Month: September 2013

Visit to Air Traffic Control Tower

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Today marks the end of one of our student’s course at EC Cape Town. At the same time, it also marks a new beginning! Academic Year student, Mohamed Ali Alkateia of Libya received his certificate today and over the course of six months, made an impressive improvement of over 40% in all his skills. We are exceptionally proud of him! When he arrived at EC, we already knew that he was an ambitious young man with big dreams. He spoke passionately about aviation and was determined to do whatever it takes to gain entrance into aviation school. This meant working very hard and doing extra work to raise his English level. He recently gave a lecture to students about aviation and he was extremely fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to visit Cape Town International Airport’s Air Traffic Control Tower. This is what he had to say about it: “In my adventure of becoming a pilot, I had to start exploring the whole communication behind flight to truly understand the operation. On the 2nd of September, I visited the Cape Town International Airport (control tower), it was one of my dreams there is is becoming a true. I have realized that communication is a vital component to the aviation. In South Africa there is average of 600 flight routes daily which are controlled with communication so that no aeroplanes cross each other’s routes.  This also includes security of where the planes are, and all this happening in the grand controller. By the way, you have realized that the control tower is one of the important section in the aviation. It seems the traffic light controlling routes for the cars weather will be in a big mass.  After all,  I’m really happy to had the opportunity from one of my best teacher (Sheetal)to … Read more

Pizza with Una’s Beginner Class

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by Sheetal Makhan / AYC As part of their lesson, teacher Una’s Beginner class decided to extend their class…to Roman’s Pizza in Long Street. Leading up to their outing, students had been learning about how to order food as well as structures like “Can I [please] have..?” / “Do you have..?” / “Yes, there is.” / “No, there isn’t.”  Apart from language learning, Una says that students were not only able to learn about responsibility and accountability, but to have fun! Students also had the opportunity to practice peer-correction. Students are already looking forward to their next outing. What better way to learn language than in a real-life context? Some student comments: “It was a wonderful day I enjoy my time with my friends.” “Yesterday i and my classmate went eat pizza at Roman’s. I enjoy my pizza. I eated 5 slices of my favorite flavor: regina and drinked one pepsi. I spended 40 rands, i think is a good price.I had a good time!” “I went with my classmate and Teacher Una. We ate a delicious pizza! We had a good time!” This was a piece written by Hana Al Barbar:| “Yesterday was a beautiful and sunny day. All my classmates went to Roman’s Pizza and all bought and ate pizza’s. I took a chicken and cheese pizza. It was a small pizza, but it was very good. I drank a Coke and we talked together. All my friends were very happy.”

High Int class writes to “Abby” to practice Modal Verbs!

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by Sheetal Makhan / AYC Last week, my High Intermediate class studied Modal Verbs for their Grammar Point. To practice using them in the correct context, the students wrote letters to a made up character called “Abby” (very similar to Agony Aunt). This is someone who we share our problems with, in the hope that we will receive sound advice. Here are some of the letters written to “Abby”! Dear Abby, I had in the past few bad experience with animals. Espacely with oats. They lost her hair, they got flees and they are not clean. The cat of the guutfamily sleep in my bed, she plays with my shoesmigs. And in the morning the cat are sitting in front of my own bed.  How can I explain to my puity. Im a god kind that thes dout misunderstood my problem. Dear.. I don’t want to shock you because I’m one of those who doesn’t like living with animals however, if you still want them you shouldn’t give up at all. You must tell him that I’ll beave home if you don’t allow fo my cuts to live with me. I’ll go somewhere and w’ell live together. You have to choose my family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Dr. Sommer-team, I’ve got a big problem. I’m really fussy. But my mother don’t understand it. I  always sai to her, she should clean the fruits before eating. And my father never washes his hands after going to the toilet. They won’t understand that hygienic is very important. It’s horrible for me Dear… When you put a jug with mother and a throw near the fruits, so he can hobit his hands, bevor tasting and eating the fruits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear (you), who is reading my letter, I’ve to leave to my canntry and I want … Read more

From Azerbaijan With Love

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What makes EC Cape Town special is that it attracts students from all over the world. Our first student from Azerbaijan, and hopefully not the last, is Nurlan. He was asked to write a comparative essay between the two countries and here is the result: Azerbaijan and South Africa Azerbaijan and South are two countries that are located in different continents, namely Eurasia and Africa. These two countries share some similarities and differences The first difference between Azerbaijan and South Africa can be found in the geographical area. While South Africa covers land of approximately 1221000 square kilometers, Azerbaijan only covers 8665 square kilometers. Secondly as South African is the 24th largest country in the world, an inequality between the numbers of people exist. While, South Africa has a population 53 million people, Azerbaijan only has 9.4 million people. In addition, the culture and climate vastly are different from each other. Unlike South-Africa there are European and Asian cultural combination in Azerbaijan. South Africa, on the other hand, has combinations of the cultures of the Middle East, Western Europe and Africa. Furthermore, the climate and seasons are also absolutely different to each other. South Africa is a sub-tropical country compare to Azerbaijan which is tropical. Unlike Azerbaijan the dry season in South Africa starts from April until October which is the opposite in Azerbaijan. Comparison between Azerbaijan and South Africa shows that both countries are multilingual. Several languages are spoken but not used in both countries. To illustrate there are 11 official languages in South Africa, while people in Azerbaijan speak 13 different languages. Besides that, there are also similar religions that are followed by both countries. Such as Christianity Islam and Sudanism. While, the majority of South Africa follows Christianity, the majority of Azerbaijan follows Islam. Finally, the nature in … Read more

“My Bucket List” by Kim from South Korea

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Last week the Upper intermediate class had to write a bucket list as part of their homework. There were many excellent pieces of writing. Here is one particularly well written assignment by Kim from South Korea: “Before I kick the bucket, I really want to go to trip with my parents. I’ve been very busy to keep doing my work such as studying and social life so I didn’t spend most of the time with my parents, especially my father. Also, my parents did their best to support their children,me and my younger sister. Therefore its a small present for them. It can be worth paying money for my parents because of their endless love to us. After that I want to go traveling the other countries more than 25 because I’ve been to only 4 countries. I would like to go up in a hot air balloon so that I can look around the village scenery and peaceful sky. These three things that I mentioned are my bucket list,so I expect to complete my bucket list before I kick the bucket.”

High Intermediate Class visits Heart of CT Museum

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   by Sheetal Makhan / AYC Last week Thursday, my High Intermediate class visited the Heart of Cape Town Museum at Groote Schuur Hospital. It was an excursion that drew on the theme for the week – “Medicine”. Students were taken on a tour and were able to relive the historic moment of the first heart transplant performed by Dr Chris Barnard. Photos of the visit can be viewed on our Facebook page. Here are some comments from students about the visit: It was an astonishing moment in my life. I’ll tell everyone who I know when I go back home what I’ve seen in the Heart of CT Museum. Yesterday, I felt that I was part of the medical team who performed the first heart transplant in the world. Thank you Teacher Sheetal for giving us the great opportunity for that experience.  -Ghazi Certainly, it was a great experience to learn about the greatest legend, Christian Barnard, who did the first heart transplant. Really, the world had lost a man who could spend all his life dedicating to to help other peoples lives. He came from a poor family and studied at UCT. One of the things I admire about him is that he did a PhD during ten years. -Lionnel It was so cool, to be at the place where one of the most famous person had done one of the most important operation to give a life to a patient. It added something special for me because it is my field. He tried to do something and was successful. -Ebtihal I really enjoyed going to the Heart of CT Museum because I could practice my English. The guide was a good speaker and also spoke about really interesting things. I could also ask a couple of things. … Read more

High Int Listening Class with Abdul & Ziya

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by Sheetal Makhan / AYC Last week, my High Intermediate class had a listening lesson – with a twist! Since the theme for the week was “Sport”, we invited two guest speakers to the class. The first was a fellow classmate, Ziya from our class who has been boxing since he was young. The other guest was our very own Abdul who is a rugby player!   Ziya has been boxing for over 10 years and practices daily. He initially got into it to avoid being bullied at school, but it soon turned into a full time hobby. When asked if he’s gotten into a few fights, he responded that he is not hot-headed and knows his limits. Abdul gave some demonstrations. While it is a fun sport, it is also competitive. Not only does it build up strength, Abdul claims it keeps the youth away from getting into trouble, as their time is rather spent practising the sport. The class took a typical “listening class” and used the information presented by the two speakers to take notes and eventually write a report based on what was said. Students were also encouraged to take note of the usage of Prepositions, Articles and various Pronunciation. It proved to be an engaging and worthwhile activity and was enjoyed by all. Thank you to Abdul and Ziya for sharing their sporting experiences with us. ~Sheetal Makhan / AYC

Free Academic Activity: Listen Up

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Yesterday afternoon, Linda did the FREE Listen Up activity The focus of the lesson was listening for specific detail and the actual activity was a live interview with none other than the schools Registrar, Zubeida. The students listened to Zubeida answering to questions about her role at the school, what she does exactly, what makes her job special, how long she’s been working at EC and many more!! Thank you Zubeida, I’m sure the students really appreciated learning more about what you do and of course experiencing a different South African English accent. See you all next Tuesday for more “Listen Up”!

Student Testimonial: Alexandra from Colombia

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Alexandra joined EC in May 2013 and is currently on a 24 week *Academic English course at EC Cape Town. Check out what she had to say about her time here so far: ” Hello! My name is Alexandra, I’m from Colombia, today I want to tell you about my experiences in Cape Town. When I arrived here I stayed with a host family for my first month, this family was really kind to me, also, now they sometimes come to my home to visit me. I am studying English at EC school. The classes are very interesting because every day you learn something new and everybody is very friendly, teachers, director, students..and of course you have fun here. Cape Town is really amazing and beautiful. The weather is cold but Spring is almost starting. There are a lot of beaches and the local people are very polite, have fun when you are here. Also if your intention or idea is to come to Cape Town to have your own experience and enjoy every moment… Enjoy your experience Enjoy your life here Enjoy your school and friends Enjoy Cape Town Enjoy EC!” – Alexandra, Colombia *The Academic Year & Business Year English courses in South Africa are for students who will study for at least 24 weeks. The Academic Year course aims to greatly improve your English level while the Business Year English course improves your English for business in your future and career. This courses teaches you the language, skills and culture that will help you succeed in the English-speaking business world.