EC Malta English Language School

The March 2011 Newsletter is out. This month we talk about Carnival in Malta and the people who made it popular:  The Knights of St John.

Click EC Malta March 2011 Newsletter to view it.

I have been in Malta for two and a half wonderful weeks, and I want more!

In my mind Malta is a place that combines nature, practice of English, entertainment and conversation with new people from different countries.

Besides, in Malta there are a lot of historical places, castles and beautiful churches, that are very attractive for tourists.

EC Malta English school helped me discover all these interesting things.

I think this school has the right structure of organization,the educational material is very deep and for each level have different kind of programme.

Certainly I like the school activities they are like our guide in the amazing word of Malta.

Memory best for me is the Gozo trip.

I have never seen such wonderful and amazing nature!

Also I enjoyed my accommodation in Patricia Hotel.

There were a lot of students there and it was a good chance to improve my speaking skills and meet new friends.

I would like to come back to EC Malta English school.

Here is an example of an essay by an EC Malta student, Karina Garcia.

Whenever I close my eyes, his face appears in my mind. I still remember the moment when I arrived in that country, the night was warm and the wind was blowing hard. It was my first trip to a foreign country, A mixture of feelings were at war inside me: joy, fear, surprise, anxiety, sadness, happiness and above all freedom. An hour or so before one question had kept going round in my head: what is awaiting me in this place? What surprises are in store for me?

The next morning my course on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) began. I entered the classroom. I can’t remember how many people were there, but there was a diverse group of nationalities. I chose my desk and sat down. While I was waiting for the start of the classes, I talked to a Colombian boy, who was very friendly, and I felt a little better, knowing that I wasn’t the only one who spoke Spanish.

Suddenly I looked at the door and for a few seconds, time stopped. Esteban, a fellow student, walked into the classroom. He was a handsome man, in his early thirties, but it wasn’t his physical appearance that caught my attention, it was his enigmatic eyes. To my surprise, his eyes and mine met for a brief moment, and immediately there was a spark so strong that if there had been a piece of paper between him and me, it would have burned in seconds.

The days passed, and one day, after school, he approached me. My heart was pounding fast and my breathing became slow. Then, when we were only a few centimetres away from each other he asked me if the course met my requirements. My mouth barely uttered a few unintelligible words. He grinned at me nervously and then it happened. He invited me to dinner that evening.

That night the wind was warm, the moon was shining high on a sea of stars, and the sound of the waves hypnotised my heart. It was a perfect evening and very quiet because we didn’t speak the same language but we felt we understood each other perfectly, even in the silence, the connection between us was perfect.

Sitting on a rock at the edge of the sea, once again, our eyes met and with unspoken words, then one kiss broke the seal, so naturally two souls became entwined. Truth can be stronger than fiction but this love was real.

Although now we look at different skies, I will always feel him on my skin and in my soul, because for a moment I glimpsed eternity.

As part of Valentine’s Week, on the 14th February, Speed Dating activity took place at the EC school.

To check out the photos from this activity follow this link.

February 14 is Valentine’s Day. The name comes from three saints named Valentine. But the roots of this holiday go as far back as the Ancient Rome, where during the period between February 13th and 15th, a festival was held connected to fertility. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his companion during the remaining year.
In an attempt to get rid of the pagan rituals, Pope Gelasius made a change in the lottery and instead of the names of young women, the box contained the names of saints. The young men were not pleased.
Additionally, the church made this the Feast of St Valentine, who secretely performed marriages for young Roman soldiers and subsequently was beheaded for it.
Another story tells us that priest Valentine, while imprisoned, fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and on the day of his execution gave her a note. It read ‘From your Valentine’.
In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar . However, it is still celebrated in the town of Balzan in Malta.
In the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished, Valentine’s Day started to be associated with romantic love.
Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
During the week beginning February 14th EC will organize various Valentine’s Day activities for students. They will include a romantic movie night, a ‘speed dating’ activity and a ‘traffic light’ party.

Today we enjoyed a pleasant day in Gozo, Malta’s sister Island.  Normally student’s are very pleasantly surprised at the change of scenery and this day was no different. Infact, inhabitants of Malta like to joke around about how ‘Gozo is the island where time stood still’, as Gozitans tend to like living an old fashioned lifestyle as opposed to a ‘technological’ one. The island is home to good number of farmers effectively resulting in breath taking views!

Mdina and Dingli Cliffs Tour

Wednesday 14:30 – Price €14.00

Visit a magnificent fortified city full of history. Admire the architectural beauty of many palazzos, churches and winding alleys. View the Verdala Palace and the majestic cliffs of Dingli.

Football Afternoon 5-a-side

Friday  - €5.00

A football tournament for EC students!

Marsaxlokk

Sunday 08:30  - € 6.00

Marsaxlokk is a traditional fishing village located in the South-Eastern part of Malta. This is a great opportunity to have a nice morning in a beautiful fishing village with a market where you can find lots of nice things. And have time to to taste fresh fish in one of the many restaurants that you may find there.

The largest free open air concert in Europe returns to Malta yet again this year. Isle of MTV has previously brought such names to Malta as The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Kid Rock, Maroon 5 and many others. The line-up for this year’s concert will be announced in about two months’ time.

This week the Customer Relations Team in Language House School in Malta welcomes a new intern. Her name is Anna, she is from Russia and will be staying with us for two months. Before coming to do her her internship, Anna had spent one month learning English with EC Malta. Here’s what Anna had to say to introduce herself:

My name is Anna Dyakova. I’m from Russia. I live in Moscow and I’m studying my last year at the Moscow Estate University of Culture and Arts at the faculty of Law Economic and Management. My future profession will be manager in tourism. At the moment I’m writing my thesis about educational tourism. I think it’s going to be the most perspective kind of tourism – traveling for learning foreign languages.

In my free time I like to visit restaurants with my younger sister or with my friends. My favorite cuisine is Thai.