Category: Student Ambassadors

My Experience, written by Kazutoyo Hayashi

Category: EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, Uncategorized

Kazu is one of our awesome EC ambassadors. He is from Japan, and is currently studying in our pre-intermediate class. He is also signed up in our semi-intensive program. Here’s what he said about his experience at EC San Francisco. “I’ve already spent two months EC San Francisco. I’m having a great time here. On the first day, I couldn’t understand everything which was in English; school rules and information about San Francisco. But everyone who; teachers and my friends were very helpful. Thanks to everyone, I feel my English was improved a lot. I’ve learned that communication is important in conversation. EC has a lot of students who are from different countries. We have different accents and different cultures. We also have a lot of different personality differences. We’ve been staying here and respecting each other. I learned that respecting each other is important to get along. I’ve never thought about it before I came to San Francisco. I believe it’s going to be a great experience for me. Thanks to every student I met, I am having a great time here. I often ask teachers when I couldn’t understand. Teachers always help me. EC teachers are so kind to teach us. We really like them. I really think EC school is the best school. New students don’t need to worry. Also, our school has a lot of activities. I experienced yoga, hiking and traveling to Las Vegas etc. It was really fun. And we can make friends even though we have different classes”.   If you want to learn more, Please sign up for English Courses in San Francisco  

About me & my first day at EC – by Mayu

Category: EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, Uncategorized

  My first day at EC: My first day at EC,I was nervous because I was worried about my school life. When I entered a classroom,I found many students around the world. I was excited to talk with them. I tried to talk Mexican girl and Columbian boy. They were friendly and kind so I got along with them quickly. That happens made me having a confidence so I asked them to have lunch together. Then we had good lunch at that time. If I hadn’t talked them, we wouldn’t become friends. They have already graduated and back to their country but we still keep in touch. I learned small brave makes a big relationship. I know it’s difficult to talk to strangers particularly people who speak different languages. But this is the most important to be friends. Something interesting about me: I’m from west of Japan. In Japan there are many kinds of dialects. My hometown’s dialect sounds angry (I don’t think so!). So when I talk to friends who speak standard Japanese they told me why I was little harsh. I try to speak mildly because I don’t want my friends feel not good. But I like my dialect. Japanese has formal and polite words to older people or workers or customers. Even though we use formal words just one year older people. I like that language culture. But it is a little bit difficult to become close friends with older people. To be honest I don’t have Japanese older friends. But I’m close with them like friends. My understanding is they are close older people. The reason why they are not friends for me is I guess because of formal words. So when I use formal words to them I felt to have a distance. What I want to … Read more

Mayu’s Food Recommendation!

Category: EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, Uncategorized

  What are the places you recommend in SF? I recommend to go to the Doroles park. It’s a best place to chill. You can see downtown and dogs♡I enjoy seeing dogs and eating ice cream. There is an ice cream shop near the park. The shop’s name is “Bi-Rite Creamy”. The shop of exterior is cute and colorful. So you can enjoy eating ice cream and taking pictures. All my friends who went to there told me they liked the Doroles park. I hope you’ll have a good time at the park. Can you recommend us some restaurants? I highly recommend “Sotto Mare”. It is an Italian seafood restaurant located near Washington square park. The most popular item in the menu is “Best Damn Crab Cioppino”. It is based on tomato soup and there are many kinds of seafood and pasta. They serve their food in big bowls. So I recommend sharing with two or more people. My favorite dish is risotto!! When I ate it for the first time, my eyes opened so big. Because I had never eaten such a delicious risotto in my life. I think “Sotto Mare”is one of the restaurant that you should go to. What’s the best burger in SF? Do you know the most delicious burger shop in SF? Super Duper? In n out burger? The answer is a definite no! The most delicious burger sandwich is at “Pearl’s Deluxe Burgers”. It locates 10 minutes walk from Union Square. I can’t forget their burgers taste. Moreover their fries and shakes are also awesome. Especially strawberry shake is the best in the world. There includes strawberries pulp,so it isn’t artificial flavor!! I don’t go back home because of shake… What Japanese restaurant do you recommend? Then I recommend Japanese ramen restaurant “Waraku”(和楽). To be honest I didn’t trust any … Read more

My English Learning Experience by Mayu

Category: EC SF students, Student Ambassadors

  Tell us about your travels. I have been to the USA (of course!), Australia,Taiwan and Korea. When I was little, I lived in Arkansas in the USA for a couple of years, so I traveled all around the USA with my family. 19 years ago, I went to San Francisco. I can’t believe that I came back to San Francisco and now living here! I traveled to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite while I’m in San Francisco. When I was 16 years old I went to Australia to study English for a month. I went to high school with Australian friends. I didn’t only study English but also I hung out with my host family. For example, I went to Great barrier reef. It was amazing!! Ocean was like a crystal and I met a sea turtle in the sea. I want to go back again. The biggest thing of difference between the USA and Australia is English. I was confused about Australian accent. But it was a good experience to know Australian English for me. “Good day mate?” How did you deal with culture shock or when you’re homesick? Actually I’m easy to adapt new environment. I adapted San Francisco just for 2 or 3 days. So I don’t feel any culture shock or homesick. If I’m forced to say about culture shock is dangerous. When I was in Japan,I worked at midnight and went home alone by walking. But San Francisco is dangerous to go out at midnight alone as a non American woman. Not only San Francisco, most of the USA are dangerous at midnight for women to be walking alone. So after I came to San Francisco, I was careful not to go out midnight alone. Sometimes I go out at midnight at that … Read more

Student of the Month of May

Category: Activities, EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, Uncategorized

  Our San Francisco’s team of teachers selected Sihyun (Sirena) from the Advanced class to be our May student of the month for her hard work and her ongoing efforts to better herself. She’s always helping other students and leading awesome activities. She tries to also educate fellow students about feminist issues. When we asked her about her time at EC so far, she said the following: “As a student from EC SF, I have experienced many valuable moments. When I first came to San Francisco, I was so nervous but thanks to my teachers and friends, I could easily get used to my life here. Being an student ambassador is an amazing thing. Even though English is not my mother tongue, I really like expressing myself and enjoy the communication with friends from different countries. I have been here for 7 months now. Time flies, but I will try to enjoy the rest of my days at EC SF. Thanks to everyone and everything that has become a part of my precious memories”.   Here at EC English San Francisco, you can be part of a great community. 

Aziz’s experience with IELTS

Category: EC San Francisco, Student Ambassadors, Uncategorized

  “At last! I scored 6.5” – our brilliant student ambassador, Aziz Aziz is a student from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He joined EC in March 2018 after receiving a full scholarship from the Ministry of Education in his country. The reason he joined us was to achieve a proficiency level that qualified him to register for the IELTS: a requirement to get accepted in a university. When he started, we placed him in the Elementary level. He worked hard through levels to reach Upper Intermediate. He finally qualified to take the IELTS for the first time, and then five more! He needed a 6.5 score, but he kept getting 6. We worked with him on a daily basis training him for the test. He’s achieved the highest level of proficiency at EC! He’s been here for over 60 weeks. Aziz has got 6.5. Finally, he graduated to attend college here in the U.S. on a full scholarship! We will miss Aziz and wish him the best of luck!   Do you want to attend our English Language School? Visit our website!

Mari

Mari from Japan: “You will like San Francisco for sure!”

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

  Mari, a student from Japan, has been with us at EC San Francisco for 10 months. She was taking an Intensive course at EC San Francisco and finally graduated EC San Francisco. In addition to this, she was one of the student ambassadors and organized lots of activities for all students at EC San Francisco. She was supposed to move to other cities, but she decided not to do it. She has stayed in San Francisco to study English with her wonderful friends until the end of her study at EC San Francisco. Here are some comments from Mari: EC is the best school I’ve ever been to! The staff is kind and friendly and the teachers helped me a lot and it’s pretty easy to understand what they teach. In addition, the students who are from different countries are great!! You can make many friends, who are from different cultures. I really enjoyed every time in SF because of the guys and EC! I felt cozy when I was in San Francisco. I really love the atmosphere, the food, San Francisco and, etc. I bet you won’t regret studying English at EC San Francisco. EC has plenty of different activities, which are organized by student ambassadors. I used to be a student ambassador so I organized many activities which made the students enjoy their after school life. If you want to make unique activities, you should be a student ambassador. In the end, I highly recommend going and studying in EC. If I can, I really want to go back to San Francisco! I could create many memories which I will never forget.   Are you interested in studying in San Francisco? Check out our Business English Courses in San Francisco!

Jacky

Jacky from China: “Try new challenges!”

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

  Jacky, a student from China has been with us at EC San Francisco for 4 months. He is taking an Intensive course at EC San Francisco. In addition to this, he is one of the student ambassadors and sometimes organizes activities for all students at EC San Francisco. Even though he is 18 years old and one of the youngest students, he doesn’t hesitate to try new challenges with other students! Here are some comments from Jacky: There is no doubt that being a student here is an enjoyable and delightful thing. When I was a freshman at EC. Gregory and Andy, my teachers, have helped me a lot. Because I was new in class, I was shy to answer a question, but when I took their course, I found they were very good at teaching. I was impressed by the relaxed but efficient way of teaching. Everyone in the class learned lot of about English, and we always forgot the time of our little break time. Of course, we wouldn’t lose a minute of our break time. They would make it up for us. Sometimes we were bad in grammar and they corrected us hundreds of times. I admit my spoken English is poor because I usually ignore third person singular. For example, she likes I will say she like, and after saying that Gregory will shake his head, which means I need to correct my sentence. If I make the same mistake the next time, he will say “Jacky, S.” with a funny voice. To be honest, he is my best teacher that I have ever known not only because of his unique style of teaching but also because of his patience and erudition. EC has many interesting activities including entertainment, education, and sport. For me, I’m … Read more

Meet new Student Ambassador Mara!

Category: Activities, Cross-Cultural Communication, EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, The Monastery

  This month EC San Francisco has 2 new Student Ambassadors. One of these is Mara Dessauer from Switzerland. Mara is a very friendly student that enjoys going out and exploring San Francisco.  She lives at The Monastery Residence and often takes advantage of EC@Home.  Here are some fun facts about Mara: Name : Mara Nationality: Swiss Age: 21 What do I do in my country?: I am studying Psychology Personality and Hobbies:  I am an open-minded, friendly and patient person.  I love to travel, spend time with my friends and I a ma group fitness instructor.  

Julian Hégé is Learning English at EC San Francisco

Julian from France: “This city is filled with surprises”

Category: Cross-Cultural Communication, EC San Francisco, EC SF students, Student Ambassadors, Student Testimonials

Recently, some of the students who were part of a special group that was here from Strasbourg, France took the time to share some thoughts on their experience.  They were required to go abroad as part of their business program at the EM Strasbourg Business School and in this case, this requirement brought them here for English Courses in San Francisco. Here is what Julian had to say: “Ever since we got here, I feel like a child seeing the world for the first time. This city is filled with surprises and places to go and I am more than satisfied of what I saw and experienced here. I knew that when I’d go back to France I’d be more mature and open to the world, but I would’ve never thought it would be that much.  What we experienced here was literally a dream: I’ve always wanted to study in the US, no matter how long, I just wanted to do it and be able to tell people that I “know” what it’s like.  Now that we are reaching the end of our stay, I am more than pleased to say that we enjoyed every single minute here. I’m glad that I worked hard to get into our business school in Strasbourg, because this international experience wouldn’t have been the same without the people that I came along with.  I strengthened some friendships and got to know other students at the same time.  This trip also made me think of what I want to do with my life and how I can get there. Besides, the courses and the atmosphere at EC were very enriching and I am proud to say that I improved my English skills a lot.  I hope I’ll be able to come back here and relive my memories.”