Internship at EC Oxford – Are you looking for a new experience? What is your job? As an intern you will be responsible for student services and accommodation coordination. The focus is in general on delivering great service to our students at all times by providing product and service information, resolving product and service problems with an outcome that the student appreciates, and by ensuring each students experience with EC and their accommodation exceeds their expectations. Why is it beneficial for you? This internship will give you great office work experience. The training to preform your job will be provided. You will have full support in this role throughout your internship, which will then be certified by an EC Certificate of Completion. Above all, you will also have a good opportunity to interact with people from various countries / cultures and also to practice written and spoken English. Your workplace will be at the heart of the EC Centre at the reception. When can you start? It would be great if you can join our team in December 2015 or January 2016. That’s too spontaneous? You can also start the internship later; its up to you. How long is does it last? It needs to be at least for four moths but there is no deadline for final day. What you else do you need to know? Although it is an unpaid intership it is very beneficial on all the other levels. The location of the school is really great; Oxford is a nice place not only due to its history but also due to the fact that there are a lot of students living in Oxford. You get the chance to meet new people from all over the world and enjoy your free time going out or taking a tour … Read more

The Radcliffe Camera was built during the 18th century and is now one of the most popular attractions in Oxford. Originally, it was used as a library but nowadays its used as a reading room. The constructions started in 1737 based on the plans of Nikolas Hawskmoor and was finished in 1749. The building is named after Dr. John Redcliffe who was the personal physician of Queen Anne. He offered £ 40,000 Pounds to build the library. The word Camera was taken over from the Latin language which means “building” or “vault.” Since 1860 the Radcliffe Camera is part of the Bodleian Library. In 1927 the building was left to the Oxford University. The two reading rooms include works about the English literature and history. An underground corridor connects the Radcliffe Camera with another universities’ library which is used as a reading room and storeroom for books and magazines of political science. The access to the reading rooms is restricted to Oxford University students only. The ground floor is referred as the Lower Camera  and the first floor is called Upper Camera. The building is next to the Bodleian Library and the University Church St. Mary and one of the most popular photographic model of Oxford.   Our library includes many books for various different reading levels. Check out the shelves and feel free to borrow a book. Reading English literature will help you to learn English in a pleasant way. Grab a book, make yourself a nice cup of tea and lean back to enjoy a good read. We also recommend borrowing self study books if you would like to work on your grammar. Besides, we have a great variety of DVDs if you are more into watching movies. You are welcome to use the library also as a self study room … Read more

Our Director of Studies Candice Gregory shares her experiences about EC Oxford. Have a look on her testimonial. Since opening the school in January 2013 with the Centre Director, Charlie Tweddle, I have witnessed many positive changes in the school. From our initial 4 wonderfully patient Colombian, French, Libyan and Thai students who arrived on our doorstep on 4 February 2013, we have grown into a busy school which has retained its familiarity and friendly atmosphere. The students feel comfortable in our school and as a result are learning well, mixing with other nationalities and enjoying the company of the teachers and front desk staff who are always on hand to help. Opening a new school was possibly one of the biggest professional challenges I have ever faced but I have enjoyed every moment. Shaping the school into a place which is in-line with other EC schools but putting my own stamp on the academic programme has been incredibly rewarding. I have recruited the teachers, trained them, observed them and tried my best to make the student experience as positive as it can be for those of you who have travelled so far to be here or are looking to come in the future. And still I am not finished! Working with such wonderful students has given me a chance to hear their formal and informal feedback and respond. We are now working on ways to improve and enhance our social programme so that students can enjoy learning English outside the classroom once lessons have finished. Other changes lie ahead – positive ones for the students which will enable them to track their progress better and access their learning goals, homework, feedback and tests online. All this is due to start within the next few weeks and I am excited about … Read more

  In your English classes you no doubt learn interesting things. Here are some additional interesting facts about the English language. Share your knowledge and impress everybody! 1. ‘E’ is the most commonly used letter in the English language. In fact, as many as one in eight of all the letters written in English is ‘e’. 2. More English words begin with the letter ‘S’ than any other letter of the alphabet. 3. ‘I am.’ is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. 4.The longest English word that can be spelled without repeating any letters is ‘uncopyrightable’. 5. The following sentence contains seven different spellings of the sound “ee”: ‘He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas’. 6. Do you know what is special about the following sentence? ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’. This type of sentence is called a ‘pangram’ as it uses every letter in the English language. 7. The longest word in English has 45 letters: ‘pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’! It is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and sand dust. 8. There is no word in the English language that rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. 9. ‘Queueing’ is the only word with five consecutive vowels (five vowels in a row). This is a great word to use when you play hangman! 10. There are nine different ways to pronounce ‘ough’ in English. This sentence contains all of them: ‘A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.’ You can search for these words on the Cambridge Dictionary website to listen to their pronunciation. 11. Due to a printing error, there was a word in the English dictionary from 1932 to 1940 which didn’t have a meaning. The … Read more

Selamat Hari Raya to all our Muslim students at EC Oxford!   Hari Raya Haji is celebrated on the 10th day of the last month of the Islamic Calendar. The day is celebrated to commemorate the sacrifice of Ishamel by Abraham. According to the story in Quran, the religious book of the Muslims, Prophet Abraham was tested by God. According to the story, about 4,000 years ago, the valley of Mecca was an uninhabited place. After years of worship, Abraham and Hajra, his wife, were blessed with a son, whom they names Ishamel. Thus, Ishamel became their most prized possession. In order to test the devotion of Abraham, God decided to command Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son Abraham. After much deliberation and many hindrances out forward by Satan, Abraham decided to sacrifice his son by placing him under the knife. However, just before he was about to sacrifice his son, God appeared, happy with Abraham’s intentions. Thus, Ishamel was saved from sacrifice and instead, a ram was sacrificed in his place. This festival is a major festival for Muslims around the world. Muslims around the world celebrate this day with great pomp and show. Mosques are decorated with bright lights and other decorations. Muslims wake up early in the morning to offer their prayers before sunrise. After that, extravagant meals are prepared. An important tradition of the day is sacrificing a goat in the name of God. This is done to remember the sacrificial intentions of Abraham towards Allah. The roots of this tradition lie in the fact that a goat or a sheep was very important in the life of humans in the olden days for rearing and other purposes. People of all ages wear new clothes and exchange gifts on this day. The day is … Read more

Student Testimonial: Carla Schmid our 19 years-old student from Switzerland participated in the General English Course for 4 weeks and shares her experiences in the testimonial. Why did you choose Oxford? “Oxford is well known for its historical background and its beautiful buildings. Also as a famous “Harry Potter” filming location it caught my eye.” What did you learn? “I improved my English skills a lot and I learnt many new and very useful vocabulary and idioms.” How much did you improve? “It is difficult to tell a number or percentage because there is not an actual scale. Learning is not only restricted to expanding the knowledge about the language by learning grammar and the learning process does not finish when you leave the classroom. I learnt a lot of things regarding other cultures and how to manage everyday life.” What was your favourite EC activity? “My favourite EC activity was the café chat with Callum. Free biscuits and coffee combined with good conversations. We talked about different topics and got to know each other. Great!” What did you like most about the school? “School was always interesting and the best thing about it were de discussions about all kind of topics: from our cultures to general global themes.” What did you like most about your accommodation? Alice House… There are no more words needed, it’s just a perfect place to stay. You’ve got everything you need and even more. I stayed there with other students from EC Oxford. The cultural mix made it for me to an unforgettable adventure. Would you recommend EC Oxford to a friend? “Of course! It’s a great school with great teachers. The relationship between teachers and students is really really good. Their open minds and creativity is stunning. I also appreciated the staff at … Read more

Happy Autumnal Equinox to all our EC Oxford students! Even though it happens year after year, the arrival of autumn is always a little surprising. Almost as if on a switch, one day late in the summer you feel it – a subtle crispness in the air. And before you know it, it’s pumpkin-spice-everything everywhere. We are suddenly swathed in sweaters and wearing boots and bombarded by shades of orange, often even before the thermometer warrants it. After slogging through a long hot August, it can feel exciting. We can thank the autumnal equinox for this shift from sultry summer to cozy fall. And while most of us are aware of when the first day of autumn lands on the calendar, there’s more to the equinox than meets the eye.There are two equinoxes annually, vernal and autumnal, marking the beginning of spring and fall. They are opposite for the northern and southern hemispheres. The autumnal equinox happens the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator, which is an imaginary line in the sky that corresponds to Earth’s equator. Every year this occurs on September 22, 23, or 24. From hereon, the days get shorter until the winter solstice in December, when the light will begin its slow climb back to long summer days. Winter solstice is technically the shortest day of the year, while the summer solstice in June boasts the most sunlight. This year, the autumnal equinox arrives precisely at 4:21 a.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, September 23. Unlike an event like New Year’s midnight that follows the clock around the time zones, equinoxes happen at the same moment everywhere. “Equinox” comes from the Latin words “equi” meaning “equal” and “nox” meaning “night.” This implies that there will be equal amounts of daylight and darkness, however such is not exactly the case. As for … Read more

The word of today is Volkswagen! Why? You have heard it probably all day long: Volkswagen has to face a big problem. Apparently Volkswagen has used a special software to rig the emission test. This needs to be verified so that 11 million cars are involved in the scandal.It said it was setting aside €6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs of the scandal.VW has ordered an external investigation, although it has not revealed who will be conducting it. Do you know how Volkswagen grew from a family company to the biggest selling global carmaker? Here are some facts about the company: 1. Do you know the roots of Volkswagen? Ironically, the idea for the Volkswagen, ‘People’s car’, came from Adolf Hitler. He chose Ferdinand Porsche to engineer a car that could carry 2 adults and 3 children, and that could do 100km/h (62mph). And the idea was, that people could buy it trough an affordable savings scheme. That’s how the base for the VW Beetle was born. The first prototypes were called KdF-Wagen. (German: Kraft durch Freude – “strength through joy”) 2. Do you know how long did VW produce the legendary Beatle? The legendary beetle was produced from 1938 up to 2003. That’s astonishing 65 years! We all know how fast car manufacturers switch and/or update their models today. There were 21,529,464 built beetles, of which 15,444,858 in Germany, incl. 330,251 Cabriolets, and about 3,350,000 in Brazil. 3. Did you know that VW participates in TRUCK racing? The first shock is to find out that Volkswagen makes big trucks, and the other one, is to find out that VW races them! VW is one of the leading truck/bus manufacturers in southern America, and racing their trucks in the Brazilian Formula Truck championship, seems like a good marketing move. You can … Read more

Follow the footsteps of the world’s favourite wizard Harry Potter through Oxford’s most spectacular College. Many of the scenes in the Harry Potter feature films are shot in various locations of the College and as you walk around the cloisters and quadrangles it is easy to see why. This continues Christ Church’s long association with children’s literature – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland were inspired and written here by Lewis Carroll. If you enjoyed the film or the books, come and soak in the atmosphere of a real Hogwarts. The Great Hall (in the photograph, right) was replicated in the film studios to create Hogwart’s Hall. Only one of our portraits moves, sadly, but many of the faces are the real “Wizards” who have changed the way we understand the world. As Harry and the new first-years enter Hogwarts they are greeted by Professor McGonagall. This scene was shot on the 16th century staircase which leads up to the Great Hall. It was just as well they didn’t film this when the Hall was first built, since the wonderful vaulted roofing was only put up 150 years after the staircase. You would have got very wet going for dinner if it rained! The cloisters in Christ Church were first built 1000 years ago. This ancient vintage made them the ideal setting for various scenes. It is here that Harry is shown the trophy his father won as a seeker in Quidditch. We don’t know if the monks who originally lived around the cloisters had their own special games. If they did, they took the secret with them when they left 500 years ago. But who knows………. The stunning film location is around the corner from EC Oxford. Visiting Christ Church is almost obligatory for students who study in Oxford. Don’t miss the … Read more

Founded in 1683, at a time when the idea of the ‘museum’ was brand new, Britain’s first public museum, the Ashmolean, was initially the home of a collection of miscellaneous manmade and natural specimens and curiosities from every corner of the world, which was presented to the University by the wealthy antiquarian and polymath, Elias Ashmole. The neoclassical architecture of the museum dates back to 1845, when it was built to house the University’s art collection. The archaeological collections were moved into the building in the 1890s to form what is, today, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology – one of the most important museums of art and archaeology in Britain. The collections span the civilisations of east and west, charting the aspirations of humankind from the Neolithic era to the present day. Among its treasures are the world’s largest collection of Raphael drawings, the most important collection of pre-Dynastic Egyptian material in Europe, the only great Minoan collection in Britain, the finest Anglo-Saxon collections outside the British Museum and the foremost collection of modern Chinese art in the Western world. The Ashmolean is also a teaching and research department of the University of Oxford, providing research and publications of the highest standard in the academic fields of art history, archaeology and history. Refurbished in 2009, the way that the collections are displayed in the new galleries & enjoyed by the public became the driving force behind the transformation. The galleries are interlinked by one big theme, Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time. This encourages visitors to make new connections between the collections of the Ashmolean. Adding 39 new galleries to the original 1845 Cockerell Building, the Ashmolean’s new wing was designed by award-winning architect Rick Mather. The Museum is opened on Tuesday-Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday from 10 am-5 pm … Read more