Month: September 2018
Pierre

Pierre from France: ”I am proud to have succeeded because of my efforts”

Category: AY - Academic Year, EC San Francisco, EC SF students, San Francisco Activities, Student Testimonials / Tags: , ,

  Pierre from France was looking for a place to study English and he ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. He studied at EC for 24 weeks, where he took a Semi Intensive Course. In addition to this, Pierre participated in a lot of activities organized by the school. He got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Pierre had to say:   During my stay at EC San Francisco School, I have learned a great deal personally, and this experience is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in recent years. Integration into another culture, in an environment where spoken and written language is different from French. It has highlighted my ability to adapt and the need to be autonomous. In addition, learning a second language will be very useful for me in the future as part of an international job. It reinforced my passion for discoveries and made me more curious. Indeed, I was able to meet very interesting people who live around the world. I made contacts and I can now count on some people in case I have a business trip to another country. I also really enjoyed speaking English on a daily basis. When I arrived here, I was not at all comfortable speaking and integrating into a conversation, today I have made real progress and I am now closer to the B2 + level. My current fluency in English satisfies me and motivates me for the future. But beyond all the knowledge and skills that I have acquired, this trip to San Francisco has allowed me to discover a culture and a part of the world that I have always dreamed of exploring. Arriving in a foreign country, so … Read more

Phoebe

Phoebe from Taiwan: ” The most incredible experience I’ve ever had”

Category: EC San Francisco, EC SF students, San Francisco Activities, Student Testimonials / Tags: , , ,

  Phoebe from Taiwan was looking for a place to study English and she ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. She studied at EC for 14 weeks, where she took an Intensive Course. In addition to this, Phoebe participated in a lot of activities organized by the school. She got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Phoebe had to say:   In 2018, I made a big decision that was to quit my of 5 years job to join EC San Francisco to learn English. I’d learned English for over ten years, but both of my communication skill and grammar are the weakness. “Lack of confidence” is the most important reason. As a result, I can communicate with people who are from different countries without fear now which is the result that I’ve ever thought. There are two reasons why I feel my English Communication skill is better than before. First, I studied hard by myself and with the EC teachers’ support. I still can remember the first week in EC. I seldom gave my points of view during class because I was afraid I’d say something incorrect. Moreover, I felt a little stressed due to other classmates speaking better than me. On the positive side, I studied harder than before, tried to improve my English more and more. One thing I want to highlight is Ryan truly cares about how student feel studying at EC. When I came to EC for about one month, I submitted a questionnaire about how satisfied you are in EC. I wrote that I hope my teacher can correct my grammar and vocabulary anytime in class. After only one day, Ryan called a meeting with me and said that he … Read more

Momoko

Momoko from Japan: ” My dream came true in San Francisco”

Category: Activities, EC San Francisco, EC SF students, Student Testimonials / Tags: , , ,

  Momoko from Japan was looking for a place to study English and she ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. She studied at EC for 24 weeks, where she took an Intensive Course. In addition to this, Momoko participated in a lot of activities organized by the school. She got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Momoko had to say:   Since several years ago, it was my dream to study abroad and live in the USA especially California and make a lot of friends from other countries as well. Finally, I finished my school here and I could make both of my dreams come true!! On my first day, I was really nervous and worried about everything such as school, new friends and my English. Because I didn’t have confidence of talking in English. Also because of my shy personality, it was difficult to talk with new people. So, I felt that I had a long day every day. But a lot of students talked to me and invited me to some activities. Since I talked with a lot of friends and enjoyed my life in San Francisco every day, my time started to fly so fast. I spent 24 weeks in San Francisco but I didn’t feel it was such a long time. In EC SF, I joined a lot of free activities after school. It’s my favorite point. In this activity, I could practice pronunciation and go to many neighborhoods not only sightseeing spots but also local places. Thanks to the activity, I could make a lot of new friends. Through these activities and daily classes, I found that I don’t have to speak perfect English at first. I can make mistakes when … Read more

Hikari

Hikari from Japan: ”EC San Francisco and my friends made me more motivated!”

Category: EC San Francisco, EC SF students, Student Ambassador, Student Testimonials / Tags: , , ,

  Hikari from Japan was looking for a place to study English and she ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. She studied at EC for 24 weeks, where she took a Semi Intensive Course. In addition to this, Hikari participated in a lot of activities organized by the school and decided to become a student ambassador to organize many activities for other students. She got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Hikari had to say:   I got and learned a lot of beautiful things during my staying in EC School. Before I had gone to school, I expected that I would just study English. I’d already been San Francisco more than 3 times, so I thought I wouldn’t need to know this city. However, it wasn’t true. I found many amazing places and met many interesting people because of my lovely friends. I always hung out with my friends and we spent good times together. At the beginning, I felt nervous because it was the first time to study abroad in 6 months. I thought of bad things; what if I can’t make any international friends, what if my English can’t improve… now I know. Thinking those bad things was a waste of my time. My purpose of studying abroad was to improve my English skill so I tried using my English as many times as I could. During the break time I asked questions to the person sitting next to me. I joined most of the activities to know about the city and many EC friends. Those actions were worth it for me. There were many kinds of activities; especially my favorite activity was Wednesday’s school trip. All the student walked around the city … Read more

Andy

Andy from France: ”I had an amazing time in San Francisco with my wonderful friends!”

Category: EC San Francisco, EC SF students, San Francisco Activities, Student Testimonials / Tags: , , ,

  Andy from France was looking for a place to study English and he ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. He studied at EC for 4 weeks, where he took a General English Course. In addition, Andy participated in as many school activities as he could. He got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences even tough he was here for only 4 weeks. Here is what Andy had to say:   I am a computer science engineering student in Paris, and as a part of my studies I must study abroad to get my degree. This is why my university offered me to go to EC San Francisco. I wanted to discover a new country and a new culture even tough the university sent me to San Francisco. I am not disappointed to come to San Francisco because it has been the best experience I have ever had in my life. I met many students from all around the world. I have learned about their cultures, their countries and we discovered together how life is in San Francisco. They have all become true and close friends to me. Before I came to San Francisco, my English was good but thanks to my teachers I took my English to another level. I improved my vocabulary, my listening even learned idioms which allows me to have a real conversation. The lessons were always interesting and allowed me to talk and be more confident. EC San Francisco organized amazing activities, such as picnic in Dolores Park, watching a football game in Berkeley and a walking tour in many neighborhoods, these allowed us to enjoy our stay and to share these experiences with students. I would like to thank all the members of … Read more

Michael

Michael from Germany: ”I could study hard in professional atmosphere!”

Category: EC San Francisco, EC SF students, San Francisco Activities, Student Testimonials / Tags: , ,

  Michael from Germany was looking for a place to study English and he ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. He studied at EC for 8 weeks, where he took an Intensive Course which included TOEFL class. In addition to this, Michael participated in a lot of activities organized by the school and he got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Michael had to say:   My trip started at the beginning of my last semester break at the end of July 2018. Eight weeks intensive English classes and a final TOEFL exam lay ahead of me. After a great introduction day, I started to study the event schedule of EC School San Francisco. My target was to enroll in as many activities as I could, to improve my English skills and enjoy the wonderful sightseeing spots in San Francisco. In retrospective, I must say that I enjoyed the volunteer California Culture and History classes led by the Teacher, Gifford, the most. This knowledge was very important for me in a lot of touristic places in the city. Once Goethe said, “We only see what we know”. During my first week with my teacher Gregory, I struggled a little bit with his austerity. After all I have to say that this teaching style improved my English a lot. The EC staff always tried to improve the learning methods and the communication between students and teachers. I would recommend studying English in this school to all students who are willing to study hard in a professional atmosphere. My only negative statement about San Francisco is the cost of living and the impact of the homeless on the streets. However, I can say that San Francisco is one … Read more

JeeHae

Jeehae from South Korea: ”My decision to come to San Francisco was the best choice of my entire life!!!”

Category: EC San Francisco, EC SF students, Student Testimonials / Tags: , ,

  Jeehae from South Korea was looking for a place to study English and she ended up opting for EC’s ESL School in San Francisco. She studied at EC for 16 weeks, where she took an Intensive Course. In addition to this, Jeehae participated in a lot of activities organized by the school and she got to meet people from all around the world and to have amazing experiences. Here is what Jeehae had to say:   Making a decision to come to San Francisco was the best choice of my entire life. I came to San Francisco to start a whole new game. Since all my uncles’ families live in San Francisco, I had a lot of opportunities to visit their houses. Whenever I came to San Francisco, I wanted to improve my English skills. Finally, I made up my mind to quit my job and I came to San Francisco to make my dreams come true. When it comes to finding a good language school, what I keep in mind was how close it is from my home, how many students in a class, and how good and famous the school is. EC San Francisco is a perfect language school for these reasons. There have great free classes which I can get a lot of information about the USA. I could enjoy not only studying English, but also studying other things such as California history and the San Francisco story. I took all the free classes almost every week, which were also my favorite classes. Among EC San Francisco’s activities, my favorite class was California history class, which I could learn the entire story of San Francisco, which is my favorite city. Even though I am not a history girl, I could enjoy the class. Furthermore, if my … Read more

Activity-calendar-_SEP_2018

September Activity Calendar for EC San Francisco

Category: Activities, EC San Francisco, San Francisco Activities / Tags: , ,

  Happy Summer month of September! At EC San Francisco, we think it is very important for students to join activities to learn English in a fun environment, to use more English outside of school and to discover the Bay Area. Join us this month on some fun activities in San Francisco! Every month, the school plans a variety of activities for students with teachers, staff and student ambassadors. All accompanied activities in orange require a 5-student minimum, so it is very important to sign up. Most of the activities are free of charge, but some of them require a small contribution. Please pay for tickets and weekend trips at the front desk. September activities at EC Some of the highlights for this month include Segway Tour in San Francisco, UC Berkeley Football Game, Night Movie Picnic in Dolores Park, as well as so much more. Check out the September activity calendar to know all the activities for the next weeks! We have some great activities planned for you this month at this fun language school in San Francisco. We encourage students to join as many events as they can to increase exposure to English-speaking opportunities and environments! Classes in blue and activities in orange are free of charge. Please ask the front desk if you have any questions! Are you interested in studying in San Francisco? Check out EC’s ESL School in San Francisco!