I heard that NZ is a very big island with a lot of people, and it's true. When i walk on Queen street, it's amazing for me because in my country i can see the same people every day and it's boring! I chose New Zealand because it's close to Tahiti and many Tahitians have been here and told me that is a very nice place for everything you want to do or try. I hope to go around Auckland to see some other things and to practise activities that i have never tried like visiting an amusement or bungy jumping for example. I didn't plan to surf in New Zealand but i met a French surfer who works in the Quicksilver shop in Queen street and maybe I'll go with him one day because i know that there are some very nice surf places, and i have to try it.
by Heremoana Couturaud, a student at Languages International
26 March 2009
NZ
Accommodation
I live in Birkenhead with my host mom, father, host mom's sons and other homestay students. I can practice English conversation, and i am not lonely. I often talk to the other homestay students. It makes me relax. My host mom is good at cooking, but she usually cooks oily dishes. I enjoy taking a walk, talking to other homestay students. Leisure activities are more exciting because i can meet many friends and see the beautiful scenery.
by Mi So Kim, a student at Languages International
25 March 2009
Languages International
I heard from my friends about Languages International, and I decided to come to New Zealand and come to Languages International. I heard Languages International is the best school in Auckland.
When i started i felt shy and nervous, but now i am very happy because I have met new friends from different countries . I think the learning centre is the best thing in Languages International, and i like everything about my class. I feel very excited and happy about the learning centre.
by Naif Alateeq, a student at Languages International
My Time in New Zealand
Taking a trip is cheaper than other countries and It's safer to live here. People are kind. Also, animals will be familiar with you!
I played mini golf with my friends. We had a good time although we lost.
I haven't traveled around New Zealand yet, but I went to Takapuna. I saw the sea and seagulls. It was beautiful. If the chance to take a trip around New Zealand comes to me, I will go to Christchurch with close friends.
by Mun Gyu Yi, a student at Languages International
About the Social Programme
I have been to a social program event once. I joined the Boat Party. I went to the party with In Young, Christie and her friends. There were a lot of students in the boat. And we enjoyed drinking beer & wine, and dancing with our friends. Finally, we could see a beautiful night view of Auckland city from our boat. It’s so fantastic. I think the activities helped me improve my English. Because I could tell them my feelings, like a happy and surprised. However I have been disappointed a little. I wanted to communicate with more people. And I wanted to make a new friend in the party. So next time, If I join such activities, I’ll speak to a lot of students. And I’ll meet a new student. I won't be afraid. by Mebae Hayashi, a student at Languages International
24 March 2009
New Zealand, Trade and Sheep
New Zealand is a high-income country like Japan. I had a question how does New Zealand get money? After I came here, I asked my host mother, then she told me. New Zealand earns a fortune through trades with other countries. I heard there are a lot of sheep in New Zealand. But I haven't seen any yet, so I will go to Butterfly Creek to see the sheep. One of reasons I chose New Zealand, it's cheaper to live here than other countries. Now the Japanese Yen is strong against the New Zealand Dollar. In the future, I want to come to New Zealand again.
by Noriaki Ando, a student at Languages International
Studying in New Zealand
Before i came to New Zealand, i heard a lot of information about it. New Zealand has nice weather and lots of prefect beach. For example, Mission Bay and Long Bay. And New Zealand has a lot of different fruit. I like fruit very much.The most important thing for me is New Zealand does not have a lot of people. This is different for my country. I do not like many people living together, so i chose New Zealand.
I think the most memorable thing is my homestay. My homestay mother is a New Zealander, and my homestay father is English. They have a cute daughter. She is 5 years old. They are friendly to me. They always talk to me interesting things about New Zealand. And they take me to the park and zoo. Sometimes, they buy some Chinese food for me, and we eat together. It is a very lovely homestay.
In the New Year, i travelled to Rotorua.I went to the hot pool and i had a relaxing spa. I want go to Queenstown in the future. Because i found it on the computer,and looked at the information about Queenstown. I think it is amazing. I want go there very much.
by Yimeng Yang, a student at Languages International
My homestay parents are like my real parents; they always make an effort to help me.
I have been living in Epsom since I came here. I live with my host parents and Chinese home mate and a lovely cat, Molly. My homestay father retired from his job and my homestay mother has worked at a shipping company.
I can experience typical culture and can improve my English ability. Also, I am able to participate in various festivals in New Zealand with my family. My homestay parents are like my real parents. They always make an effort to help me. One day, my homestay mother bought Korean noodles for me! I felt that this house is really my Korean home. I usually eat typical foods, the typical foods are very different to Korean foods but I like them. And sometimes I make Korean food for my homestay family.
I usually spend my free time talking with my homestay father, and I play tennis with him. I usually visit a gallery in the city or take a trip to another city with my friends.
by In Young Choi, student at Languages International
Some good ideas for your first few weeks at Languages International
Here is some advice from new students, kindly provided by current students at Languages International:
Attention new students! Here is our advice about how to enjoy your ‘early days’ in Auckland.
Food
Fahad and Douglas suggest: “If you want to Middle-Eastern style food, you should go to the Turkish cafe in the Metro building next to Sky City Cinemas on Queen St. Here you can eat ‘kabsa’ which is a dish made of rice, chicken, onions and tomatoes. It’s absolutely delicious! We also recommend Samba Cafe, which serves traditional South American meals. It’s not too expensive, but it’s a 20-minute walk from school.”
Places to visit
Sam, Samuel and Hussain recommend: “First of all, you have to visit Waiheke because it is a beautiful island which is only 30-40 minutes by boat from downtown Auckland. After you arrive, you can watch dolphins on a boat trip and buy local wine and olives. There is a cheap backpackers on the beach where you can stay. If we were you, we’d also visit Rotorua. Here you can see hot springs and go bungy jumping and sky-diving, and the landscape is very interesting. “
Improving your English
Mibu, Luciana and Ahmed say “If I were you, I’d study hard and do your homework every day. If you don’t understand, you shouldn’t be shy, but you should ask your teacher. Try to speak English to your friends who speak the same language as you. If you read many books in English, especially graded readers in the Learning centre, your spelling and vocabulary will also get better.”
Things you shouldn’t do
Mohammed, Joon and Zio say “You shouldn’t stay out at night without telling your homestay because hey will worry about you. Also, if I were you, I wouldn’t spend a long time in the shower in your homestay because hot water is expensive here. You shouldn’t forget your ID when you plan to go out to a bar. The bar owners are very strict!”
23 March 2009
Staying with a New Zealand Family
New Zealand is a fascinating country. People are friendly, gentle and polite. Staying with a New Zealand family will be an exciting experience. The following tips will help you enjoy your stay.
Family life – New Zealand families tend to be small, and they usually have pets for example cats and dogs.
It’s important to have a short shower for about 5 minutes. People don’t usually have a lot of baths.
It’s rude to be fussy with food but you can leave some if you are full.
It’s very important to smoke outside because most New Zealanders don’t smoke.
There are others important points, so you can ask your homestay.
By the Intermediate class at Languages International Christchurch
Goat Island Snorkelling
Horseriding
Surfing
Why You Should Visit Auckland
I want to talk about Auckland. This city is multi-cultural, so you can meet lots of people who come from other countries. You can also eat a variety of food and learn a variety of languages.
If you want to see their traditional culture, you should go to festivals held in Auckland. There are some festivals held in Auckland every year.
If you want to go to the beach, you should walk out of the city for 10 minutes, then you will see the beach, because Auckland is located near the sea. You can not only visit the seas, but also enjoy a variety of sea sports. For example, you can go on a kayak, windsurfing etc.
Auckland has many parks. They are beautiful and comfortable. So if you are tired, you can go to the park. The park offers rest for you.
If you want to enjoy exciting sports, you will find one which is suitable for you. The Skytower in this city has exciting activities like bungee jumping and the tower is the highest building in New Zealand.
If you want to visit New Zealand, don’t drop visiting Auckland from your tour list.
Written by A-Reum, a Korean student at Languages International.
My Homestay Family
My name is John. I am Chinese. I lived in a homestay last year. The house is in Mission Bay. Two people lived in my homestay. I lived in the homesaty with an old man. The old man was my homestay father. I think he is very kind. He is a New Zealander and he has a piano shop in Newmarket. I lived in his house for about one month. He taught me English and taught me to cook. He cooked delicious food for my dinner everyday. when I lived in his home, he taught me to speak English. So, I was relaxed when I lived in his home. He is a good chef, because he cooks very well. He has some Japanese friends and he learns Japanese every day. His friends came to his home on Wednesdays. They played guitar while I sat on the sofa and listened to them. I enjoyed listening to them play guitar. I stayed in his home for one month and I enjoyed living in his some. It was my best homestay.
Written by John, a Chinese student at Languages International.
18 March 2009
Bookreview: Trumpet Voluntary
One of the best books I have read recently is Trumpet Voluntary, written by Jeremy Harmer. First of all, I have to say that is a romantic story, so if you are interested in love stories you should definitely read it. I can promise you will love this fascinating storyline.
In my opinion, the writer gives a feeling of interest from the beginning, because he starts in the middle of a musician’s life. His wife disappeared leaving only a strange e-mail message behind her. His journey of discovery takes you across the world and deep into the human heart.
From my point of view it is a really exciting book, especially written for learners of English. Furthermore the story provides easy and enjoyable reading.
Do you want to read an exciting book next? I can highly recommend this book!
By Lucia, a student at Languages International
Boating In Christchurch
We thought we would try something different. We went to a beautiful place with our friends and our teacher. It’s called the Boat House. It takes about ten minutes from school. On the road we saw the museum. The students were very excited to see the boat. Manal and Bedur were still in the middle of the river and circled about themselves and everybody laughed. Khaled had a shower. Finally, all the students took a beautiful shower.
By Dowa, Bedur, Khaled and Manal of the Elementary class at Languages International Christchurch
From 15000 feet to the bottom: Skydiving in Taupo
Imagine a beautiful day when the sun is shining and there is neither a cloud or a plane in the sky. You know that in a few minutes you can’t return. Suddenly it starts and your heart is running faster. There are a lot of cameras and you have to smile all the time. But your stomach doesn’t feel like laughing. You put your life in the hands of a person you just met a few minutes ago. All the time they tell you that everything is normal, but the engine is that loud that you understand just a few of these words. If you look out the window the ground is further away every minute and at the same speed, your heard rate goes up. After a while you arrive at the height and somebody opens the door. The cold fresh air hits your face. Your heart almost blows up. Everything goes really fast and then you jump out of the plane.
In a few seconds you reach top speed and your face is flattening in the wind. Below you is Lake Taupo and you are that high, that you can see all over the North Island. You just enjoy the fall down. After 60 seconds the free fall is over and your guide opens the parachute. With the open parachute you sail to the ground. After a very pleasant landing on your bottom, you can watch the landings of the others and just enjoy the new experience. At exactly this minute the fear changes to happiness.
You can have this experience in Taupo. It’s very expensive but it is worth every cent. There is a big travel industry in Taupo and you can do almost everything. There are a lot of possibilities and everybody wants to earn something from the huge amount of tourists. Skydiving is one of these possibilities. There are two companies which fight over the visitors. Both of them also earn money by selling souvenir stuff, and filming and taking pictures during your jump. They clearly know that the customers will buy everything after their jump. In addition this auxiliary income is one of the best advertisements.
Skydiving in New Zealand is very well-known because it‘s the highest in the world. In all other countries the air traffic is too dense and the companies aren’t allowed to fly higher than 12000 feet. I recommend everyone to do the higher jump because the worry isn’t bigger and if you do the lower jump could want to do the higher jump after and that is wasting money. The package I chose was with a cameraman and 25 pictures. All in all it cost about 550 dollar but it was worth every dollar because without pictures and the movies nobody would believe me back in Switzerland.
Skydiving in New Zealand is very well organised. Every time it’s safety first and the professional staff help you all the time to enjoy the day. Most of the teachers have done more than 10000 jumps and know exactly what they have to do. In Taupo you can book these skydives in the middle of the city and the Skydive shuttle drives you for free to the airport and back to the city after the jump. With the exchange rate, the price is almost half of the price in Switzerland for the 9000 feet jump.
by Marco, a student at Languages International
A Weekend in the Coromandel
For the last few weeks I’ve been busy at school and on the weekends on different trips. I’ll tell you what I did last weekend when I was in Coromandel.
First of all, I rented a car with five of my friends from school. We picked it up on Thursday afternoon at three o’clock and drove out of the city. We had a lot of luck being early, because all the highways usually have a lot of traffic at this time.
The first stop was Coromandel town where we stayed one night in a backpackers. We went for dinner in a small restaurant close to the lodge and had a lot of fun. The next morning, we got up early and drove to Port Jackson. To get there we drove for one hour on an unsealed road which was quite dangerous, specially when we passed other cars. But the view out to sea, with beautiful cliffs and countryside with old trees, was gorgeous.
The next two days we stayed in Whitianga which is a small village on the east coast of Coromandel. From there we visited Cathethetral Cove. It was a beautiful beach surrounded with white cliffs. It was just amazing. Also we went to Hot Water Beach. We dug a hole in the sand and suddenly hot water came up. We had to mix it with cold water so that we could lie in. It was like a spa! On last sunday we got back home well and were so happy that we had such a great time together.
by Ariane, a student at Languages International
The Learning Centre
Languages International is the best language school in Auckland. The school is near Albert park and opposite Auckland University. Languages International has four buildings for studying English. You can meet more students from other countries at Languages International than at any other school. Languages International has a good balance of nationalities.
Now we are going to talk about the Learning Centre:
-There is always a teacher so we can ask any questions about studying English.
- We can use a lot of useful computer programmes for vocabulary and grammar tests.
- There are a lot of books and DVDs that we can borrow.
So we think that Languages International is very helpful for learning English. If you used many things in the Learning Centre, your English will be better. Languages International is the best school for learning English.
by Min and Minyoung, two students at Languages International
New Zealand
New Zealand by Khalid and Ayano, students at Languages International
I had heard that everything about New Zealand is good for students. Especially the beaches, the food and the outdoor activities. New Zealand has a lot of good beaches. For example, Mission Bay, Takapuna and Narrowneck beach. If you go there, you can see a beautiful view.
Next I'd like to talk about food. You can find all kinds of restaurants in downtown Auckland. However, food from your country is more expensive than in your country. But, you can find foods that you like.
If you want to do outdoor activities you can do everything because NZ has a lot of activities. For example, bungee jumping, skydiving, sailing and camping. If you go to the Harbour Bridge, you can try bungee-jumping. NZ has many winter sports, you can enjoy something in all seasons.
Finally, I want to talk about the people. They are very friendly and kind to foreigners. We think that you must stay in a homestay if you want to live in NZ. It's good for students to stay with a host family. NZ is the best country to study English. All students learn British English and enjoy everything in NZ. So you should enjoy NZ's lifestyle!
New Zealand by Aiden and Karin, students at Languages International
Do you know anything about New Zealand? There are more sheep and more cows than people in NZ and it is one of the most beautiful islands.
The indigenous people of NZ are called Maori.
There are some strange customs here. For example, most of the stores close at 5 or 6pm, so if you need something in the night, you have to look for open stores. And when you are taking a bus, sometimes you don't know where it is. Also, when you want to take a bus you have to raise your hand at the bus stop. In our country you don't need to do that.
However there are also a lot of nice things about NZ. For example, most of the shop assistants are so kind, friendly and funny. You can go shopping happily.
