Category: friends

Celebrating Christmas in England

Category: elearning, English Courses, free time activities, friends, fun / Tags: , ,

It is December and that can only mean one thing. Christmas! Do you celebrate Christmas in your country? I you do, how do you celebrate? Celebrations in your country are undoubtedly as unique and special as our traditions here in England! So, what do we do here to enjoy this special time of year? The Tree No Christmas is complete without a tree in your living room, be it a real fir tree or an artificial tree. These days, more people are buying artificial trees with snow, fir cones and red berries on the branches. Some people love big tall trees that touch the ceiling while other people look for small trees in pots that can be put in the garden after Christmas to continue growing ready for next December. People spend time decorating their tree with twinkling fairy lights and lovely round baubles in rich beautiful colours such as red, gold and silver. After the tree is finished, families put their gifts to each other underneath it wrapped in beautiful coloured paper. With the introduction of artificial trees many families now decorate their homes at the very beginning of December. If you walk around the streets of England, you will see many beautifully decorated houses both inside and out! Christmas Eve – the 24th December In England, Christmas Eve is a day full of excitement and anticipation but unlike Europe, we don’t usually spend this day with family, eat traditional food or open gifts in the evening. Instead, we may go to work during the day and in the evening celebrate with friends in a restaurant or pub. Excitement is in the air and everyone is in a fantastic mood ready for the next day. Some people use this day to do some last-minute Christmas shopping! Some families go … Read more

English Courses with New Friends in London

Category: English Courses, free time activities, friends, Learning English outside class, Uncategorized / Tags: , , , ,

My Name is Andy and I have been teaching English courses at EC London for 8 years. I have seen, now more than ever, students learning English by making new friends and speaking together outside of the classroom and I want to share what I have seen with you. New Friends With the current global situation, I have found that the students who are studying at the EC London school right now are looking for any opportunity to maximise human connections. Before class, during breaks and after class, it is wonderful to see learners planning their afternoons, evening and weekends together, trying to make the most of their EC and London experience even more fruitful and memorable. The one thing that is really touching is how established students welcome new students with open arms and are keen to involve them in their social experiences outside of class time. Social Life From speaking to students, it is wonderful to hear what they have been doing with their free time when not in class. They have been going out on walks, going to pubs, going to restaurants, visiting museums, relaxing in parks, sightseeing and even more I’m sure. For some of these students, they are embarking on a new chapter in their lives. For others, they are learning English to study at university. Some are learning English out of interest or out of a desire to travel or for their work. One thing that all of these students have in common, though, is a desire to be social in an environment where they are able to enrich not only their EC or London experience, but their life experience as a whole. Speaking English While students speak a lot of English in class, it is important that they continue this outside of the … Read more

A trip to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Category: Christmas, Food, free time activities, friends, fun, London places to visit, London trip, Uncategorized / Tags: , , ,

One of London’s most famous parks is dressing up for Christmas: Hyde Park has opened up its beloved Winter Wonderland. Since last Thursday, the whole park consists of little Christmas markets and a big fun fair. So no matter if you just want to have a stroll around the markets or ride one of the amazing roller coasters, Winter Wonderland will always bring you lots of joy. Winter Wonderland is divided into different parts. There is the big fun fair where you can find many different kinds of roller coaster like The Hangover or The Munich Looping. Speaking of Munich, Winter Wonderland offers you even more insight into Bavarian culture. The so-called Bavarian Village presents you with an Oktoberfest experience right in the middle of London. Traditional German foods like Bratwurst and Bretzel will come your way. The festive atmosphere gets even better as there is live music and DJs. Apart from the fun fair and the Bavarian Village, you can stroll around traditional Christmas Markets. Plenty of wooden chalets will inspire you. There is a huge selection of jewellery, clothing and handmade crafts which is a great opportunity to buy Christmas presents for your loved ones or even for yourself. No matter if you want to go ice skating or sing along at Christmas karaoke with your EC London friends, you can do all of that in Winter Wonderland. You can also visit one of the spectacular shows like Cirque Berserk, Paddington on Ice and so much more. Regarding all of these astonishing attractions, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is definitely worth a visit. As there is a large diversity of choice, you will, for sure, find your own favourite place.

Hidden Places in London-Kingly Court

Category: Fashion, Food, free time activities, friends, fun, London places to visit, Nice to know, Secret London places, Student activities, Uncategorized / Tags: , , ,

Being a student at EC London gives you the chance to discover many interesting places. As I have already mentioned Neal’s Yard in a previous post, I would like to come up with another hidden place in London. Kingly Court is located in Soho, one of London’s most fashionable areas. You can find it right behind Liberty in Carnaby Street. Carnaby Street is famous for its fashion boutiques, its diversity and its restaurants. In Kingly Court you can truly feel all of this. The hidden courtyard is picturesque. Apart from colourful little houses, plants and lights, you can find many different kinds of restaurants. There are 21 of international concept restaurants, bars and cafes. If you love pizza, there is Pizza Pilgrims. If you fancy Indian food, go to Darjeeling express. You can even try Peruanian food at a restaurant called Senor Ceviche. Kingly Court also offers loads of healthy food options. The Detox Kitchen sells all healthy food free from wheat, dairy and refined sugars. At Acai Berry you can try fruity acai bowls and smoothies. So no matter if you are craving burgers, ramen or kebab, you can find anything here. Apart from all the amazing restaurants, Kingly Court’s architecture gives a really nice vibe. There is a colourful railing all around the courtyard, paired with little plants and lights around it. In the summer, it’s open air, so you can sit outside and enjoy with your friends. In the winter, it’s covered so you can still sit outside and be thrilled by the beautiful lights.   Kingly Court is definitely worth a visit. Even if you just want to walk around or try some of the amazing restaurants, you won’t regret going there.

halloween

Halloween Week at EC London!

Category: Events, Food, free time activities, friends, fun, Halloween, Student activities, Uncategorized / Tags: , , ,

From 29/10/2019 to 03/11/2019 we are hosting our Halloween Week at EC London. It is going to be a Charity week and all the proceeds will go to a charity called “Hope for the Young”. It is a great way to have fun and to donate for a good cause at the same time. To enjoy the halloweeny atmosphere at our school, we have a very nice and varied schedule for this week: Tuesday On Tuesday the 29th of October, you can calm down and relax by taking Meditation class with our teacher Melissa. Some of our students have bought tickets to see the famous Wicked musical at The Apollo Victoria Theatre. Unfortunately, the tickets are already sold out. We are coming up with new musical tickets as soon as possible. Wednesday In the night of the 30th of October, we are going out to the pub to spend a spooky evening. Thursday Thurday, the 31st of October, is our Fancy Halloween Dress Day at School. On this day, we expect our students to dress up for Halloween. To make it a bit more challenging, we are going to host a “The Scariest Costume” contest on our Facebook&Instagram pages. The student who wins the contest will get a free hot drink and a pastry. In the evening, you can join Alberto is going to a Halloween Movie Night in the City Centre. Friday The morning of the 1st of November is going to start with Daniel’s relaxing Yoga class. Throughout the day you can participate in our Halloween Food&Treats Collection at school. In the evening, there is going to be a Halloween party. Tickets will be available at the reception. Saturday On Saturday, you will have the possibility to visit the famous “London Dungeon” with Alberto. Tickets are available at … Read more

Welcome Walk.

Category: Events, friends, fun, Intern, Learning English outside class, Nice to know, Student activities, Uncategorized

Hi, this is Federica, student services intern at EC London! This week I would like to talk about what students use to do during their first day at EC London. Students come early in the morning as well as teachers and employee. We give to the students welcome packs and tell them where they have to go to do the entrance test. People who work in the reception register their Visa, Passaport and make ID cards for the new students. They will have the Welcome Talk in which my colleague tells them the rules of our school. After lessons, student have to do the Welcome Walk. They have a sheet with some questions about the places inside the school and outside, so that they learn them well. For example we ask about the code to open the door of the stairs, or something about the statue outside st. Pancras station, and other things regarding King’s Cross Station, the British Library and so on.So they follow an itinerary up to the Somers Town Coffee House, the melting pot where I have to wait all the students there, sit and chat with them. It is a pub located near the school with some seats even outside. That’s why it’s a good place to enjoy the nice summer weather in London. That is a good chance to speak about the Social Programme of the week and know each other better. In addition, It’s a good way to make friends. I met so many nice people who enjoyed me and my colleague Alberto to the Karaoke Night. From that day we became close to each other. That’s why it’s an experience I will never forget!

Karaoke Nights at EC London!

Category: country, Events, friends, fun, Intern, Special days, Student activities, Uncategorized / Tags: , , , ,

Hi, this is Federica. I have been working at Ec London for more than one month and now I can say I feel at home. At first it was shocking changing my life. I’m from a small town in Italy, where there is nothing to do. The only thing that you can do during the weekend is to go to another town by car and in order to enjoy your weekend there. In addition, I used to go out with the same friends all the time. The only place that opened up my eyes and mind to a new world was my University, where I could finally meet people coming from different countries and study many foreign languages. London is a new world to me: I can always meet new people from new countries, hang out with them and do plenty of interesting activities such as… the Karaoke Night! Once a week my colleague and I organize a Karaoke night in the school. We move to the 30+ reception, full of comfortable sofas, huge tables with a smart TV and a piano. We start with a piano performance. There’s always someone who likes playing the piano. After this relaxing performances, we turn the microphone on. Let’s start the party! Students choose their favourite songs and they can sing in different languages as well. Yesterday, for example, some French students sang “Allez les blue allez”, the Spanish one performed “Despacito” and so on. We also had a student who won the Voice Kids-France and we enjoyed his karaoke perfomances: he’s such a brilliant and young singer! Everytime we organize this kind of party, I’m always afraid people might get bored or be too shy to sing in public. But yesterday was different than I expected: students got along with each other … Read more

Last Blog in London

Category: friends, fun, Intern, London trip / Tags: , ,

Feedback on my life in London since May Hello, I arrived the 20th of May in London to work as an intern in EC London. Thanks to this job I have an incredible chance to meet a lot of people from many different countries all around the world. They could be my colleagues or simply students in the school where I am working. This amazing internship allows me to speak and work only in English everyday, to learn so many different facts about countries around the world and of course to make friends to hang out in London. I also improved my working skills which is important in order to get experience for my studies (working in English with customers from many nationalities etc…) But the most wonderful thing which happened to me in London was just to meet amazing people from all around the world and to know them, speak with time, spend time with them, discover London with them. That’s the incredible thing with EC School, to speak only in English with even people who come from the opposite of the world, it is really interesting. Personally I met amazing people thanks to EC London, I shared with them so many beautiful moments in London that I am not gonna forget. Thanks to them I had 3 perfect months, maybe the best of my life. I am leaving London with such perfect souvenirs that I will remember forever. Thank you very much for everything. Dorian

EC Summer party on 19th July

My New Life at EC London!

Category: friends, fun, Intern, Nice to know, University / Tags: , , , , ,

Hello guys, This is Federica, new intern from EC London! I work in the main reception of the school from the beginning of July. I’m a 24 years old Italian who loves travel and foreign languages and cultures. Since I was a child I use to watch anime and to read comics and manga. When I was a teenager I realized I like everything related to Japanese culture. Moreover, my sisters studied and lived abroad and I traveled many times throughout Europe to visit them. During their University years I realized how travelling makes you a richer person inside. It lets you to discover things that you can’t find in your home country and makes you more ambitious. Moreover, during my bachelor I was a tutor of a Japanese exchange student so I improved my knowledge about Japanese people. They are so different to Western people. But I didn’t give up. Indeed, the more I discover they are different the more I wanted to know them more. That’s because I’m curios about everything is different than my home country culture. I wish one day I could travel throughout all the countries located in the other side of the world. I think these are the main reasons why I started to study foreign languages and Asian studies in University L’Orientale in Naples and the reason why I’m doing my first internship in London. This isn’t my first time in London, actually. I’ve been here several times because my sister used to study in this city and she’s currently working here. Thanks to her I travelled many times in England and I realized how London is a cultural melting pot. For a Japanese culture addicted like me is marvelous. There are a wide range of places where you can find Japanese merchandise, … Read more