EC San Diego English Language School

A reminder that Monday, May 25th is Memorial Day (formerly known as Decoration Day) a Federal holiday in the United States. Memorial Day falls on the last Monday in May and allows people to remember and honor all those men and women that died while in Military Service. EC San Diego will be closed and the school will re-open on Tuesday, May 26th. Enjoy the long weekend!

Q: Tell me about your first day in San Diego.

A:  At first, I felt embarrassed when I didn’t meet the person who was supposed to pick me up.  After 20 minutes, I finally met her.  I was so relieved!  When I stepped out of the terminal, I was surprised that the weather was so nice.  My first impression of San Diego was that of an exotic place.  It had been a long day but I knew I had a good opportunity for a new experience.

Q: How did you go about making friends?

A:  I usually took initiative to meet the other students.  For example, I would ask things like:  “Could you recommend the nice places that you know in San Diego? “  Also, I would ask my classmates to join me in local festivities.  In addition, my classmates and I would go to lunch together.

Q: I’m thinking of studying at EC San Diego. Should I stay with a host family?

A: There are many options. You can live with host family and if you do, you can experience a local family’s everyday life.  You can also try dormitory style housing, but I don’t recommend it because its too small and noisy. Another option is to live with other students. This way, you can practice and improve your English.

"Hey! That's MY hamburger!"

*PING* “This is your captain speaking. We are approaching San Diego International Airport and should be landing in approximately 30 minutes. We will begin our descent shortly. Please fasten your seat belts. As you should expect, it is currently warm and sunny in San Diego with temperatures just over 75F (24C). The local time is 2PM. Thank you for flying with us and we hope you enjoy your stay.” *PING*

That’s my best pilot impression for a flight coming into San Diego! It may not be COMPLETELY accurate, but I was hoping you caught my point. Did you catch it? It was the weather of course! Or lack of weather I should say.

Anyways, I was having too much fun with this blog that I completely forgot to introduce myself! My name is Ronnel and I’m a teacher here at EC San Diego. I’m also a San Diego native and have lived here most of my life, so I can vouch for mostly sunny skies, average temperatures around 75F (24C), popular beaches, and a mostly relaxed atmosphere. You’ll see when you get here.

But enough about San Diego! This is supposed to be about me! MEEEE!!! Oh sorry, I got carried away again. ^_^ I’ve been a teacher here for almost a year. Prior to EC San Diego, I was living and teaching in Japan. I ended up staying for a total of 2 years. So if you do the math (let’s see, 2 plus umm, 1, equals.. 3!), I’ve been teaching for 3 years! Oh wow, has it been that long already? Time flies when you’re having fun! I mean, when you’re busy with work and teaching. Yes, that’s what I meant. Heehee.

Seriously speaking, teaching English has been very rewarding. Not only just for me of course, but most especially for my students! Besides learning English and building upon their English skill sets, they get to hang out and make friends with me! MEEEE!!! Uh oh, I apologize. There I go again! What I meant to say is, the classroom is more than just a formal setting. It’s a key to opening many doors. By being comfortable and having a good relationship with your teacher, it becomes easier to learn and boost confidence. The more confident you are, the more open you can be! I do my best to provide the students with such a positive learning environment, thus handing them the keys. All they have to do is unlock the door, open it, and walk through.

Come join me, I mean, US, in opening more doors. I’m looking forward to the day you walk through the doorway and I can say, “It’s nice to meet you.”