We Were Lucky to Learn English In England!
A lot of people nowadays study English because it has become the language of world communications. No doubt, one of the best ways to improve English is by going to England. To dive into English and study it there for at least two or three weeks.
The pupils from our school did this twice with the help of Trinity Travel Agency. The first group of nine pupils went there in the spring of 2007. The second group, consisting of seven pupils, was there this past summer. We were lucky to take part in an educational trip to Hastings to study at the EAC School. We spent two unforgettable weeks in this very interesting historical town, which is situated in the southeast of Great Britain. It was here, near Hastings, that William the Conqueror won the great battle for the English throne in 1066.
We were very glad to find out that EAC’s Hastings language school is situated right in the heart of Hastings, very close to the railway station, only three minutes walk from the beach.
The school occupies a spacious centrally-located terraced building over four floors with 15 classrooms. In addition, students benefit from the student café – offering refreshments and games. A well-equipped self-access study centre is also available with free email and internet access, audio and videotapes, books, practice tests, and educational computer programmes. EAC Hastings School also has an attractive landscaped garden where students can sit and relax while they chat in English.
Immediately after our arrival we were streamed into different groups according to our levels of English. We were happy to learn that our group mates were from different countries: Spain, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Belorussia, Armenia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Korea and some others. We communicated only in English.
It was great to study English with EAC teachers! Our lessons were not only traditional lessons in classrooms, though we studied grammar, vocabulary, had listening and video lessons, and a lot of writing. Very often we had some discussions and competitions. Sometimes our teachers took us to museums or just outside to the parks; to the beach or to some street, for example in the Old Town; or to the ancient castle, built in the 11th century; gave us some tasks and we did our best to fulfill them; to find answers to all the questions in the museums, in advertisements, shop and museum windows, on the buildings and by asking passers-by.
We had a lot of interesting excursions about Hastings. We visited The Town Museum, the Old Town Museum, the West and East Hills, the Castle, and the Smuggler’s Caves.
Besides, we went to such towns and cities as Battle, Rye, Brighton and, of course, to London. Those were not only simple excursions. They were really lessons in English history, culture, traditions and customs. We saw The Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and its famous Beefeaters and ravens, Westminster Palace – the House of Parliament, with its Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, where all kings and queens are crowned and buried. We also saw the famous Poet’s Corner there, where a lot of famous writers and poets are buried. We watched the Change of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and the guards on duty, visited the British Museum and the National Gallery, The Natural History Museum and Madam Tussaud’s, saw Trafalgar Square with it’s Nelson Column and a lot of other places of interest. We also got acquainted with the sea life in the Aquarium.
We enjoyed walking around famous London parks, admiring the plants, the flowers and the fauna: a lot of birds, fish, squirrels, which are not afraid of people. It was interesting to watch people spending their free time in parks. They go there with their families and children. They sit on the grass and eat; but you won’t see any litter!
To our surprise, we could see lots of handicapped people in the parks. They have comfortable, electrically driven wheelchairs and can not only spend time in the parks, but also do shopping, visit museums, go by bus, especially in Hastings and Brighton. They can easily enter the bus because there are special platforms, instead of steps, in the buses and a place where they can fix their wheelchairs securely.
We saw the famous London double-deckers and Underground, or the “Tube” as they call it. We also spent a lot of time in the parks of Hastings, having our sport lessons there. It was not only exciting and good for our health, but also useful for our English training. Our young English group leaders, graduating students, taught us some traditional English sport games: football, frisbee, baseball, geese and ducks... Of course, they spoke only English. Besides sport, we also had some other extra-curricular activities, such as: games (Twister, Monopoly), quizzes, talk show “Blind Date”, watched feature films in English, and danced at discos. We had specially organized discos, because children younger than 18 years old are not allowed to any disco or night club, cafes and other night entertainment places in England.
When in Hastings, we lived with host families who offered all students a warm and friendly welcome. It gave us an additional opportunity to practice our English, because none of them knew Russian. Living with host families helped us both to practice English and to learn more about the English lifestyle, about their homes, rooms and facilities, front and back gardens. They are not only great animal lovers, but they also are fond of flowers. Though they don’t usually have much land, they manage to decorate even each small piece of land with some flowers or fruit trees. We enjoyed talking to our hosts, drinking English tea with milk, listening to music and watching TV. Some of us were taken by our hosts on a picnic or to bowl.
So, we had a lot of speaking practice in England. We met a lot of new friends of different nationalities. Now we communicate on the Internet and write e-mails. We shall never forget our educational trips. If we have an opportunity, we shall certainly go there again!
The teacher – T.M. Samokhvalova
Photos by the author