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Language Travel Tips in New
Zealand
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Regardless of whether you
would like to hone your Business English English language skills over
the course of a week or participate in a two month intensive group
course, here are some ideas* on how to spend the time before, during and
after your study holiday New Zealand to ensure that you have a
successful and entertaining English language experience.
Ideas on preparing for your English language
course
New Zealand.
-
Target your English language course:
decide what you want to learn and need to practice during your stay
in New Zealand.
Which English language level you want to reach?
- If you are a
complete beginner, plan an
intensive
English language course of at least 3 weeks. From
experience, 4 weeks is optimal because time you spend totally
immersed in everyday life and the English language is a very
important success factor.
-
Choose a
English language school that...
- best meets your learning goals.
Make sure that as well as taking intensive classes, you have the
chance to take additional, more flexible individual lessons and
to participate in leisure time activities where you can
experience using your English language in practice.
- focuses on either adults or
children. In our experience, adolescent learners and adults
learners have totally different needs and interests
- has a broad mix of
nationalities, so that you are not continuously confronted by
your own English language. This usually means choosing a school
attracting individual English language travelers, not large
groups from one country.
- offers small group sizes: 8 as
maximum, smaller if possible. This is necessary to have an
adequate opportunity to interact during lessons. Despite the
higher cost per lesson, these courses usually have a better
price-performance ratio.
- offers a complete English
language programme throughout the year.
- offers the opportunity to live
as a single guest with locals.
- guarantees accommodation in the
town centre. Otherwise spontaneous leisure activities together
with other students become difficult or you will waste too much
time getting from one place to another.
- presents all the information you
need on the Internet. Avoid booking through English language
tour operators or agents who do not tell you the address or
details of the school and the courses in advance.
- Before making your mind up,
investigate the opinions and
experiences of former students. This is the best way to find
out if the school and the setting will meet your expectations.
If you are looking for a small and/or new school you won't find it
through the big global agencies, and these are the very schools
where individual care and close contact to the local culture and
people are offered.
-
Sketch out your daily schedule in English in order to decide
the best number of lessons for you. Take into account the time spent
practising your English informally with other students or on the
street. Don't forget to allow 2-3 hours to do homework, revise what
you learned in class and organize your notes.
- Get
accustomed to the foreign English language: Try to spend some
time every day or week listening to English.
- Bring
with you ...
- a small English bilingual
dictionary or a good electronic dictionary
- a good monolingual English
learners' dictionary with at least 70.000 words for homework.
- a Walkman to listen to cassettes
and CDs a radio
- Brush
up your linguistic knowledge:
- Do some revision from any other
English courses you have taken.
- Read in the foreign English
language...
- magazines or newspapers
- one of your favourite books
- English language learning
magazines
- something online regarding
your interests (e.g. see column on the right hand side)
- or participate in a online chat
- If you are a
complete beginner it is a good
idea to have a few lessons before leaving for your English language
course - either with a textbook or a English language learning CD.
You will find our suggestions in the category
- Look
forward to discovering a new culture and meeting people from
different countries. Subscribe for a newsletter of your preferred
English language school.
- Learn
some facts and figures about your own country, city, and
culture - other students will be interested to hear about it.
- Make use of
e-learning offers as an
introduction to your study New Zealand programme. .
- Last but not least: make sure you
are well-informed about the weather
at your destination, so that you don`t have to bemoan the fact that
your favourite winter coat or your swim things are sitting happily
at home when you could really use them here.
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