Staff at Embassy

International Students' Day at Embassy Brisbane

Anne Azano, the Student Activities Co-ordinator at Embassy Brisbane, writes:


Last Friday's International Student Day was a wonderful celebration of different nationalities and cultures. Students shared their cuisine, culture, dancing and information about their countries.

Some of the culinary highlights were: coffee and dates from Saudi Arabia, Turkish Delight, Brazilian Brigadeiros and Coxina, Venezulan desserts, Japanese sushi and traditional clothing, Korean kim chi and spicy octopus, delicacies from Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka,Taiwan and China, Vegemite sandwiches and homemade American choc chip cookies! 

The displays were great, as were the performances. The entertainment consisted of Russian dancing, Turkish belly dancing, French love messages, guitar music from Colombia and a chop stick competition!

So many students participated and it was a huge success! To quote one student "It was awesome!"

See more photos from this event in our Embassy Brisbane Facebook photo gallery.

Embassy Cambridge starts A Level taster courses this summer

In July and August, Embassy Cambridge and our sister college Bellerbys will be working together to provide a number of A Level taster courses in July and August. These taster sessions follow a successful trial of the programme in 2009, and will provide students with English tuition in the mornings, followed by sample A Level lessons in the afternoons.

Frank Pinner, the Centre Director for Embassy Cambridge explains more about the courses: ‘We have two A Level taster groups coming this summer. The students will do 20 50-minute lessons of English tuition and 10 hours of A level subjects per week. They will sample a wide range of A Level subjects including Politics, Art, Psychology, Physics, Business Studies, Sociology and Chemistry’.

The taster courses are based at our beautiful and historic Queens Campus, where the students’ lessons will be between 9am and 3:15pm. In addition to their English tuition and sample A Level lessons, the students will learn more about universities in the UK.

Moreover, the students will have plenty of things to do after class, as Frank Pinner explains: ‘After class, the students will be able to explore Cambridge and visit many different attractions including museums and the Cambridge Botanic Gardens. At the weekends, there will be organised excursions to other fun and exciting places in the UK such as London, Stratford and Warwick’.

Finally, at the end of the taster courses, the students will be able to enjoy a leaving ceremony and take photos with all of their new friends.

To find out more about Embassy Cambridge, visit the Embassy website to see our photos, read the local information and find out what our current students and staff think about the school. Also, you can join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more news, photos and updates.

Beat Oxford traffic on your bike

Peter Madams, ICT teacher at Embassy Oxford, writes:

 

Oxford's traffic can get pretty congested, as you can see here on one of the main entry roads to the city. Despite having a very good public transport system (lots of buses), as yet there is no charging system for cars to enter the centre of town and so every morning there is a crawl to get through.

What does this mean for visiting students? Get on your bike to get to Embassy for your classes! You'll save money, get some exercise and be able to get to school on time.

Bikes are quite cheap here as lots of people come and go, buying and selling as they do. Make sure you get a helmet and a lock and lights, and a map to find the cycle routes around and through the city. There are some really pretty cycle routes, free of cars, which are a joy to use. 

Oxford prides itself on being bike-friendly - so come and join in.

Peter also provides a link to a really excellent photo blog post, showing some of the many people around Oxford who use bikes in their day-to-day life; it also gives a very good impression of what Oxford is like. Take a look - it might inspire you!

“About 20,000 cycle commuters steam into Oxford city centre each day, negotiating more than 36,000 cars, lorries and kamikaze buses, potholes, cobble stones and disoriented tourists en route.”

Embassy Gold Coast students make a splash at SeaWorld!

Our staff at our Embassy schools work very hard to create a varied and enjoyable programme of activities and trips to keep the students entertained in their spare time. Recently, the students at the Embassy Gold Coast school had a great time visiting their local Sea World park.

Steven Rowe, the Student Services representative for Embassy Gold Coast writes: 'In May a pre-intermediate class from Embassy Gold Coast went on an excursion to SeaWorld, a marine-themed amusement park located only fiftten minutes away from the school.

Here, the students saw various exhibits with animals such as polar bears, sharks, penguins and stingrays,and they also watched live performance shows by dolphins and seals. This combined with riding rollercoasters and other thrill rides, along with watching a jet-ski stunt show made it a very enjoyable and educational day for the students.'

To see all of the great photos from this fantastic day out, visit the Embassy Gold Coast Facebook gallery. Also, you can visit the Embassy activities and excursions page to find out more about the other trips on offer to our students, or ask a question if you have a specific query about studying with Embassy.

 

Award-winning student video!

Embassy staff are always thinking of new and engaging ways to help their students improve their English. That's why staff at Embassy Cambridge asked some of their students to make a video to introduce new students to their school, the town of Cambridge and life in England in general. The video has been so well received that teachers at Embassy Cambridge have used it during induction sessions for their new students, and the video was the winner of the 2009 Embassy Learning Award.

Take a look at the shorter version of the video here:

Celia Short Version

Many thanks to all of the students involved in the making of this great video! They are: Fahad Alkaabi, Ahmed Almaghthawi, Nestor Barros, Chien-chi Chou, Carmen Daniels, Malory Jublot, Sang Woo Lee, Xin Liu, Diego Sanchez, Mariana Santos, Kiri Shakir, Inthira Tangjaroensutth, and Dominga Del Campo Salina.

Would you like to see this video in full? If so, join or log on to our Student Club, a website designed to provide further information and resources for our current students and those considering studying with Embassy. Or, to find out more about our school at Cambridge, take a look at the accomodation available, the courses offered and read what our students and staff think about Embassy Cambridge.

Staff report from Embassy Oxford's Venice Ball

Staff and students at Embassy Oxford recently joined with Bellerbys Oxford students to enjoy a fantastic Venice Ball at the Halkwell House Hotel.

Fabio da Silva Moore, the Social Programme and Extra Curricular Activities Organiser for Embassy and Bellerbys in Oxford was one of the main organisers of the event and writes: ‘Finally, after a lot of hard work and effort from myself and the members of the committee we managed to organize a fantastic event. There were beautiful decorations, posters of Venice, mask decorating activities and even a gondola!

The Venice Ball was a successful event and all the students and staff members enjoyed a great night dancing and singing. This event gives us more incentive to make next year’s Ball even better!’

Visit the Embassy Oxford Facebook gallery to see more photos of this fabulous event, or go to the Embassy Oxford activities and excursions page to find out more about the other activities available to our students after class.