EC San Diego English Language School

Rivalries in Major League Baseball (MLB), like in other sports, have occurred between many teams and cities. Rivalries have arisen for many different reasons; the primary ones include geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, violence, and cultural, linguistic, or national pride.

Interleague rivalries can be inconsistently scheduled during the regular season and generally tend to be based on geographic proximity and previous World Series match-ups. An exception to this inconsistent scheduling is the eleven pairs of teams which meet six times a year during interleague play.

The Yankees – Red Sox rivalry is one of the oldest, most famous and fiercest rivalries in professional sports.   For over 100 years, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have been intense rivals.  The 2004 AL Championship Series is notable for the Yankees leading 3 games to 0 and ultimately losing a best of seven series.  The Red Sox comeback was the only time in baseball history that a team has come back from a 0–3 deficit to win a series.

On the west coast, California teams are also known for their rivalries.  The biggest one is between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  However, whenever the Dodgers or Giants come to San Diego, Padres fans come out to cheer on their team!  We had the opportunity to go as a school to watch a game against the Giants!  Students were given pom-poms and did group cheers for the homeruns as the Padres won the game 11 to 3!

The August activities calendar is out and it’s time to start planning ahead!  One special event to note this month: we will have a Cowboy/Western theme day, followed by a free country music concert after a Padres game!  What are you excited about for August?

Adriano De Ciccio is a 23 year old Swiss Italian student.  He was in the army for 14 months before coming to EC San Diego.  Now he plans to look for work and go back to school when he gets home.  In this interview, Adriano shares some of his insights and thoughts about San Diego!

So what made you decide to come to San Diego?

My dream has been to come to the US, so in my free time in Switzerland I would make lists of the best cities to visit.  I wanted to be near the beach, but Florida has hurricanes.  I decided LA was too big and Santa Barbara too snobby.  San Diego is great because it is by the ocean and Mexico, so I can visit another country while I am here.  I also like that it has a younger average age.

What is your best memory so far?

Skydiving was amazing of course!  But the best thing is just to be here!  I mean I am in a whole new country – in  place that I used to only see in pictures.  So it is a great feeling to realize that I am living here now.

What do you like best about your lessons?

I really like the mixture of the different cultures while we learn English.  In TOEFL, for example, some of the topics are difficult to talk about.  But we can learn about different opinions in our discussions.

If you saw a bunch of students dressed alike a few weeks back, don’t worry, you weren’t going crazy!  That was just the EC San Diego Twin day!  Students were very enthusiastic and creative with their outfits.  One entire class dressed up alike to win the pizza party grand prize!

When students come to learn English in San Diego, part of their program involves immersing themselves in American culture.  Spirit week is an important part of every American school.  From elementary school to university, students of all ages participate in some form of this activity.

The purpose of spirit week is to get students excited about their school.  Here at EC, the students definitely showed their school spirit!  Next up: we will have a country western theme day in August!

The winning class!

Twins dressed as twins!

Cute couple!

Sandro and Adriano came in second with their wetsuit outfits!

Even the staff got involved!

Pride parade events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most pride events occur annually and many take place around June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, a pivotal moment in the modern LGBT rights movement.

The first marches were held on the weekend of June 27-28, 1970, in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Since then, pride events have occurred all over the world.  The largest is now held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In 2009, 3.2 million people attended the event there.

Here in the United States, there were a couple of news things to celebrate during the Pride parades.  In New York City, the parade was held just two days after the legalization of same sex marriage.  And in San Diego, for the first time, active duty military members were able to march in the parade due the barring of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy.

Some student who went to the San Diego Pride Parade and Festival described it as a really exciting event where everyone was friendly and positive!

Military members participating in the parade for the first time!

Pride flag along the parade route.

Cosmo Bisazza comes to us from his hometown of Boston.  Along the way, he also taught English abroad in Korea.  He is enjoying the San Diego lifestyle and teaching with EC.  Cosmo is an extremely caring and enthusiastic teacher in all of his classes.  Right now he teaches the Beginning, Elementary and Pre-Intermediate levels as well as our Write Start and Get Talking electives.

Here is what Cosmo had to say about his style of teaching and approach to work:

Teamwork. A team stands together for a common purpose. That purpose is to achieve victory. Victory cannot be obtained by just one person; player or coach. It must be a team effort from everyone. My classroom approach is structured like a team. Each class is like a practice, through every practice our skill level increases and we become stronger, more confident players. We can only achieve this goal if we all work hard and together. My former coach used to say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Learning English is not an easy endeavor. I ask from my students to remember the “Three D’s”, discipline, dedication, and determination. Follow these principles and you’ll overcome any obstacle. I view each of my students a player, each with a different strength, weakness, and ability. I’m their coach who will cultivate their weaknesses into strengths, hone their strengths into perfection, and boost their abilities toward their path to victory. Here at EC we’re the home team, and the home team has one objective, to win.

Much like our students at EC our staff works as a team. We have many different teachers each bringing their own skill sets to put into best practice. A number of our teachers are sturdy seasoned veterans, while others are freshly drafted rookies looking to make an impact. One strong point about EC is that they have established co-teaching for the core classes. This is a great way for teachers to work together, share solid ideas, and learn new techniques. Through synergy our staff creates a bond with one another that gives us the ability to achieve our maximum teaching potential for our students. The classroom is our field where we grow and develop each student’s talent. We mean business and we hold not only ourselves but also our students to the highest degree of excellence. As my former coach used to say, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” Now team, let’s go out there and show’em how it’s done! Good luck!

Cosmo wishing his student "Happy Birthday!"

Every week EC San Diego has  a prize drawing for our fantastic students.  In order to be entered into the drawing, students show their commitment to learning English by speaking it both in and out of class.  Teachers also enter those students who excel in class and help encourage other students to do the same.

Here are some of our recent winners.  Great job to all of you!

Tim with his class!

Taha!

Won Chang!

The United States Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The most popular way to celebrate are with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

There are many great places to catch the fireworks shows in San Diego.  Here are a few:

• Pacific Beach
• Mission Beach
• Sea World-(open late)
• San Diego Zoo-(open late)
• Del Mar Fair
• La Jolla Cove
• The Embarcadero
• Coronado
• Petco Park (Baseball Game)
• Torrey Pines State Reserve

Have fun and remember: No School Monday!!!

Last year's Fireworks downtown!