I haven’t been giving any English classes for the last two days because my mum and dad have come over especially from Ireland to visit my wife and I – and, more particularly, their grandson! It’s been brilliant and Johnny has had them in stitches laughing since they arrived. It’s safe to say the visit has been a huge success..

It reminds me of an experience I had thirteen years ago and which some of you are lucky to be having now. I went to Spain in 1992, with a teaching certificate in my pocket and no idea of Spanish. My first year was difficult, as I struggled to learn the language; making silly mistakes every time I opened my mouth and never being able to express myself quite as I wanted to. It was hard.

However, by 1996- everything had changed; I was well established in Madrid, working for the British Council and enjoying an idyllic life in dear old Madrid. Of course, my Spanish was close enought to fluent at this stage, so when my parents, whose knowledge of Spanish could be quantified as nada, came to visit, they, for once, needed me – as both guide and interpreter.

I remember one particular moment, when I was ordering for them in a restaurant…I caught them looking at eachother and glimpsed an emotion on their faces that was normally reserved for my high-achieving sisters: pride. For some reason, that was one of the best moments of my life.

Hopefully, some of you are lucky enough to still have both parents and the only advice I can give you is this: If there is any chance of getting them over to visit you and see how well their little boy/girl has learned English, grab it with both hands.You won’t regret it!

Mike

Hey guys,

I know that when the time comes to extend your visa, you don’t know who to ask for help and it can be quite a stressful time. It is my job to check your visa applications before we send them to the home office. I would like to give you some advice about the best things to do for your application.

The most important thing is not to leave everything to the last minute. Over a month before your visa expires, get an application form from reception or http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/flr/flrs . It is better to have lots of time if you have questions instead of panicking two days before your visa expires.

Find out which documents you need. The most common problem students have when applying is that they ask their bank for statements very close to the visa expiry date. Give yourself plenty of time to get the statements as they are very important documents for the application.

Each week I will give you more advice about the visa application.

If you have any questions, you can post a comment here on the blog or email me at stuart@the-englishstudio.com and I will post a reply right here on the blog.

Thanks and see you here next week,

Stuart

You might already know that my name is Anamaria and I work at The English Studio’s Reception but what some of you might not know is that I am also a student at the school.

I decided to come to England to study English two years ago and I could not find a better English language school in London than The English Studio.

Not only does it have great locations around London but also the best English teachers who have helped me a lot through the long and some times hard process of learning English.

If you are a new student and you have not got used to the school or the city here I will give you some tips for a few things that you must do at the school to make your life smoother and less expensive in London!

First of all, I would like to introduce you to the E-Reception, which is the area in the Reception/ Student Room where you have computers available for you to get any sort of letters, book holidays or request certificates without queuing or waiting for one of the staff to do it! You can access the system with just your ID or Date of Birth and for the rest; you just have to click on the link for what you want.

In the Reception/Student’s Room you could also find other computers with FREE internet access! This is brilliant! And if you have your own laptop you can also get a free wireless connection and the user name is UXBR and password B3C5577CB1E99A03554DA777C1

These are great tips for you, but next week I will give you some more.

Have a great week!

One of the best things about teaching is seeing the progress that your students make. Students are usually the last to notice their own progress. So it was to my delight when an Italian couple, Assunta and Maurizio, came and spoke to me at the end of their last lesson to say thank you. Maurizio told me that he hadn’t studied English for about ten years and he was relieved to see his own progress.

He and his girlfriend decided to do an intensive English course. Their course lasted just three weeks and in those three weeks they made friends from around seven different countries. It was this diversity of culture that brought them to study English in London. Their local government has decided to help its people to learn English. Assunta and Maurizio thought it would be ok to study at an English language school in their region, but it would be GREAT to study English at a Language school in London.

I feel that the class benefited from their enthusiasm and general positive outlook on absolutely everything and I believe they got more than just language from the class.

So, Assunta and Maurizio, I wish you both all the best and I look forward to seeing you next year.

Stuart

Hi,

Ever thought what it’s like to be an English teacher? How do teachers plan their lessons? How do they decide when to put students in groups? And how did they get so clever at it all? At The English Studio we’re in the process of setting up an exciting new course called a TESOL course. Essentially, it’s an intensive course for people who want to become English teachers and takes 4 weeks to complete. All of your teachers have been through a course like this one, and we feel that we’re in a great position to run one here. But why do people want to become English teachers? It’s a good question. Some people love languages and different cultures and decided to use English teaching as a way to travel the world for a year before settling down to their chosen career path. Others like working with people and thought that teaching sounded like fun. Still others, attracted by the nomadic possibilities of English teaching as a profession, took up teaching English so they could live and work in lots of different countries: many of them live in a country for a couple of years, then move to a new countries, and so on.

The secret of a good school is good teachers- other things matter, of course, but get the teacher right and you’re almost there. So what do we look for in an ES teacher?

1. knowledge- you can’t get anywhere without it, and the students prize it above all else, almost. For us, an English teacher is not just a native speaker in a room, it’s someone with a good understanding of their and thirst to know more about it.

2. The ‘x factor’

not everyone is  a great communicator, so we choose the best. Energy and enthusiasm, and a drive to make the class as enjoyable and useful as possible are the characteristics we look for and we hope that when you come here you’d say your teacher has all of these things.

Anyway, that’s how I feel about our teachers- how about you guys?

A special post, just for the Valentine’s Day, even though I’m single, I think celebrating this day is important, after all, there’s a lot of reasons for celebrating couples, because let’s face it: being in a relationship and actually sticking to it is an achievement! So here’s for all the lovers around the world:

It’s dark

You see love in different ways

Different shapes, different colors

They come so innocence

In innocent forms

The forms of love,

You can’t see it, maybe touch a little

Smile a little, kiss in the dark

Sweet is the taste, it comes at night

Never show his face, for the owner can’t be awake

It never sleeps, it never stops

Love is not there, it is

Don’t know the reason

Can’t taste it, can’t see it

It’s dark.

Mariana Shayeb

One of the new items of English vocabulary (or ‘neologisms’) that all Londoners have become aware of over the last few years is , ‘Chuggers.’

Chuggers themselves don’t like this name; in fact they like to be called Street Fundraisers, but from what I have seen outside my window in Shepherd’s Bush, chuggers is more appropriate.

    The word is a combination of ‘charity,’ and ‘mugger’ and while it is true that they are always trying to raise money for worthy causes, the methods they use are, in my humble opinion, highly questionable.

Once again, I am not saying that all street fundraisers should be labelled in this way, but certainly the ones I watch out of room U1A adopt some of the cheapest and cheesiest methods  such as

• making eye contact from 10 metres and not breaking it until they are in the other person’s face
• sticking out their hands in anticipation of a handshake- that wonderful action of general human friendliness all over the world- who’s going to deny someone a handshake? Then, when the person shakes their hand, not letting go.
• following people a good 10-15 paces down the street, even though they’ve made it clear that they are not interested.

I could go on….But I suppose that what bothers me most is the fact that they only seem to accost good-looking members of the opposite sex; and ignore me!

Yes folks that’s what’s really bugging me; the realisation that i’m now so utterly hideous to the eye that not even chuggers want to talk to me. I’m not joking.The other day, I went to Happy Snaps and had a t-shirt made, bearing the legend,’I've just won millions on the Lottery and really want to help blind people, but sadly I don’t know how to go about it.’ (And yes, I am a hugely fat individual, so there was space for such a message)  I started circling the chuggers for the blind outside the school,  slowly walking past each one once, twice, three times. Nothing. No reaction.

Maybe they’re not collecting for charity after all. Maybe it’s just some secret club for beautiful people, arranging dates, parties and coll flash-mobs..

Tragically, I will never  know.

Mike

According to the UKBA website there is an important change to rules governing how long students from outside the EU can study English. Up to March 2009 students are only allowed to study English below degree level for two years.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/applyingbeforemarch09/extending/

This meant that to stay longer in the UK students needed to study on degree level courses.

After March 2009 students will now be able to study English below degree level for up to three years

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/applyingafter-March/factsheets/studyingfulltimeasadult/

Phil Barnett

When i started the English Studio in 1997 – it was me teaching 2 students above the cafe in our current Goldhawk Road premises.    From these humble beginning we have become one of the largest English Language Schools in London.   Now we have 4 sites where hundreds and hundreds of students are learning English all day long.   I hope we are still giving the personal touch  and as  Phil Barnett (our Principal) and myself  -  the owners of the School still  work on a day to day basis in the School – i hope  we are achieving this.

This very fast growth of  The English Studio has been a huge learning curve for us all!    Our aim has always been to provide really high quality courses at as low a cost as possible and with a really high level of customer service.  

As you all know recently we have been undergoing a huge refurbishment and we hope you like what we have been doing – our aim is to be the “Coolest Language School in London”  and really make it a great environment for young people to learn English in.

Feel free to e mail me  -  mairead@the-englishstudio.com and i will give you a direct response and of course try to act on any suggestions you may have to improve the school.

Back Soon!   Mairead