tour of famous Irish figures and landmarks.  The most famous St. Patty’s Day celebration is held in South Boston every year.  Floats, bagpipes and much more can be seen walking down Broadway.  This year the Southie parade is going to be on Sunday March 20.  Everyone should put on their green and head out to Broadway!! 

From February 17th to 20th 2011, students and faculty from EC Boston English School participated in the Fifty-Seventh Session of the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN). The conference was held in the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.Undergraduates from universities around the world as well as the Ivy League came to present the challenges of modern international relations in a setting designed to function as closely as possible to the actual United Nations.The delegates represented various countries, in character, and represented the interests of that country. The students from Yale University, for example, represented China.

In order to allow interested parties to view committees in session as well as aid in the effort, EC Boston students participated in the newly-organized Page Corps program. The passing of notes within the committee chamber during debate allows for increased opportunities for diplomacy and the EC students aided in the delivery of the notes. EC Boston student Christopher Torres, from Mexico, had this to say about the experience, “Being in the Harvard National Model United Nations was a good experience for me. Not just because I was able to help as part of the staff, but because I had the opportunity to hear the opinions of people of different countries about political and social issues.”

He went on to say that “Somehow now I’m interested more in social issues and I also would like to be a delegate in the future. I would recommend this to anyone who has concerns about the social issues of the world.”

EC Boston student Afnan Al-Sharif, from Saudi Arabia, worked with the HNMUN World Health Organization sessions. She had this to say about her work with HNMUN, “I enjoyed that experience, and I recommend it for students. The delegates were undergraduate students, and it was obvious that they were extremely knowledgeable in their field. I had a chance to speak with some students; they are really interesting. It was a great and unique opportunity, and I hope to be a delegate one day.

Also signed up for the event were Hanan Alshehni, Mashal Al Attas, and Mohammad Altuknaim, all from Saudi Arabia. EC Boston’s Chris Ward and Meaghan Kelly were the Faculty Advisors. Chris was a HNMUN delegate from his alma mater Westfield State University about a decade ago.“It was a full circle moment, for sure.” He said, “And I got to thank my professor, Dr. Steinberg.”

This year’s HNMUN raised over $3000 for Millennium Promise, a charity to end extreme poverty through sustained development in Africa.