Studying at a school in the UK or Ireland – is your English good enough?
If you are planning to spend a term, a semester or a whole academic year at a school in an English-speaking country here’s a word of advice: think carefully about whether you have the required level of English to make the most of the experience. Here are some questions for you to consider:
Do you have regular conversations with English-speakers, either in person or online?
Do you frequently watch and understand English-language films?
Do you regularly read in English, either books and magazines or online?
Do you regularly listen to music in English?
The reason for these questions is that it is unlikely that you will have reached the level of English required just by attending English classes in high school; you need to have been getting regular exposure to the language outside the classroom as well. Now you may be thinking ‘Well, my English isn’t great, but that’s precisely why I want to join the programme, to improve my English.’ Of course, wanting to improve your English is a very good reason for joining the programme, but you have to be realistic. If you have a low level of English you need to be reading and listening to English which is slightly above your current level, because that’s how we learn English: by slowly building on our existing knowledge. This is why we simplify our language when talking to or writing for children – we only learn when we understand. If you have a low level of English, sitting in a classroom listening to native speakers discussing subjects or ideas you may not be familiar with is certainly not going to be the best way to improve your English. Having a low level of English on the programme will also have other knock-on effects; you will feel frustrated that you can’t make friends with English-speakers and will naturally remain within your own language group and rely on them for friendship, which will have a further negative effect on your English learning. Similarly only being able to communicate at a very basic level with your host family will limit your interaction with them.
So, if you feel that your English is below the required level for the programme (B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) what can you do? Well, quite simply you need to spend as much of your free time as possible doing things in English: read graded readers (simplified books for your English level), watch English language films with subtitles (either in English or your own language), write a daily journal in English, listen to English/American music. You can also access some self-study material by going to classroom.google.com, clicking on the + sign in the top right, select join class and enter the class code 3xggqyl. The British Council also has a lot of free graded reading material which you can access here.
Focusing on your English in this way is by far the best thing you can do to prepare for your time on the programme; if you have not achieved the B2 level by the time you arrive in the UK or Ireland it will definitely prevent you from making the most of your time on the programme and enjoying it to the full.
Do you have regular conversations with English-speakers, either in person or online?
Do you frequently watch and understand English-language films?
Do you regularly read in English, either books and magazines or online?
Do you regularly listen to music in English?
The reason for these questions is that it is unlikely that you will have reached the level of English required just by attending English classes in high school; you need to have been getting regular exposure to the language outside the classroom as well. Now you may be thinking ‘Well, my English isn’t great, but that’s precisely why I want to join the programme, to improve my English.’ Of course, wanting to improve your English is a very good reason for joining the programme, but you have to be realistic. If you have a low level of English you need to be reading and listening to English which is slightly above your current level, because that’s how we learn English: by slowly building on our existing knowledge. This is why we simplify our language when talking to or writing for children – we only learn when we understand. If you have a low level of English, sitting in a classroom listening to native speakers discussing subjects or ideas you may not be familiar with is certainly not going to be the best way to improve your English. Having a low level of English on the programme will also have other knock-on effects; you will feel frustrated that you can’t make friends with English-speakers and will naturally remain within your own language group and rely on them for friendship, which will have a further negative effect on your English learning. Similarly only being able to communicate at a very basic level with your host family will limit your interaction with them.
So, if you feel that your English is below the required level for the programme (B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) what can you do? Well, quite simply you need to spend as much of your free time as possible doing things in English: read graded readers (simplified books for your English level), watch English language films with subtitles (either in English or your own language), write a daily journal in English, listen to English/American music. You can also access some self-study material by going to classroom.google.com, clicking on the + sign in the top right, select join class and enter the class code 3xggqyl. The British Council also has a lot of free graded reading material which you can access here.
Focusing on your English in this way is by far the best thing you can do to prepare for your time on the programme; if you have not achieved the B2 level by the time you arrive in the UK or Ireland it will definitely prevent you from making the most of your time on the programme and enjoying it to the full.