Tag: EC English

6 reasons Why EC Cape Town Is The Most Beautiful City To Learn English

Category: Activities at EC Cape Town, Class Activity / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cape Town South Africa, the point of Southern Africa where the two oceans meet! Beautiful, Historic and Powerful legacy, are just a few of the strong words used to describe this beautiful City also known as the Mother City. Although when looked at on a map its a mere dot, but stepping into this City will soon have you realize that it is so  much more than just a figment of your imagination. Cape Town has so much to see and offer and among these are the opportunity to  attend  the best English Language school in South Africa!! Here are SIX reasons Why Cape Town is the most beautiful city to learn English: 1. Location – EC Cape Town is perfectly located, nestled between the view of the magnificent Table Mountain and the Famous Waterfront, the views are spectacular and gives students the “push”to learn more about our beautiful country. Our classes are also intimate and teachers love taking students to see historic sights in Cape Town, a total must experience!! 2. Activities – Here at EC Cape Town we have a weekly guide of activities, ensuring that students get to see and experience everything that Cape Town has to offer. We offer exclusive activities from Sunsets on Table Mountain to a Wildlife experience on awesome Safari trips. It is so easy to join in on the fun, simply speak to our Activities coordinator and the rest is “history”. 3. Mini Markets and Interesting Stores – As mentioned above our teachers love including Cape Town’s historical point of view into their lessons, and what better way of doing this than taking their classes on a field trip, showing them a few of our stalls and shops along the way. With beautiful and unique items, Green Market Square is best known for … Read more

English Language Students of EC Cape Town

Category: EC Cape Town Students / Tags: , , , , , , ,

EC Cape Town staff goes through great lengths to ensure that the students are happy, despite the time of day we want to know how our students are feeling and what their requests are. I pulled aside a few students to get their point of views of what they experience at EC and what their thoughts are of the the staff and their fellow students, this is what they had to say: -Huseyin Arslanyurekli from Turkey “I like EC school and I enjoy my classes. I care about my friends” -Konstatin Telnov from Russia “EC is a very good school!” -Corine Kung from Switzerland “EC is a good organized school. There are a lot of helpful people/ teachers. So its nice to stay here.” -Hesham Baraka from Libya “I feel very happy because I have good teacher.” We strive for success and we strive to see each of our students excel in what they do. We consider each student a new member of our ever growing family and we appreciate their efforts to get good grades. We offer an exclusive range of activities and Free classes to ensure that the students stay with us will be informative and memorable.   Do you know of a friend or family member that would like to learn English and experience the beauty of South Africa’s Cape Town all at once? Please feel free to tell them how awesome your experience has been and also  the wonders of EC Cape Town and the beauty of the Mother City- Cape Town. __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter   RELATED BLOG POSTS Students received FREE supplementary study material! EC English Language Students volunteer at Rainbow Dreamers Project in Cape Town

EC Cape Town’s International Food Festival

Category: Social Activities / Tags: , , , , ,

No matter who you are or where you are from, or even what cultural background you have, food will always be one of the most important things that binds us all together, simply because everybody loves it and nobody can go without it! This past Friday 23 May 2014, EC Cape Town hosted a party that did just that, brought students from all over the world to one central place to celebrate what we all love most… FOOD. The event was organized by intern Ophelie Almagro and Academic English teacher Hardie Bosman, students came in large groups with dishes that they thought best described their countries and their cultures. It was quite a beautiful sight to see all the different dishes with interesting names, delicious aromas and exquisite tastes. A few countries to mention, Angola had a wide variety of dishes, amongst these were a delicious variety of stews which included Cow meat stew served with a portion of Pap and beans. France had a delicious Crepe with some Nutella chocolate spread, Japan had rice balls with tuna, Libya had delicious Couscous and  cakes and Switzerland had a variety of mouth watering Swiss cheese and chocolates. All of the students outdone themselves, not only were their presentations spectacular, but the tastes and aromas turned EC’s Reception area into the kitchen of a 10 star hotel. All in all the atmosphere was filled with joy and laughter and ultimately this is exactly what we intended for as our students work and study hard throughout the week to improve their Academic English skills. Here at EC Cape Town we strive to let our students create as many good memories to take home with them as possible.     We have lots of fun activities for our students and we try to accommodate each students requests, whether it is … Read more

EC English Student Mohammad Bin Saleh Alsawat’s Testimonial.

Category: EC Cape Town Students / Tags: , ,

Here at EC Cape Town we have a wide variety of cultures and personalities. Each week we welcome more members into our ever growing family, and we make sure to welcome each of them with wide open arms. We treat all students equally and we go to far lengths to make sure that each student is happy and satisfied through out the duration of their stay.   Below we have our very own, Mohammad Saleh Bin Alsawat, better known as “Mimo”, he joined EC in January 2014, and is currently on a 20 week Academic English course. “If you are thinking about improving you English skills, the best place you can chose is Cape Town EC School. First of all, there you can get 2 things: – You will improve you English. – You will have fun with a lot of activities, nice and friendly people even with the teacher or people from the staff. During the lesson but also before and after, the teacher pays always attention to you. If you have a question, they will help you and try to find the best solutions for you can understand what they talking about. About the ambiance or the staff, they are like a big family, if you have a problem or whatever they always have a good hear to listen to you. They can be funny and joking also, of course . What you can also doing after the school are activities or visit. They have a lot of different type of things to do like… – Meet new people in a multicultural city and culture. – AMAZING LANDSCAPE (from table mountain, lion’s head and signal hill) – Wildlife, going to the best safari from all over the world. – Waves, surfing in the best beaches from you have … Read more

EC English Language Students volunteer at Rainbow Dreamers Project in Cape Town

Category: Internship/Volunteering / Tags: , , , , , ,

The Rainbow Dreamers Volunteer Project is a non-profit organization affiliated with EC that is dedicated to supporting children from previously disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa. Rainbow Dreamers is based in  KALKFONTEIN (“Chalk Fountain”), a Post-Apartheid Township initially designed by the previous South African government for the area’s local Working-Class people. Located at the foot of the Hottentots’ Holland Mountains and on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, Kalkfontein is a 40-minute-drive outside the Cape Town City Bowl. Today Kalkfontein is home to a union of mixed-raced (‘Coloureds’) and Bantu (‘Black’) Capetonians and also to African foreign nationals, generating a unique and diverse blend of cultures, languages and beliefs. EC English Language  teacher Aaliya set up the Kalkfontein Volunteer Project in 2013, which was born out of the students’ sincere interest to meet and interact with local Capetonians. Rainbow Dreamers Volunteer Project’s vision is to build bridges of friendship and contact between local Capetonians and international visitors and by doing so stimulate cultural awareness and social exchange and  inspire our local young minds to reach for their dreams just as our foreign friends are doing through their academic English programs in Cape Town. Ophelie Almagro, one of our International volunteers reflected: ” It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to joining the Rainbow Dreamers Project again. These children love to learn and they are full of joy. They are very sweet and open-minded young kids with big dreams and big hearts! I loved it!” Every Thursday Aaliya meets up with EC students interested in joining and volunteering and to get the opportunity to experience what a day in the kids of the Rainbow Dreamers Project lives is like. Even if it is just for a few hours, singing a song, telling a story or even just listening to what they have to say, it will not only expand … Read more

Learning English at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town!

Category: Class Outing / Tags: , , , , , , ,

by Sheetal Makhan / Academic Year Coordinator Even if someone visits Cape Town for just a day, the chances of them visiting the V & A Waterfront is very high. Said to be South Africa’s most visited destination, it is situated at the heart of Cape Town’s working harbour. As South Africa celebrated Worker’s Day last Thursday (May 1), I decided to take a trip back in time in the form of a historical guided tour of the Waterfront. Some of our EC English students who opted not to sleep in (because of the public holiday) joined me at the Waterfront for an interesting and informative tour. We started off at Chavonnes Battery Museum which lies adjacent to the famous Clock Tower. With a guide dressed in period costume, we heard stories about events that led to the birth of Cape Town and the V & A Waterfront. Because we were a small group of less than 10 people, the tour (which lasted approximately 2 hours) gave us the opportunity to ask questions and students were able to practice their listening skills. Even thought it was a public holiday, the students still felt like they had an English class with an added bonus of gorgeous surroundings as our backdrop! I jotted down some of the English terms that caught my ear and felt that they would be beneficial to students to know and keep locked into their memory! “The old and the new live side by side” We use this expression when two things are closely related / associated. Even though there are remnants of the “old” Waterfront, it is still fully functional with modern day advancements. “Ships have to work around the clock” If something or someone works “around the clock”, it means that they work non-stop. There is no break! … Read more

EC Book Recommendation – learn English while reading!

Category: EC Book Recommendation / Tags: , , , , , , ,

by Sheetal Makhan / Academic Year Coordinator They say “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover“, but in this case I couldn’t help it. While browsing through a local bookstore lately, my eyes fell on doe-eyed Saroo Brierley as a child – pictured on the cover of the book he authored, “A Long Way Home“. Words that jumped out for me were “India / lost / Australia / adopted / Google Earth / reunited” I was instantly hooked! The book is a very easy read and follows the footsteps of Saroo. We feel his fear as he wanders away from his home and finds himself on a moving train…which ends up in Calcutta. He’s in the midst of the city’s hustle and bustle and is feeling scared. As a little boy who is uneducated, it is clear that he is vulnerable and is at risk of being either kidnapped or left to die of hunger. Books that are based on true stories are really powerful and makes the reader feel as though they are IN the story, experiencing the pain and heartache along with the main character. Because of Saroo’s colourful and descriptive writing, one can almost hear the trains zooming past and smell the pollution which lingers in the air. I’m thoroughly enjoying this at the moment and recommend it to anyone who is looking for an adventure. I am especially looking forward to the part where Saroo reaches adulthood and with the help of Google Earth, finds his way back home. From Australia all the way back to India! Did you know? EC Cape Town’s Academic Year English Course places a lot on emphasis on reading. __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG POSTS Reading Circle Class EC Reading Award

Watcha Up To..? EC English Student “Igor Cuna”

Category: EC Cape Town Students / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

What happens to our English language students once they’ve left our doors for the last time and fly off into the horizon? Many of our students have gone on to do some pretty interesting things with their lives, and studying English as well as the overall experience of living in a foreign country, has a great deal to do with their success. “Watcha Up To?” showcases past EC English students and have them share with us what they’re doing at the moment. Igor Cuna from Brazil was in Cape Town to study English for a very short time last year,  but left quite an impression on his friends and teachers at our EC Language School in South Africa. ~Sheetal Makhan / Academic Year Coordinator Watcha Up To? Hi, I’m Igor from Santos, Brazil. I started at EC School in April, 2013 at intermediate level, and finished in May, in the same level. After I finished studying, I spent more time in CT until end of July, but unfortunately not at EC School. Nevertheless, the EC school crew kept in touch with me, and helped me a lot. Included the teachers, diretor and specially the students. I never will forget them. Currently I live in a small city of São Paulo Coast, working as Physical educator in a school for intellectually disabled people. I love it!! Every person is different each other and when we travel, we can see a lot of different things. I think that this trip taught me how to handle these: with different culture, people, behavior. So lets travel again!!!!! (i hope soon) Igor was a General English 20 student __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG POSTS Watcha Up To?…Bora Mavinil Watcha Up To?…Fernando Casimiro