I spent two weeks at Heritage English in November. Before
starting my new job as a risk manager at a car trading company in Salzburg, I thought it was
a good idea to improve my English.
I expected a lot, but got much
more than that.
If you want to know what total
immersion business English course really means you 'll have to come here. It's
definitely not only an English course because it is much more. You are totally
involved in the language because you are involved in so different unreal and
real situations.
Apart from the regular English training like
grammar (which Gail summarized really very well) and my personal topics risk
management, telephoning, meetings etc (Celia thank you for your patience), I
was suddenly placed to sell tickets for a charity-tombola at Lord Montagu's Palace in
Beaulieu. How did this came about? It was because of my host Pam. She had an
exclusive invitation to Lady Montagu's charity event and asked me for help.
Another example? When I arrived on Sunday at my
first host Kate, a birthday party went on. Her daughter turned two and suddenly
I was involved in speaking English with Kate's Mother, Brother, Father, Friends
etc. This was not that kind of imagination of my first hours at heritage
English than I initially thought of. But these two examples were not the only
one.
Just quickly
count some more of them:
Talking with the church goers and being invented by
them for a cup of tea at All Saints' Church, Freshwater, Isle of Wight
Watching the new James Bond "Skyfall"
Discussing with residents of Isle of Wight about
space rocket tests in the past
Buying in a kitchen store a grater (but without
knowing that the tool I was looking for was named as a grater)
A lot of different conversations during the lunch
with my teachers and during breakfast and dinner with my hosts and their
relatives or friends
As you can see: the difference between a normal language school and the
school of Celia and Gail is that you have both - on the one hand, unreal, well
prepared and simulated training situations regarding to your job and on the
other hand real "plunged in at the deep end"-situations for
immersion.
I enjoyed it, I recommend it and I'm going to go
back ASAP.
Gregor
Gail and Celia reply:
Gregor made the most of every opportunity to speak and learn, by integrating with teachers, friends and families. He was a keen cyclist and so we gave him the loan of a spare bicycle for two weeks. He cycled all over the forest and even to the Isle of Wight during his free weekend. Below is a photo of Gregor on a cycle tour of the sea path from Milford to Lymington.
During his stay, Gregor progressed from a low B2 (upper intermediate) to a low C1 (advanced)
We wish him every success in his new job as a Risk Manager in Salzburg, and we look forward to seeing him in Lymington again .... ASAP!
The risk assessment for choosing a course will be easier next time, Gregor ;-)
