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FORMER STUDENT SARA CORRALES IS A WINNER IN OUR HEARTS!

Category: EC San Diego Profiles, learn english, Uncategorized

Joining EC San Diego English school means becoming part of the family.No matter how much time you spend with us or how many times you visit, we won’t forget about you! We offer English courses in San Diego, but more importantly, we create friendships which continue beyond the classroom.At EC San Diego we like to follow our students’ lives and show our support even after they have left. Today we want to congratulate former student Sara Corrales. She is not just a wonderful actress and English language student, by participating in the Mexican dance competition program “Mira Quien Baila”, she is also proved to be an amazing dancer.     Keep it up Sara! You are a superstar in our books.     Let us Know what are you up to! Catch up with us and share your experiences and passions on our facebook and Instagram pages!    https://it-it.facebook.com/ec.san.diego/   https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/253473186/ec-san-diego/  

Open Aire Farmer's Market

La Jolla Farmer’s Market

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For those of you looking for something to do on the weekend, you can spend a leisure Sunday morning at La Jolla’s Open Aire Farmer’s Market. It is a great option to stroll through the La Jolla Cove area and explore the surrounding beach neighborhood. The La Jolla Farmer’s Market occurs every Sunday and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. right off Girard Avenue. You’ll get to enjoy tons of sweet treats and delicious foods from local bakeries and restaurants from the La Jolla district. There are various booths for desserts, locally grown produce and a selection of paintings and jewelry from local artists to choose from. If you’re still in the neighborhood after the farmer’s market, an EC staff member will be giving a walking tour to new students at 2 p.m. and enjoying a meal at Jose’s at 3 p.m., so EC students are always welcome and encouraged to join the fun every Sunday!

EC Students Experience Luxury Movies

Category: Academic, Activities, Around San Diego, learn english, Student Services, Uncategorized

EC San Diego students experienced their fest-ever luxury movie-watching experience at The Lot San Diego. They watched the “Beauty and the Beast” with Teacher Autumn, who had an optional vocabulary activity to go along with it. The students were impressed by the reclining seats and gourmet food options offered at the movie theatres. Students learned new words a new meaning to beauty and love in the eye of the beholder.

Student Ambassador Spotlight

Category: Activities, Around San Diego, learn english, Student Services, Student Testimonial, Uncategorized

One of our Student Ambassadors, Sangdon Byun, otherwise known as Richard, shares with us his EC San Diego student experience: Although his full name is Sangdon Byun, he goes by the name Richard. Richard is from Korea and has been at EC for three months thus far. He arrived at the height of summer in August and was one of the students who attended our “Sunday Experience.” During the Sunday Experience, students are given a walking tour of the surrounding neighborhood of La Jolla, its shops and beaches, by an EC Staff member. After the walk, students are then taken to a popular, Mexican restaurant in the area, Jose’s, for some local, authentic Mexican cuisine. Richard started in an intermediate-English level course and has gone up to pre-intermediate in the three months he’s been studying at EC. His favorite class so far has been the Cambridge course, which he graduated from a few weeks ago. “I liked the Cambridge course the most. My classmates were from Switzerland, and I learned a lot from Swiss students because their English is very good,” he explained. He also enjoys classes with his favorite EC SD teacher, Brian. “Brian is very smart, he helps me a lot and explains things clearly,” Richard added. Since there are a variety of student activities every day and monthly at EC, I asked Richard what his favorite activity has been so far. “I  like Homework Club with Teacher Brian on Wednesdays after school. I also like Sports with Nick because I like to play soccer,” Richard said. On every first Tuesday of the month, the Acacemic Director, Nick DiZinno, rallies enough students to form a team and plays a friendly game of Soccer at the cove. This activity has proven to be one of the most popular activities and usually has the highest turn out. Another popular activity with our students is a volunteer opportunity at Casa Loma, which is a … Read more

EC Students Sing, Sung, Sang Karaoke

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    Teacher Autumn and 16 EC students enjoyed a night of singing at a local Asian-style Karaoke place last Friday night. There was a mix of various genres of music and student nationalities. The evening was lively, as were the tunes, and filled with song and laughter. Since some students were too shy to sing alone, many songs were sung in a group and some students chimed in for back-up vocals. Students sang along to current popular songs like Justin Bieber and Rihanna, but they also sang classic rock songs by The Beatles. Some students turned out to be great singers, but as Teacher Autumn always says, “It’s all about the passion and emotion, not the best voice.” Karaoke is from Japan and means “Empty Orchestra”. It’s also a great way to practice reading, speaking and pronunciation. Did you know we call a performance alone a “solo” and a performance with two people a “duet”? Next time, you should join the group whether you have a great voice or not!   EC offers various courses, including San Diego Homestay English courses.

An American Football Experience

Category: Academic, Activities, Around San Diego, Uncategorized / Tags: , ,

    On Sunday, September 18th, EC San Diego students had the opportunity to experience their first American Football game. Over twenty five students came to witness the San Diego chargers in their home opener as they handedly defeated the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars. EC San Diego Students got their first glimpse of American Football action the right way. They left the stadium with souvenirs and a great sense of enthusiasm. The San Diego Chargers surprised and impressed the home crowd by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars with the final score being 38-14.   Find out more about San Diego Homestay English courses.

SALI Students Join EC San Diego

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Once a year, EC San Diego warmly welcomes the SALI (Swiss American Language Institute) group from Baden, Switzerland. This year we have 24 high-school students joining the EC San Diego family for an entire month. We are very excited and happy to have them here! In order to familiarize them with the vibrant neighborhood of La Jolla, today they were given a walking tour of the surrounding shops and restaurants with Expedition America. Tomorrow they will explore the botanical gardens and museums of Balboa Park and experience authentic, Mexican cuisine at a popular restaurant in Old Town. The month of October brings many festivities and activities for the SALI Group to participate in and we are happy to have them join us at such a lively time!   Find out more about San Diego Homestay English courses.

A simple tip for improving your academic writing

Category: Academic, Uncategorized / Tags: , , ,

  Sometimes, when writing essays, particularly for tests, contemporary students will overlook one of the most basic principles of good academic writing: paragraphs. Too frequently do I, as a 10-year teacher, see single sentences sitting by their lonesome in the midst of other swaths of Facebook style posts. Understandably, the advancement of social networks, mobile phones, and texting apps has forwarded a culture in which a single thought is inscribed and then sent to its recipient. After, another single thought is typed, and the “send” button hit again. A third thought occurs, and is singularly shot into space, bouncing off satellites and phone towers, landing one by one in a friend’s phone. However, academic writing is not a Facebook conversation. Academic writing is a series of cohesive, thoroughly explained, and structured arguments relying on research or data. Simply put, single sentence paragraphs do not exist in the academic world. If you’re writing single sentence paragraphs in academic writing, you’re making a serious mistake. So, here’s a very basic rule to remember for all those students out there trying to achieve a higher score on their tests: a paragraph is, at minimum, 3 sentences. Generally, a good essay paragraph will include a topic sentence, featuring the primary reason or argument, followed by elaboration on concepts and definitions, and finished with a supporting example. These three sentences form the core of any solid academic paragraph, and are worlds beyond the WhatsApp style writing too frequently used in modern ESL essays. On a final note, it may help to realize there is reasoning behind the 3 sentence minimum rule. I once had the reasoning explained to me very well by a UC San Diego professor. In short, your ideas are like a box. When you present your box to someone, you must unpack … Read more

Fledgling Summer!

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fledg·ling [ˈflejliNG] NOUN A young bird that has just fledged. synonyms: chick · baby bird · nestling 2. Person or organization that is immature, inexperienced, or underdeveloped: “the fledgling democracies of eastern Europe” synonyms: emerging · emergent · sunrise · dawning    Every year, EC San Diego hosts fledglings during the summer. These are not young students, however; they are baby birds who are learning to fly! They have dropped off our roof onto the balcony. Their mothers are keeping watch over them until they are ready to fly away. To make sure they are safe, we will take these birds to a local wildlife shelter to give them time to practice their flying and keep them from walking on our street down below. Before we take them to the wildlife center, please make sure to keep our door closed and do not try to pet or play with them. Their mothers are very protective and will be very upset if you get close to them. However, You can enjoy them through the window!

EC Culture Blog: La Jolla Culinary Experience

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Food is huge. Going out to eat is a great way to practice your English speaking in San Diego and if you are looking for first-class food La Jolla is the perfect place to start. ESL San Diego doesn’t get any better than speaking English while enjoying some excellent tacos on the beach. Pick a number between 1 and 100. Somewhere within the vast range of numerical values is the digit that represent the number of restaurants that are found in the city of La Jolla. If you guessed somewhere in the 90s, you are correct; the answer is 94. San Diego, itself, is known for its culinary prowess, but some of the more unique and delicious restaurants are said to be nestled right here in La Jolla. If you are in the mood for sugary treats whipped up and pulled from the creative mind of a somewhat popular chef, head down to Sugar and Scribe Bakery La Jolla. Once you walk into the building, you’ll be overwhelmed with your selection of homemade goods. Or perhaps, you’re taste buds are screaming for some “south of the border” flavors. In that case, you can head right on down to the Taco Stand. Here you’ll discover an array of tacos and burritos sure to satisfy your cravings. Let’s not forget that La Jolla is exquisite and the picture of elegance. Several fine dining restaurants offer delectable fare for those willing to spare the change. Post dinner, you can grab some gelato at a local gelateria and head down to the beach for evening stroll. All in all, La Jolla is the city to venture to if you, indeed, crave the above average culinary adventure.