Tag: south africa

EC Cape Town Bids Farewell to our Intern Ophélie

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

With a sad ending to an awesome Five month internship, we at EC Cape Town had to say goodbye and farewell to our intern Ophélie Almagro. Such a hard working an inspiring young lady that gave her internship 110%! We wish Ophélie all of the best with her studies as she heads back to France and we truly appreciate all that you have done for the students as well as staff members here at EC Cape Town! Here is a short summary of her experience at EC Cape Town: “I would like to thank all of the EC team members for these wonderful 5 months of internship! It was a unique opportunity to integrate with the EC staff. I worked in a pleasant and friendly work atmosphere throughout my internship. I have learnt a lot from the staff and I thank them for their support and their time. It was very important to them to listen to my needs and to offer me the best possible advices. Moreover as I was in charge of the activities for our students I had the huge chance to visit wonderful places and to spend time with them outside of the school. I discovered an amazing country and I love it so much. I really enjoyed my time in South Africa and I hope to come back soon!” – Ophélie   EC Cape Town, the only South African based English school under the EC flag, hosts many students that comes to study English, as well as see the beauty of South Africa. We have lots of fun activities for our students and we try to accommodate each students requests, whether it is to see the famous Table Mountain, or to simply experience the South African Townships, we do our very best to ensure that before their English course … 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’s Academic English Students will see the musical “Show Boat” live in South Africa!

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

On Friday 16 May 2014, EC students who are in Cape Town to learn academic English have the wonderful opportunity to experience the spectacular internationally acclaimed musical “Show Boat” at the Artscape Opera House. Our English language students will be accompanied by our  South African English teacher Ian Van Rensberg on  this special evening. “Show Boat” is a musical about the old American South, with well-loved melodies. Kernis Show Boat has all the flourish and glamour of the old American style big family musical, but the actual story has deep meaning that resonates with South Africa’s past. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, Show boat is one of the first American musicals ever. It tells a story of the old American South as it follows the performers (characters) on the Cotton  Blossom, a Mississippi River Show boat, over a 40 year period from 1887 to 1927. The story-line has many highs and lows and focuses on a vast variety of past happenings such as racial discrimination and the historic fact that while change improves the lives of some, it usually passes by those who need it the most. As a student enrolled on one of EC’s academic English programs, you get the opportunity to join your fellow students to attend many exciting events, activities as well as safari tours all around Cape Town and South Africa. __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG POSTS Musical: Dirty Dancing Phantom of The Opera

International Food Party for English students at EC Cape Town

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There is a well known saying that goes: “there is a time and a place for everything” and indeed the time has come for EC English language students to take off their thinking caps and have some fun – what better place to do this than at the EC language school! Friday, 23 May 2014, EC Cape Town will be hosting an International Food Party, with dishes from all over the world made by none other than the students themselves. Students will get the opportunity to taste the different flavors of foods from where their friends come from. A very exciting event to not only experience the cultures, but also an excellent opportunity to socialize and get to know more about what other countries are like. With flags at each table representing which country the specific dish is from, this will be like a trip around the world from the comfort of our EC English Language School in the city center of Cape Town. Party organizers Ophelie and English teacher Hardie would like to extend a big thank you to all students that have signed up thus far,  also to our Academic Year Coordinator Sheetal, for always giving us excellent advice and last but not least, to our Director of Studies Nicoletta for providing us with some party decorations. We will be having a wide variety of beautiful dishes with the best aromas. Dishes from the following countries will be prepared for Friday’s party: Libya Yemen Saudi Arabia Brazil Angola Europe Japan South Africa We look forward to seeing all of you there!!! As a student enrolled on one of EC’s academic English programs, you get the opportunity to join your fellow students to attend many exciting events, activities as well as safari tours all around Cape Town and South Africa. __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG … 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

True Love, by EC English student “Abo Korkmaz”

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From Sheetal Makhan / Academic Year Coordinator Every now and then I come across a true gem. When Turkish student, Abdurrahim Korkmaz suddenly appeared back in Cape Town six months ago, I was so delighted to see him. I got to know him last year when he was learning English at EC Cape Town. He can be described as an all-rounder – friendly, hard-working, sincere and dedicated. This is his last week studying with us and he shared a piece with me which he wrote recently. Of course, I can’t keep it to myself…so here it is! True Love by Abdurrahim “Abo” Korkmaz Surfing is everything for me. You don’t need anything. Without words, without language. Straight into your heart. You do not have to think. You just feel colour. Emotion. This is friendship with wind, waves, sail and a board. This is true love…life. Life is windsurfing for me. Wind gives me life. Abdurrahim was an Academic Year 20 student at EC South Africa __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG POSTS Travel Writing: Cuba by Zayra Alexandra Serpa A short story…by Mariana Alves (Brazil)

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

One-to-One private English lessons get TWO thumbs up!

Category: English Courses / Tags: , , , , , ,

by the EC Academic Department The Academic Team at EC Cape Town makes a concerted effort to fulfill our student’s needs. While this may not always be feasible or realistic, it is something that we strive towards. An example of this is the experience that Christian and Christina (both from Germany) had during their time studying English at EC Cape Town. This is what they had to say about their recent One-to-One private English classes they had with our English teacher Jeffrey: “Especially for advanced students, a private teacher is the most efficient way to fine-tune their English skills. Compared to regular English classes, private lessons offer students the opportunity to focus on their individual needs and to work on specific areas. This results in a customization of the overall language training where courses are adapted to the individuals’ level. Within a confidential learning atmosphere, problems or common mistakes can be directly addressed, discussed and corrected immediately. Even though private lessons have been challenging for us, we really enjoyed the style of learning and appreciated the outcome.”  Are you interested in One-to-One lessons at EC Cape Town? __________________________________ Remember to follow us on Facebook or Twitter RELATED BLOG POSTS English Lessons on the Beach Why Choose Cape Town?

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