PETE STONE, DIRECTOR OF STUDIES OF EC BRISTOL
Why should a student choose your school?
We have really good, well qualified teachers who really care about the progress of our students. The atmosphere in the school is vibrant and lively and we guarantee that your lessons will have well defined aims and objectives so that you will be very clear about what you have achieved from one lesson to the next.
We have flexibility in our approach to the classes meaning that there is a fixed, course book element and we also have 2 days a week when we focus on skills. During these lessons you can ask the teacher of there is any specific grammar, vocabulary or topic that you wish to learn about. All of this means that you are able to take control of your own learning.
In your opinion, which are the main benefits for a student to study abroad?
Students can interact with people from many different cultures from all over the world using English as a shared language to communicate in. This means that you can make lifelong friends in other countries and really broaden your horizons. It also means that you can have some cheap holidays in the future if you go and stay with the friends you make :-).
You can also immerse yourself in English culture. This might mean visiting a nice pub or going to areas of cultural significance such as Stone Henge or Buckingham Palace. All the while you are surrounded by people speaking English so the learning doesn’t have to stop in the classroom.
How do you see the future of language tourism?
I think that the use of technology in the classroom will become more and more prevalent. Since the outbreak of Covid 19 many schools had to go online at a moments notice. This was a steep learning curve for all of us. We now use a blended approach in our classes, meaning that you can get all the benefits of using technology as well as the benefits of the face to face classroom. The best of both worlds.
What types of courses do you think will be most in demand in the future?
I think that there will be a rising demand for more specialist types of courses such English and Theatre (which we offer) but also I think blended learning will become much more widespread. If we’ve learned one thing from 2020 it’s that the future is difficult to predict but we’ve also learned that we can adapt very well to a rapidly changing environment.
THE SCHOOL
Name of school
Country / City
United Kingdom / Bristol
The most significant things the school can offer
We offer English at all levels, from Beginner to Advanced. We also offer IELTS and and Cambridge exams in addition to Special Focus Classes such as Speaking with Confidence, Grammar for Real Communication, Expand your Vocabulary and English for Work.
Types of courses taught at the school
We offer twenty lessons per week of General English or 30 lessons per week of Intensive English as well as the Exam Classes listed above. We also offer some bespoke courses such as English with Theatre Workshops. If you have any specific requests, please feel free to get in touch.
Attractions in the school’s surroundings and in the city in general
Bristol has vibrant live music scene and there are several venues around the city where you can see live music any night of the week. There are several famous bands and artists from Bristol such as Portishead and Tricky.
In addition to this we also have a great street art and graffiti scene her in Bristol. You may know the famous graffiti artist Banksy. He’s from Bristol but his identity is a well kept secret.
We also have lots of festivals that you can go to in the summer time. There is even a hot air balloon festival which is very popular.
Bristol is an ideal sized city. It’s not so big that you have to get public transport everywhere but it’s big enough to have lots and lots of fun things to see and do.