Spring is here and there’s so much happening in Toronto.  Our beautiful city has something for everyone in every season!

If you like sports, come out and watch the Blue Jays play baseball.  http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com

…Or play some soccer with our school team.

Go on a 4-hour boat cruise party on Lake Ontario with a great view of the Toronto city skyline from the Harbour. …

 http://www.tnttours.ca/tours-and-events/boat-cruise

Enjoy Toronto’s parks and beaches…

Or experience a one-day trek through the beautiful natural lakes and forests of Algonquin Park, north of Toronto.  This trip includes a short wilderness hike, a canoe lesson, and a visit to the Algonquin Visitors’ Centre. Bring your camera…you may see a moose!

Take a boat trip in Niagara Falls, just a short trip from Toronto.  Even though you’ll be very close to the Falls, your blue raincoat will keep you nice and dry!

Visit one of Toronto’s world class art galleries and museums…

We also have all the great Fall and Winter activities to look forward to! In Fall, the trees turn brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow, and in winter you can go skating or skiing.

On Saturday April 20^th LSI teacher Alvin Alvorol and a group of LSI students spent a wonderful day at the always fun Sea World San Diego.  A wonderful young student and budding photographer Yannick Struempler took these amazing photographs.

Sea World is just one of the amazing and fun attractions San Diego offers.  For more animals you can visit the San Diego Zoo or hit the one of many beaches within easy reach of LSI San Diego.

To find out more about learning English in California’s loveliest location, visit our website or email us at info-san@lsi.edu .

All photos courtesy of Yannick Struempler.

Dave Thomas who is one of our teachers at LSI Brisbane has two tips this month to keep in mind with your language learning experience:

“Mistakes are an excellent opportunity to learn,” and, “It’s not the destination that matters, but rather the journey that gets you there.”

If you’re interested in learning more about LSI Brisbane, please click here.

ABOUT BRISBANE

Brisbane city is a modern and diverse subtropical metropolis. The city is large enough to be exciting but not too large that it becomes unfriendly. From shopping in Queen Street Mall to partying til late in Fortitude Valley or relaxing and eating out in the beautiful South Bank Parklands, Brisbane has something for everyone.

There is also Chinatown for that extra cultural hit or if you’d like an elevated and picture-perfect view of the city, you really should take a short drive to the top of Mt Coot-tha and just absorb the surroundings. If you enjoy warm weather, year round, Brisbane is the destination for you!

Please contact LSI Brisbane if you would like further information – bri@lsi.edu .

LSI BRISBANE TRIVIA

Q: Which was the smallest pencil that LSI Brisbane has ever seen?

1. The General English pencil* forged with the sweat of a regular student?
2. The TOEFL pencil* ferociously sharpened to double ends during a grueling 4-hour TOEFL test?

A: 1. Our trusty single-ended, locally forged General English pencil (congratulations, Jin Ho, you retain the title). It is worth noting that the outsider pencil, while not the smallest, still represents the quickest reduction in pencil size per minute used.

Q: What is the aboriginal name for Brisbane?

A: Mian-Jin meaning “Place shaped as a spike”.

Q: What is the modern name for Brisbane?

A: BrisVegas meaning “Place that looks nothing like Las Vegas” (ironic)

Q: How long is it estimated that people have inhabited Brisbane?

A: Roughly 40,000 years (The Jagera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans had lived around the Brisbane river for a considerable time period before European settlers arrived, but the exact length is hard to pin down.)

Q: Who is Brisbane named after?

A: The Governor of New South Wales in 1823, Thomas Brisbane.

Although this isn’t in Australia …..

Here’s something cool as well – the world’s largest panoramic shot of London! http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html

Spring is just around the corner, and we are all eagerly awaiting the return of the good weather. Some flowers are already out and the Pavilion gardens are already looking very beautiful.

This Easter weekend just passed was the start of the tourist season in Brighton, so all of the attractions are now opening – the pier, the Brighton wheel, the Volks railway, and the city is starting to get ready for the famous Brighton Festival starting at the end of April.

In the school, we have just finished a fantastic photography competition. The best three were judged by student votes and by a professional Photographer and show some fantastic scenes of Brighton:

1st place

2nd place

3rd place

These top three photos will be framed and mounted and put on display in the school for all students to enjoy.

Don’t forget that LSI Brighton is also now a Cambridge CBT exam centre for online exams! You can now book an exam preparation course with us and take the exam here too for the full LSI experience from beginning to end.

If you are thinking of coming to join us at LSI Brighton, please get in contact if you have any questions on bri@lsi.edu.

Our language school in Boston has a new look, and we love it! Among the changes we’ve made include a brand new, fully equipped compuer lab, a stylish and comfortable student lounge and a fun graffiti wall – graffiti only in English, please!

Congratulations to everyone who’s been involved in making LSI the best-looking school in town! Here are a few photos of our new look:

Computer Room

 

Student Lounge

Graffiti Wall

LSI San Diego is proud to offer a wonderful Young Learner English camp program in January as well as during the summer months.  Students from ages 8-17 study English in the classroom during the morning and then go out into beautiful San Diego in the afternoon where they can experience beaches, year-round perfect weather and a huge variety of cultural and entertainment options.  Weekend trips to nearby Los Angeles or other nearby locations are included.

This January, 70 young learners joined us here in San Diego.  During the mornings they got to interact with students from all over the world while improving their English.  In the afternoons they enjoyed activities such as the world famous San Diego zoo, visiting FIVE different San Diego beaches, shopping at the bargain hunters’ dream, Las Americas Outlet Mall, and travelled to Disneyland, Six Flags Adventure Park, Palm Springs, and a tour of Los Angeles during the weekend.

We also love working with the wonderful agency group leaders who work so hard to make sure their students have the best experience.  Claudio and Leila, pictured above, from International Schools in Brazil spent four weeks with us this year.  It was Claudio’s fourth January returning with students!  He is definitely part of the LSI family.  We look forward to seeing both of them in 2014!

Despite the cold and snow last month, everyone in Brighton is enjoying life as usual!  We have welcomed a lot of new students already this year, with new friends from all around the world, and especially from South America. For many, it was their first experience of snow and there has been a lot of smiles and laughter all round.

This month, we have a big group of Moroccans coming to join us. Its their second year with us, and we are looking forward to welcoming them back. In Brighton, we feel that a good mix of nationalities really adds to the identity of the school, and love to have students from all around the world.

We recently started a new evening class at the school. It is designed for students who are already living and working in Brighton, and can’t make it to school during the day time. We are focusing on communication skills needed for the work place and for living in the UK. If you are interested, please do get in touch. There are special prices for the next few weeks, and the class will be taught by our Academic Director, Michael, who is always interested to hear from any new Brighton residents looking to improve their English.

Our Cambridge computer-based exam centre is now open for business! Any students interested in taking a Cambridge exam course can now also book the exam with us, and have the full LSI experience from beginning to end.

If you have any memories or photos of your time at LSI, please share them with us on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/LSI-Brighton/287396341352978. If you are thinking of coming to join us at LSI Brighton, please get in contact if you have any questions on info-bri@lsi.edu .

Students at LSI Auckland were treated last month to one of nature’s most spectacular shows – a rare eclipse of the sun. From Auckland, there was 87% coverage of the sun by the moon; from Cairns it was 100% coverage. Some of our students took their own photos of this phenomenon – there won’t be another one for 18 years, so it was a very special experience for everyone who saw it!

On November 16th, a group of London Central students went to Somerset House
with their teacher, Jacqui, to go skating on the ice rink that appears there
at this time of year!  Somerset House is one of the most beautiful rinks in
London and a perfect place to enjoy the winter season.

It was a chance for the students to say thanks and goodbye to Jacqui who was
about to go on maternity leave. For obvious reasons, she did not join them
on the rink on this occasion!

We would recommend it to everyone else however – it’s a fun activity to do
in a beautiful location. One of the students, Shinji, said that “It was an
amazing experience, it was the most beautiful rink I have ever seen.”
Another student, Linda, said, “We had a very good time with our classmates
and teacher.”

LSI London Central is a language school located in the very centre of the
British capital.  We offer courses in General and Executive English for clients from all over the world.  London is a perfect place to spend your winter holidays, with a temperate climate, world-class shopping and some fantastic outdoor activities, it is a great choice for a study break.

For more information about LSI London Central, please contact us at info-lon2@lsi.edu.

 New Courses & Facilities at Brighton, & Making the Most of the British Autumn

We are very excited here at LSI Brighton with our new Cambridge exam centre! With 15 computers specifically set up for Cambridge exams, students on our courses can now take the exam with us too. We are planning to run PET/KET, FCE and CAE from January 2013, with more exams being added all the time. Contact us for more details.

We are also delighted to be introducing a new evening course. Aimed at people who are already living and working in Brighton but would like to improve their English around their current commitments, the course takes place three nights a week, 6-7.45pm Tuesday-Thursday, and at £35/week represents an extremely cost-effective way to learn English. Please click the link above for more information or to book your place on the course.

Meanwhile, the party season has started! Last week we held another great party at the school, this time for Halloween, with some really amazing costumes made by our students. The winners of our best costume competition are shown here. Students also enjoyed a very traditional English evening at the famous Lewes Guy Fawkes night celebration.

Now that winter is arriving, we recommend you fight the cold with some lovely Mulled Wine (traditional hot, spiced wine) served at most pubs around the city.

We would like to wish the very best of luck to our FCE students, who are taking their exam in less than month. We believe in you guys!!

If you have any memories or photos of your time at LSI, please share them with us on the facebook page. If you are thinking of coming to join us at LSI Brighton, please get in contact if you have any questions on bri@lsi.edu.

Busy Having Fun at LSI Cambridge

The annual LSI Cambridge Halloween Party produced lots of terrifying faces, some artistic carving and plenty of wet hair!

A lot of time and effort was put into preparing the costumes and the results were spectacular! Beatrice organised a Halloween Quiz, a pumpkin carving competition and the traditional games of ‘apple bobbing’!  For the brave, there was also a late night showing of ‘Boo!’

Hot on the heels of Halloween the annual fireworks display was a big hit with students. Over recent years, the Cambridge display has become quite famous throughout England and is now considered one of the very best!

A little quieter, but no less exciting, the Friday pub night offered the opportunity to sample traditional English beer (not fizzy and served warm!) at a traditional pub.
As well as being cultural, it also gave our students from all over the world a great chance to practice their English in the real world!

LSI Cambridge’s Bowling team were also back in full swing, with some great scores and plenty of strikes!

A little bit of skill together with a ‘whole lotta luck’ made sure that everyone was the winner. Next month, with our training done, we hope to go into competition with another Cambridge language school. They don’t stand a chance!

Improve your English

- Some useful phrases from this month’s blog!

• To put time and effort into something
• Spectacular results
• To be a big hit with
• To be hot on the heels of something
• To be one of the (very) best
• A little + comparative adjective, but no +comparative adjective
• A whole lot of (lotta) luck
• To (not) stand a chance
• To be in full swing.

Can you work out the meaning from the context or by using a dictionary? Answers next time!

For more information about studying at LSI Cambridge, please contact us at cam@lsi.edu