Our language school in Australia, LSI Brisbane, has been pleased with the result of a recent Routine Monitoring Visit from NEAS, Australia’s National ELT (English language teaching) Accreditation Scheme. The LSI Brisbane report card says that LSI Brisbane meets NEAS Standards and Criteria in all respects.

It goes on to add that the school is professionally managed, with an excellent system of policies and procedures in place. There is a commitment to the provision of a high level of service to the students

Some of the other comments were
 The English language teaching programs are very well organised
There is ongoing evaluation and review of procedures and curricula
There is a wide range of resources available for teaching and teacher reference.

We’re delighted that our school has been recognised as providing good service to students. LSI Brisbane is a great place to LEARN AND LIVE THE LANGUAGE.

In a celebration of grand Australian tradition, LSI celebrated Melbourne Cup day.  The Melbourne Cup is a famous horse race which is noted for its fashions and in particular hats.  It is a great excuse to dress up and our students here at LSI Brisbane and staff made the most of the opportunity.  As you will see from the photos everyone had a great time and we are all looking forward to the next one!

We would just like to thank all involved for making it such an excellent event!

At all our LSI schools we always aim to provide our students with not only an excellent learning environment but also with opportunities to relax and have fun. In our Canadian schools we frequently run our popular movie and games nights. Students get the chance to play interactive games and watch movies whilst getting to know their fellow classmates. It’s great fun as our students at LSI Toronto can testify to.

Here, one of our students, Javier from Mexico, focuses on making a-hole in-one. After school, students can play our Nintendo Wii as an alternative to real exercise. With so many sports to choose from you’ll ever get bored!

For those students feeling a little less energetic, at LSI Toronto, we organise movie nights once a week in addition to a full weekday social program. Here we have some eager students gathered in front of the big screen to watch “Edward Scissor Hands”.Do you have a movie you’ve been wanting to see? Just ask us, (and provided it’s not obscene), we’ll get the movie for you and play it after class finishes. At LSI Toronto, there are always plenty of cultural and fun things to do at the end of the school day.

On October 31st many of the LSI schools celebrated Halloween. Whether studying at our schools in the UK, Canada or USA many students got the opportunity to participate in the many traditions that surround Halloween.

Did you know that the name Halloween comes from the religious festival of ‘All Hallows Eve’? Originally a Northern european pagan festival , All Hallows marked the end of harvest, a time when the spirits of the dead could deliver ill omens on the living. Bonfires were often lit on this night to ward off these evils spirits.

These days however, Halloween is simply a time to have some fun. Why not read on and see what some of the LSI students got up to at Halloween?

In New York some of our students attended the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Many of the LSI students wore halloween costumes and joined in the parade which featured hundreds of giant size puppets, musical acts, floats, circus performers and thousands of other New Yorkers dressed in costumes of their own creation. The parade stretched for more than a mile and always marches up 6th Avenue through Greenwich Village, a neighborhood known as the bohemian capital of the 1950’s and 60’s, and birthplace of the Beat Movement. The parade is touted as the most wildly creative public participatory event in the United States. Our students had a great time as for many it was the first time they had ever celebrated Halloween.

Perhaps next year it will be your turn to celebrate Halloween at one of the many LSI language schools.

The ghouls and goblins descended on LSI Vancouver on October 31st to celebrate Halloween at LSI’s haunted Halloween party. There were activities like pumpkin carving, costume making and even a haunted house!

Students learned about the traditions of Halloween by working with their teachers to organize and run games, activities and a very scary house of horrors for their peers. There were refreshments like chips, drinks and candy (of course!) and lots of great costumes. Some students that didn’t bring costumes were dressed up by their classmates using everyday things like string, tape, and even toilet paper with surprising and sometimes hilarious results! Students also put the finishing touches on each other’s looks with Halloween makeup and scary hairstyles. Halloween stories were shared, lots of pumpkins were carved and students even bobbed for apples.

Near the end of the day students with the best costumes paraded in front of their classmates for a chance to win prizes – and the admiration of their peers! Since most students had never celebrated Halloween before, it was a great chance for everyone to learn about a fun Canadian tradition!

James Munday, Director of Studies at LSI Brighton

English UK, the prestigious national association of accredited English language centres, has invited James Munday, the Director of Studies at LSI Brighton, to present a talk and workshop at their annual conference in London this November. Although more accustomed to the less daunting environment of the classroom, James has nonetheless presented workshops and seminars for various institutions during his teaching career, and relishes the opportunity.

“It is a real privilege to be invited to speak at such an event. Teachers come to this conference from all over the UK and it will certainly raise the profile of LSI, speaking volumes for the academic excellence we endeavour to develop here. Developing motivation in the classroom is not an easy challenge for teachers and students to meet, but I hope that by sharing some of the tips I have researched over the years everyone can leave the conference with something positive and useful”.

Enjoying the views of London from the London Eye

Following on from the success of the Young Learner’s course in our Toronto school in 2007, this summer we extended this fantastic programme to one of our UK schools, LSI London Hampstead. This language course, aimed at young people between the ages of 13 to 17, ran between June and August and attracted many eager students from around the world. Carefully designed to provide a balanced mix between formal language classes and informal language learning opportunities via the many social activities offered, the Young Learner’s course has proved to be a roaring success in its first season at London Hampstead.

Whilst only a 15 minute tube ride away from the bustling, cosmopolitan centre of London, LSI London Hampstead is located in one on London’s most beautiful and wealthy suburbs providing the ideal, tranquil environment for younger students.

“My parents choose this course for me and I wasn’t happy to spend all my holiday on a language course instead of being with friends. When I arrived at the course I had so much fun. I made so many new friends and my English improved a lot. I want to go to this school again next summer.” Hans, aged 15, from Germany.

Part of the explanation behind the successful introduction of the Young Learner’s course to LSI London Hampstead, may lie in the family atmosphere offered in the school. School director, Tania Valentin, offers the following insight - “Many people say that the school feels like a family because of the friendly welcoming atmosphere. We get to know all our students as individuals and are there to provide help and advice whenever needed. I think this is especially important for the younger students. Parents want to know their children are being well looked after.”

As a result of the success of the Young Learners’ programmes in the UK and Canada, for 2009 we have decided to extend the programme to the USA. In addition to the Young Learners’ Programmes at Toronto and London Hampstead, we will be also offering the course at LSI San Diego. Find out more about the Young Learners course for 2009.

Kaori Tomioka (33), Student

I really enjoyed spending my time at LSI London Hampstead, as this school was so wonderful for me. All teachers are so friendly, supportive and motivating so I was enthusiastic about their lessons. The atmosphere of this school is calm and peaceful so that I can concentrate on studying English, feeling relaxed.

This school has fantastic Cambridge examination courses as well. FCE course which I studied was well-organized, and helpful for those who want to take exams. I could learn reading, listening, writing, speaking, grammar skills efficiently.

One of the advantages of this school is location. It is close to Hampstead Heath, which is a huge and beautiful park, so I make the most of walking there.

The decision which I chose this school is perfect, because this school never let me down.

LSI International - A brand new booking engine has just been activated on LSI.edu, offering faster and easier access to information about all LSI schools and partner schools in LSI’s international network.

The booking engines is already being used regularly for bookings as well as enquiries at various LSI schools: LSI London Hampstead school director Tania Valentin is very happy with the system: “The new booking engine has facilitated booking processes for our clients and enabled us to show them what LSI London Hampstead is really like!”. School director David Immanuel David Immanuel is looking forward to implementing the system also for English Evening courses in the UK, English and French courses in Paris as well as for the English, Spanish, French, Italian and German courses offered at LSI Zurich and LSI Frankfurt language schools: “The feedback by students is very positive!”

ZURICH - Despite the Euro 2008 football champtionship LSI Zurich (Switzerland) German students are out and about on a Zurich cultural orientation run, communicating with local people to discover as much as possible about Switzerland’s history, from legend William Tell to local Swiss Cuisine, sites and the Swiss mentality. The students managed “really well”, said American university student Brad, despite this being the first week or learning German. “You kindof have to use your hands and feet a bit, but hey, I understand directions and most Swiss people already - they’re really helpful”, said Juliana from Brazil.