Languages International Blog: September 2009

18 September 2009

Japan to New Zealand!

For the very first time, Languages International was proud to host the "Sakura Festival." Originally celebrated in Japan over the course of 2-3 days, it is a time to celebrate the beauty of nature while enjoying a picnic under the cherry blossom (Sakura) trees.

Although the Sakura trees blossomed 3 weeks early this year, we managed to locate the last remaining trees. With Sushi and L & P ( a New Zealand soft drink), we were able to bring Japan and New Zealand together for an enjoyable experience!

See more photos of the Languages International Sakura Festival here on our Flickr page.

16 September 2009

About my study in Auckland

My name is Vlad, I am 33 years old and I come from Novosibirsk. In August 2009 I was studying English (and also having a lot of fun) in the wonderful city of Auckland in New Zealand. The school (Languages International) is located very nicely – it sits in the heart of downtown Auckland on Princess Street. Frankly, when I was making a decision on where to go (there was a choice of UK, Ireland, Malta, Australia and NZ), I chose New Zealand - and have never regretted it! I can go on and on about Auckland so you’d better come and see it yourselves!

It’s my experience at school what I would like to share with you. It so happened that with my not so perfect English I was placed into an Intermediate class, where Nick was the teacher in the morning. I am a university lecturer myself and know a few things about teaching methods, techniques and styles. And I was so pleasantly surprised with an amazing experience I had with every teacher here – my first one Nick was very easy to communicate with, so able to "reach out" to everyone, relaxed but at the same time, had such an elegant presentation of the material and a variety of techniques, training exercises, role plays, etc etc. Everyone in our class just adored Nick’s teaching, and one student from Japan even said she had a dream about him :-) . My afternoon teacher Scott was terrific as well: well educated, sensible and erudite, he struck me as a kind of sophisticated thinker. Right at the beginning, after the 1st lesson he recommended that I should put the bar up (i.e. go to a higher level) - which I was quite surprised with - but eventually it turned out that Scott was absolutely right! For the Options class I chose “Conversation” with James. And yet another brilliant teacher – cheerful, fun-loving, good-natured and is always ready to tell a story and to listen to the others... Three weeks have just zipped away! And on the 4th week I was transferred (despite my reluctance!) to the Upper Intermediate class. The morning class was taught by Christine. Her teaching, too, was a special one - she is from South Africa and is extremely articulate, with a very clear, “crisp” pronunciation. That was pretty amazing because most New Zealanders pronounce the words very softly. The classic example for me was the word "next": when my host mother said that she and her husband were flying to Australia "nikst weekend”, I didn’t quite understand what she meant and thought there might be some special weekend they needed to attend. And then there were "tin” (ten),”bri:d”(bread) and so on… Christine has also taught us to "squash” i.e. to glue the words together so that they would sound like they do in real speech - a very useful skill, because outside the school you can’t expect people to articulate every word for you - and then “what'yagonnado?" And then there was Jeremy who was my last teacher here – very friendly, talkative, and as my female classmates said, "very cute". His interactive communication style got everyone involved in the conversation so that even during our 5-minute breaks we could not stop talking. The class was great but … the time has run out!

I would also like to praise the admin people who look after the students during their stay at the school. The lovely girls at reception Charlene and Melizza who listen to the students from morning to evening are always there with a smile; always ready to help. (Gosh my Russian is getting worse and worse) I cannot say enough about my "native advisor" Larissa who explained everything, showed me around, recommended stuff to me, and always had time to listen and talk. In short, "respect and esteem" like we say at home.

Frankly, my experience here has been “larger than sea”. Or rather, the ocean. It’s the Pacific I am talking about - beautiful and incredibly attractive, especially for such an inland person as myself. And it is the warm, sharp, humid, brisk, clean, fresh ocean breeze that I will be missing so much... Ah!

Please say a huge hello from me to Brian the cat - what would I do without him!

15 September 2009

Hat-trick for Boa Lingua - Languages International Agency wins LTM Star Award "Best Agency Western Europe" for the third time in a row

Languages International - Partner Agency, Boa Lingua in Switzerland won the LTM Star Award "Best agency Western Europe 2009." "I am honoured that we won for the third time in a row. This award reflects our strong and personal relationships to our partner schools – as Languages International in Auckland and Christchurch – as well as our high quality standards in counselling our students. I dedicate this award to the whole Boa Lingua team", says Kurt Krummenacher, Managing Director of Boa Lingua in Switzerland.

The annual award is presented by the well known Language Travel Magazine. It is the most important award of the language travel industry. Nearly 700 people attended the event this year.

11 September 2009

Ramadan Feast - Auckland

Last night, the Saudi students of Languages International prepared a magnificent Ramadan feast for the other students and staff. The food was traditional Saudi dishes, including chicken and rice, lamb kebab, hommus, three types of soup, and special Saudi coffee. We were also given some premium-quality Saudi dates, which were much fresher and tastier than any dates I had tasted before. A particular highlight of the meal was the sweet dessert, which was a type of moist pastry surrounding a rich, nutty centre. I believe it was called “baklawa”.

Before the feast, a special guest, an Imam who teaches at AUT, gave a very warm and interesting talk about the reasons why Moslems around the world practise Ramadan. His speech enlightened us to the fact that while Ramadan may appear to be a time of self- sacrifice, it is seen in the Moslem world as a time of great festivity and celebration of faith.

Over 100 people attended, and everybody enjoyed the meal very much. We would like to thank Bandar and the other students for such a pleasant and well organised event.

by Tom Lusk

Read about Languages International Christchurch's Ramadan Challenge here, and see photos of both events here.

Photos: Students and staff enjoying the Ramadan Feast in the Languages International Student Café (Auckland)

10 September 2009

Ramadan Challenge

For the second year running Languages International was proud to host the annual “Ramadan Challenge.”

The event ran over two days consisting of a Ramadan workshop for those wanting to know more about Ramadan. The workshop was an informative, fun and a great way for the Saudi Arabian students to extend their culture to other nationalities.

Next up was the Challenge. This consisted of no food and water for the entire day (sunrise to sundown), followed up by (iftar) breaking the fast for some “Dinner!”

What started from a small idea has grown into a full-scale event. A huge thank you to all the Saudi Arabian students and the President of the Saudi Club (Christchurch) for your generosity and contribution to this event. Thank you to the rest of the students and staff who pushed themselves, you proved it can easily be achieved !

I’m so proud of you all!

Kia Kaha,

Isaac Savage

(Student Services Coordinator at Languages International Christchurch)

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Salaam, I’ve never tried fasting before and I didn’t know the Ramadan meaning, however after the Ramadan workshop and Ramadan challenge I’ve seen how beautiful it is. The dinner was absolutely delicious and the people were delighted. Good activity!

(Roberto, Brazil)

Really realy very good! Food! Gift! Movie! Everything!

It was a really nice experience for me. I’ll never forget this experience.

(Vincente, Brazil)

I really enjoyed it. Now I really know what Ramadan is, the dinner was wonderful!! Shukran everybody!!!

(Samantha,Tahiti)

The last hour was the hardest especially without water! It was a really satisfying experience overall, and the evening feast was fantastic.

(Amanda -Teacher, New Zealand)

It was very hard, I thought I could not finish it. But in the end I made it! From now on I understand more about the culture and religion. Amazing activity, thanks to the Saudi students and the school.

(Luis, Brazil)

The most difficult thing for me was to wake up at 5.00 – 5.30 to eat, and to see people all around the day eating and drinking in front of us. This day helps me understand Muslims and the reason why they do that.

(Mireille, Switzerland)