Staff at Embassy

Fundraising at Embassy London

Lisa Evripidou, from Embassy London, writes:

Students sold St. Valentine's cards and flowers last month, and I can now report that we raised £211.52.  This will be doubled by Embassy to £423.04. This is a fantastic achievement for the charity committee and great for the students who volunteered their time. See photos on our Facebook page.

Secondly, the money raised from the Football Tournament has not yet been counted yet but is over £400, which will be doubled to £800 by Embassy. Another fantastic achievement!

On Friday 18th March it was Wear Jeans Day which meant staff were allowed to wear jeans for the day.

On the same day, we held International Food Night in the canteen for staff and students. 18 countries took part. Students could come and buy food typical of these countries. The students who cooked the food were very excited about sharing their favourite dishes with everyone. All money raised will be going to charity.

That brings our running total to £16,570.19 raised for Building Futures, the dedicated Embassy charity.

 

Skating video

Linda Walsh, head of Embassy Boston, says:

Here’s a really nice video made by a student, Alexander. The class went on an ice skating trip to the Boston Common. The teacher is Stuart, and he’s featured several times.

Find out more about studying English in Boston with Embassy.

A whistle-stop trip to Scotland

 
Embassy Oxford student Madeleine took a weekend trip... all the way to Soctland. Was the long journey worth it? Read on.

Apart from studying English at Embassy, which is rewarding in itself, you also get the opportunity to explore the U.K. and the rest of Europe during your weekends.

Ever since I saw the film "Braveheart" I´ve always wanted to visit Scotland and through Embassy I got the opportunity. So on a late Friday evening in September I, together with my newly found friends, went by coach on a tour to Scotland,"Edinburgh and the Highlands in two days".

The next morning after having a heavy breakfast in the Scottish countryside we arrived in Edinburgh about 10 o`clock a.m.

A local guide met up and we made a citytour which ended up in front of Edinburgh castle. Once there we were shown around in the castle and were told anecdotes about famous Scottish kings and queens.

After the visit to the castle we were free to explore the city and shopping districts ourselves. We chose to go shopping on the famous Prince's Street. From everywhere I heard the bagpipes playing Scottish marches which really enhanced the feeling of being in Scotland...

Late in the afternoon it was time to go back to our Youth Hostel where we spent the whole evening learning and dancing Scottish dances which was real fun actually. Later on you could visit a pub and mingle with the Scots.

The next day we were heading for the Highlands. This trip wasn`t compulsory but I strongly recommend it. Scotland is not all about the Highlands but you haven`t seen Scotland if you haven`t seen both the Lowlands and the Highlands.

I must admit that without our local guide the trip wouldn't have been half as interesting. He normally worked as a university teacher and had a great knowledge about both the Geography and the History of Scotland as well as a special kind of Scottish humour that I liked.

After being driven around in the mountains we went to a whisky distillery where we learnt how barley was turned into whisky. We also a visited Weaving Mill  and had the opprtunity to buy the famous Scottish wool and cashmere goods (mainly clothes such as sweaters, cardigans and scarves).

Late on the Sunday afternoon we climbed the William Wallace (read Braveheart) monument and this was absolutely the peak experience for me on this tour. Just standing on the hill and overlooking the town of Stirling, and Stirling castle where he won his famous battle, was thrilling. The guide told us some facts about William Wallace (he was not actually as in the film).

On Monday morning it was time for leaving Edinburgh and going back to our hometown Oxford. After a short guided tour by coach around the Scottish Parliament, the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote her novels about Harry Potter etc,  we  were going south back home.

On our way home we stopped at another Weaving Mill where we had a final possibilty to buy some Scottish souvenirs.

So what is my overall experience of the tour? If you want to go to Scotland it`s really worth the price. I`ve never experienced so much in so little time, and what I think Scotland was like - it`s magic in real life!

Find out more about Embassy Oxford.

 

Boston students publish online magazine

Students at Embassy Boston Downtown have put together an online magazine as a class project. Planning to visit Boston? Tap into our students' knowledge with a very handy top ten of the best places to go in the city. After all, they've done all the work getting to know the city in the last few months.

The magazine continues with a project comparing well-known western cities, such as London, San Francisco and Boston itself, with the students' home cities, including Tokyo, Caracas, Busan and Taipei.

What began as a good exercise for the class in persuasive writing ended up as a highly readable resource for potential students. Which city comes out top? You'll have to read the arguments and decide for yourself. Well done, hard-working Boston students, and thanks for the read.

Want to find out more about Embassy schools? Visit our website here.

Find the magazine here. Embassy Boston Downtown students hope you will enjoy reading it.

Meet some students from Embassy Oxford

Students from Embassy Oxford have been writing about their experiences learning English! Read on to find out how they are getting on.

Javier Gonzalez

 
Hello, I’m going to tell you quickly about me. My name is Javier Gonzalez, I’m an 18 years old foreign student from Mexico, learning English in Oxford, specifically at Embassy.

I’m learning this language because nowadays it is absolutely necessary whether you want to be a successful man, or even if you just want to travel around the world you will need English in every new country because it is the global language. Now I’m going to tell you why I chose this city and why I’m so happy for having done it.

If you are looking for a place where you can find the perfect balance between having a great time and learning real English you should chose Oxford, which is the place you are looking for. But, why Oxford?

This is a small city with many things to do.If you are interested in culture and history, there is no better place in the world to learn about it as the university’s campus or the museums (most of them are free, everybody loves free things). The buildings are really amazing, most of them have got gorgeous gardens and you can go to spend an evening with your friends, or your partner if you are lucky.

On the other hand, if you like nightlife, in Oxford you can find busy nightclubs with good music for everyone and very good DJ’s from the typical European danceclub to the most latin “disco”. We can not forget the pubs, which are the perfect place to go with friends and have a chat or drink some beer, even eat traditional food. In a pub you won’t feel  time passing; it is really magical.

Believe it or not, people here are warm and nice, the ambience is student orientated, and you will find and be in touch with people from all over the entire globe, different cultures from yours which will teach you a lot of things and knowledge, and as I said you will find plenty of young people to talk with.

Another of Oxford’s advantages is the easy going way of life, you won’t get lost easily. The bus service is perfect. Oxford is really close to London and you can spend a weekend  there easily and cheaply.
It’s up to you, but trust me, if you choose Oxford you will have the best time in your life as I am doing now.

Eiko Kono

 

In September, 2010, I went to Belgium with my friends. The reason we went there was visiting my friend, Philippe. He was my classmate of afternoon class. We were lucky because he invited us to Belgium and provided his grandmother's house as an accommodation. It was... my first time to travel in Europe except the UK so everything was new. Getting on the Eurostar, speaking to people who speak French, eating Belgian traditional food etc. It was full of exciting experiences. Furthermore, he was as a local guide in Brussels, Brugge and Antwerp so I could know lots of things about Belgium, such as culture, traditional food and behaviour so on.

I think the scenery was totally different between Brussels and Tokyo but I could find a lots of similar things. For example, both senior citizen are vigorous. I saw some of the senior citizen were dancing in the Sunday market. I also met other senior citizen in front of a church. They were very friendly and cheerful. In addition, there were a lot of attractive shops, such as chocolate shops, tea shops and local markets. I enjoyed all of them during the trip. I had a great time with my friends, Philippe and his grandmother. I want to visit to Belgium again.

 

 

News from Embassy London

Lisa, the new Activities Leader at Embassy London, has these updates from the school. it certainly sounds like it's been an exciting few weeks.

New staff starting at Embassy

Four new members of staff join the school. Welcome to all of them!

Amanda Mackmurdie: Welfare Officer
 Sheila Clewley: Assistant to the Principal
Ian Claridge: Head of Security
and me, Lisa Evripidou: Activities Leader and Librarian

Celebrity Sightings at Embassy London!
Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, the new sequel to be released in Summer 2011, is currently being filmed at The University of Greenwich. It's a ten minute walk from Embassy London.

Some very lucky students have seen Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane. The filming has been going on for over a month and does not seem to be leaving any time soon!

The University of Greenwich is a popular filming location and has hosted feature films such as The Duchess (2007) starring Kiera Knightly, National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) starring Nicholas Cage, and Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix (2005).

 
Riz Ahmed, a British actor and musician who has starred in The Road to Guantanamo, Shifty and Four Lions was spotted at The Nikey Running Club in Shoreditch, London, where students had the chance to meet with the celebrity.

In 2008, Riz won Best Actor at the Geneva Cinema Tout Ecran and was nominated for Best Actor at the British Independent Film Award for his role in Shifty.

 

 

 

 

Upcoming events on the Social Programme:

Legally Blonde in the West End
London Eye visit
Halloween Party on a boat
Lion King in the West End
Phantom of the Opera in the West End
England vs France football game
Gorillaz (music band) perform live at the 02 arena
Chicago in the West End
Madame Tussauds visit
Wicked in the West End
39 Steps in the West End
Westlife (music band) perform live at the 02 arena
Maroon 5 (music band) perform live at the 02 arena
... and lots of visits to museums, sporting events, night clubs, galleries and exhibitions.

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.