World Teacher’s Day was celebrated all week last week at EC New York.  Our dynamic teachers received treats starting with bagels on Monday and ending with special certificate presentations and a catered lunch.  In honor of teachers, let’s look back at some famous teachers from the past from around the globe. In India, Teachers’ Day is celebrated on Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s birthday. Not only was he a teacher, he was a philosopher and statesman. He requested that his birthday be a special day to honor teachers because he recognized teachers as being vital parts of society and without them progression wasn’t possible.  María Chinchilla’s memory honored in Guatemala on June 25th as Schoolteacher’s day.  Maria died on June 25, 1944 while carrying out a peaceful protest with 300 other teachers in order to get a pay increase for teachers’ salaries. She is now known as a martyr and national heroine because as a result of the demonstration, the country’s dictator General Ubico resigned. Teacher’s day in Slovakia is March 28th because it’s the birthday of John Amos Comenius. He was a teacher, philosopher and writer in the 17th century.  In his Didactica Magna (Great Didactic), he proposed a system of schools that is the exact equal of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university. In Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk adopted a new alphabet for the Turkish Republic in 1923 and on November 24, 1928 he accepted a position as head teacher of the country’s schools, so since 1981 Teachers’ Day has been celebrated on November 24th. Teachers serve an important role in every society, so they deserve to be honored not only on one specific day, but every day of the year.  Here at EC New York, we appreciate our teachers for always going the extra … Read more

Nuts about the Nutella Café by Teacher Nolan I came across the following quote on Pinterest:  “Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy Nutella and that’s basically the same thing.”  And after visiting the Nutella Café, it’s easy to agree with this quote.The second Nutella Café in the United States opened in New York City last year (the first of its kind opened in Chicago).  The café is conveniently located on University Place in Greenwhich Village, just a short walk from beautiful Union Square (and the Union Square subway station). The café is a perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon reading an English book (while sipping on a cup of coffee and enjoying a decadent pastry), meet up with new friends to practice your conversation skills, or even buy a few unique gifts for friends and family who have sweet tooth. The delicious nutty chocolate spread is the star of the café’s extensive menu, which includes items such as pastries, crêpes, a family-style fondue, waffles and gelatos – plenty of options for any season or mood.  But if it all sounds a little too sweet for you, the café also offers savory menu options. If there are just too many choices for you, take-away options are always a good idea. On your way out, be sure to check out some of the cool Nutella merchandise available, such as coffee mugs, tumblers, personalized Nutella jars and even Nutella-shaped USBs. These items would make cool souvenirs or gifts for friends. Places like these are why it’s a special experience to study English in New York. There are so many fun things to do and see in the city and they are perfect places to meet local people and practice English conversation skills or take your classmates for an enjoyable time to get to know each … Read more

Upcoming Event in NYC: The Feast of San Gennaro When you study English in New York, there are so many events to enjoy during your free time! The Feast of San Gennaro is a popular event in Little Italy, from September 12-22, 2019 with Italian food and free entertainment. The Feast of San Gennaro began in September 1926 when Italian immigrants arrived and made this neighborhood their own, to maintain their tradition they started to celebrate San Gennaro day with a street fair that has been happening for 93 years. The major highlight of the festival is the Grand Procession of the statue of San Gennaro, the Procession starts at 2 pm on the last Saturday of the feast, September 21st, so if you really want to live the full Italian experience, follow the parade! The feast also features the traditional Italian American street fair along Mulberry Street serving some of the most excellent Italian food in NYC, like cannoli, sausages, zeppole, fried dough, torrone cookies, and sausage-and-pepper sandwiches. There’s even a cannoli-eating competition on September 13th at 1pm and a meatball-eating competition on September 21st at 1pm. Date/time: September 12-22,2019, starts in the morning but live entertainment starts at 7:30pm Location: Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston street Cost: free to enter but you will have to pay for food & drinks Age: for everybody, it’s a family friend event How you can get there: by train, take the yellow line (N,Q,R,W) to Canal Street Station After eating and enjoying the festival you can walk in SoHo, visit stores and cafes. You can also go to Battery Park to enjoy the view of Hudson River, do some sports like football at Pier 40 or just enjoy the sunset at Rockefeller park. If you want more culture you can take a … Read more

This month’s lecture at EC New York has come and gone. We hope you enjoyed learning about Hurricanes with our Lead Teacher, Tatiana. Attending a lecture is not only a great way to develop your listening skills, but it can also be used to build vocabulary and even practice writing and speaking. How? Read on! First things first, you can’t attend a lecture and hope that you will remember everything; our monthly lectures at EC New York English school are designed to be an hour to an hour and a half long, that’s a lot of information to retain. It is important that you try to take notes. So, here are some note-taking tips: Don’t write everything you hear! You will eventually be unable to keep up and get lost. Only write the main ideas. Speakers often present their lecture overview at the beginning of the talk, make sure you write it down, it will help organize your notes; outlines and overviews are built with the speaker’s main points. Use headings and sub-headings Use points and keep your sentences short. Use abbreviations and symbols to replace words in your sentences, it will help you write faster. (For example: main character = MC or, using an arrow pointing up to replace words like ‘more’ or ‘increase’) Underline or highlight keywords. These are the words that the speaker explains and repeats a lot during the talk. For vocabulary building, draw a line to dividing your paper to create a ‘Vocabulary List’ section. In it, you can write new words introduced by the speaker or expressions that you heard and liked. You can always use an English-English dictionary to look up any new words that might not have been explained by the speaker. There are two ways you can practice speaking during and … Read more

Do you want to study academic English, learn the language of work and business, or simply increase your conversation skills by mastering the English language? Whatever your reasons, New York is the perfect place for you. Study English in New York and experience new ways of learning by exploring this wonderful city. New York is the city that never sleeps. Take the opportunity to learn English just minutes from 5th Avenue, the Empire State Building and everything you could want from an extraordinary learning adventure. You will learn about a new culture, broaden your vision of the world and make lasting friendships by practising and improving your skills. The double banking timetable at EC New York is specifically designed for students who wish to develop enough language skills to be able to find work abroad or who are looking for a fun and authentic experience in an international place. The schedule consists of morning lessons one day and afternoon lessons the following day, with reliable and experienced professional teachers. This type of programme offers students enough flexibility to study and explore the local area or look for job opportunities. Everything you need to know about English in New York Living abroad will put your skills into practice every day. As you will be surrounded by English speakers, you will be involved and you will have to get involved: asking for information, going to the cinema and chatting with the people. All of these will prove to be useful exercises for improving your language skills. The highly specialised teaching we offer will allow you to communicate in every situation. You will become confident in interacting with colleagues and will be able to use English to achieve highly specific goals. Classes are based on the linguistic competence of each student, their nationality and … Read more

According to National Geographic magazine, New York City is the best place to celebrate St. Patrick’s day! Our concrete jungle beat out some amazing cities around the world, and even those in Ireland! New York is about to become Shamrock city! In order to enjoy this holiday, be sure to wear green clothes and join in on the annual St. Patrick’s day Parade. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the world’s largest St. Patrick’s day celebration. The parade starts on 44th street and 5th avenue, goes up 5th avenue, and passes by St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It finishes around 5pm by 79th street. This parade is unique because there are no floats or cars in the parade. The parade will feature bands, bagpipes, and dancers. This parade began in 1762, which makes this particular parade older than the United States!   It is also typical to celebrate this holiday by drinking a green beer! Whatever you choose to do, drink in moderation, stay safe, and wear green! Take a look at some of our favorite St. Patrick’s day photos from EC New York ESL Center.  

So you’ve finally made it to EC New York English Language Center and you’re about to start your studies. With such a bustling city at your fingertips, which New York City landmark should you check out first? Don’t stress, let us find the best landmark for you. From the calming green landscape of Central Park to the hustle and bustle of Times Square, New York City offers you a unique opportunity to immerse yourself into American culture, with a different experience in each of our great landmarks. Remember learning English goes beyond the classroom. Whether it’s on Wall Street practicing your negotiation skills or at Yankee Stadium using your sports slang, living and studying in New York provides a truly immersive experience. Click on the image below and find out which landmark in New York City is best for you!