By Guest Blogger, Tabea – Crest Work Experience Student

Crest Schools of English offers many different language courses for every level of English.

They are classified into Part Time (6-12 hours), Full Time (15 hours) and Intensive (21-30+ hours) courses.

They provide several writing classes, 1 to 1 lessons, Work Skills and lessons to improve your Business English. The good thing is that they are also specialized in preparation for exams like FCE or ILEC with special books.

Of course every class has it’s own level and you will take part in a class that is appropriate for your current level of English.

By Guest Blogger, Lauriane – Crest Work Experience Student

There are many benefits of staying in a host family. It’s the first time that I’m in a host family and I’m not disappointed, it’s like being in my own family.

I had two host families and both of them were really hospitable. In a host family, you don’t have to worry about sheets, laundry, rent… Like in your own family. If you want to be alone, you have your room (cleaned by your host mother), if you want to be home and speak with them, they’re here.

But the most important thing of staying in a host family is that you can see how people live, their routine, which dishes they eat and try new flavours (especially in England). It’s also the best way to improve the language faster; they will always teach you new words. To put it in a nutshell, being in a host family is the cheapest and the best way to improve your English quickly.

By Guest Blogger, Auxane- Crest Work Experience Student

We are all here for the same things, learning to speak English, but the real question is why we are here?

English as you know is an international language and I’m sure most of you have the ambition to get a good job later. You are right that learning English will help you in your career and putting “excellent knowledge of English” on your CV is an advantage.

However to get a good job is maybe not the only benefit to learn English! With this language you can also get a real access to knowledge that maybe you never thought of.

What are you interested in your life? Is it science? Music? Computers? Health? Business? Sports? Technologies? Movies?

Today’s media — such as the Internet, television, and the press — give you almost unlimited access to knowledge about your favourite subjects. After all, we live in the information age, don’t we? There’s only one problem. Most of this knowledge is in English. If you don’t trust in the information that you are watching in your country, it doesn’t matter: go to a channel website like BBC, CNN, NBC or Sky News and you can have access to all the big recent events in the world.

In addition you can communicate with people throughout the entire world; it’s not for no reason than we call English “the language of communication”. About 1,500,000,000 people in the world speak English. Another 1,000,000,000 are learning it like you!

Or do you like to travel? Speaking English is the most important thing to pack in your luggage!

To conclude, I will ask you one thing: please stop watching English movies without original voices of actors! You take out an important part of the talent of the actor.

Next step for me? First I will continue learning English and maybe, if the Force is with me, I will start Chinese!

By Guest Blogger, Lauriane - Crest Work Experience Student

Christmas is the most amazing, the most magical period of the year and being in London during this period is like a dream that come true. There are loads of Christmas lights in London, it’s so shiny, you feel like in another planet.

I live in a small town and for me it’s a huge gap between those two cities. Moreover, there are such stunning attractions during Christmas time like Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and also many ice rinks. After Christmas, you have New Year’s Eve, it’s absolutely gigantic.

I’m going to France for Christmas but I want to come here for New Year’s Eve, definitely. I would not miss the fireworks illuminating Big Ben and London Eye, no; I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Meanwhile, waiting for New Year’s Eve, I can do my Christmas shopping!

London is really busy during Christmas time; there is a crowd everywhere but I kind of like that. During the Christmas period, London is a fairyland, it’s like I’m going through a second childhood, it’s every year it’s the same and maybe this year more than the others.

By Guest Blogger Stephanie, Crest Work Experience Student

I arrived in London just two weeks ago and although the first days were hard, now I am having a fantastic time here.

Since I arrived here, I have met a lot of new people and found friends from all over the world, such as France, Spain, Italy or Peru.

This city never sleeps and since I am here, there was no minute, when I did not know what to do next. I always went from one exciting adventure to the next.

Together with my new friends I did lots and lots of different activities, for example a bus tour through the whole city, passing all the impressive buildings and wandering about the beautiful Christmas decorations. We also went to clubs, experiencing the famous, crazy nightlife of London and of course we also visited a few of the typical English pubs to drink the one or other pint… After all these impressions just in my first two weeks I am looking forward to the next months and all the interesting places I can visit in this amazing city!

By Guest Blogger Pamela, Crest Work Experience Student

I am a current Commercial Foreign Language student in Bonn, Germany. During my last semester, I was presented with the opportunity to apply for a two months internship in Germany or study abroad. I enjoy travelling and meeting new places, and without thinking twice, I decided to study abroad in London.

Crest Intern Team at Halloween

For most people, it is difficult to go by themselves to a new place where they do not know anyone; but for me, it was a challenge I was willing to take to increase my job experience, meet new people, learn about other cultures and improve my abilities in speaking and understanding the English language.

I am now working for Crest Schools of English and I really enjoy my job as a receptionist. I have come to meet wonderful students from all over the world and I have been lucky enough to work with an excellent work crew that makes working very enjoyable. During this internship, I have learned to understand different accents and to speak fluently on the phone.

By Guest Blogger, Jessy Crest Work Experience Student

I had been studying English in France for almost 10 years and I rarely had the chance to have a native English speaking teacher. This is why I think it’s really a good thing to learn in England. During the class, you have to speak in English from the beginning to the end. When I didn’t understand a word, the teacher has always found a way to explain it, which allowed me to enrich my vocabulary.

The fact of being in mixed nationality classes is by far the best way to practice English. Not only during the class do you have to communicate with your classmates in English but also out of school.

This allowed us to understand all kinds of accents and help to improve our speaking. Mixed nationality classes are also a good way to learn about other countries’ cultures and to be open minded. Finally, thanks to these classes I now have friends from all around the world!