EC London

I’ve been dreaming about going to England to learn English since I was 12. I began to learn it from the second year at school, and when I became older, I started classes with a tutor – my German neighbor. My grades were fine, however, the neighbor gave us a good discount, so my mom decided to take a chance. It fascinated me. I can even remember that I received different catalogs from different cities, where it’s possible to study, via email. They were so beautiful, I always enjoyed viewing pictures and reading about various programs and their cost. My family wasn’t affluent, I lived with my older sister and mom, who was a doctor and did her best for our family. I couldn’t even think about going to England. However, I wanted to go there so badly, I began dreaming that when I grow old, I will have plenty of money/high salary rate, and my dream will finally become true. Truly to say, I couldn’t believe that it might be possible back then. Now I’m 26 and I’m a PR-manager. Last year I changed my job, my husband’s business was booming, and I started to save some money. One month later I realized that I can save enough money for a trip to England. Nevertheless, I’ve never used any of agencies’ services as they were rather expensive/intrusive, etc. I used to plan all my trips by myself including visa application processes. I’ve been watching Marina’s YouTube channel for a while, that’s how I found out about LinguaTrip. I liked that the website was convenient – it’s possible to choose a course, accommodation and figure out the cost of a trip. However, I wasn’t sure what school and course to choose, and I requested a call back on the website. They didn’t call me back immediately, only a few days later, but it’s minor things. I had the following priorities: London, May of 2018, 2 weeks, intensive English course in mini-groups, maybe even personal classes, living in a students’ residence in the city center, and walking distance to school. Manager Ekaterina asked me about my trip’s priorities and budget. I got a comprehensive consultation, and Ekaterina suggested I go to another city in order to get more effective language practice. Since watching movies and reading books about Harry Potter in my childhood, I’ve always dreamt to visit London, so my decision was steady) Ekaterina told me about few schools, which were suitable for me, and about pros and cons of living near those schools. Right after her call, she sent me an email with different options with her expert comments. I chose EC London school, the course of Intensive English for work, accommodation in the student residence Chapter Kings Cross. I paid a deposit online and wrote a leave request for six months ahead. After that my personal manager Lidiya contacted me, also I got a confirmation letter from the school and letter for visa. I needed to print those documents and prepare others demanded documents in order to apply for a visa. Since my work relates to travels, and my colleges had processed their own visas by themselves several times before, I processed my visa application easily. I liked the fact that LinguaTrip does free visa application checking. I sent my application to LinguaTrip’s email, and a manager gave me some comments. However, I couldn’t change my application form, and the manager calmed me down saying that those comments are not critical, and the Embassy usually looks at documents, that I provide. Further things were faster – I got the visa, bought tickets, uploaded the information about myself and my trip to my LinguaTrip’s personal account, and paid the most part for my trip. Everything was easy and fast. Next, my manager was Marina. She called me and wrote to me clarifying if everything was alright and if I have any questions. Marina sent me a leaflet and some useful tips about life in England. I decided not to book a transfer. I bought the round tickets from Heathrow Express more than 30 days before my trip (if you buy tickets in advance, they are much cheaper, I paid 7 or 8 pounds for one-way ticket) to get to Paddington station for 15 (!) minutes, and then to take Uber (7-10 pounds to my apartment). When I arrived with heavy luggage, it was raining, so buying those tickets was the best decision that I never regretted. I enjoyed studying at a school in general – it took 15 minutes to get there from my apartment on foot. Moreover, there were a subway and public transportation station across the street to get to any part of the city. About my study: on the first day we had an online test on grammar and listening skills, however, we didn’t have a speaking test, which would show our conversational ability. That’s why I was determined in the pre-advanced group, although I thought that I have an Intermediate level. I learned plenty of new words and information during my classes. I noticed that there were students with better English than mine in my group, nevertheless, I didn’t have hard times. I liked all my teachers. The only point – I had an intensive class “English for work”, but it wasn’t really useful for me as 1) there were students with low English level in class 2) lessons during the first week were directed not on learning English, but on some psychological aspects – how to conduct yourself at interviews etc. Therefore, I didn’t receive any thorough information. The final online test showed that my English level had increased a little bit. At the end of my study, I kept noticing that my thoughts were in English (now I understand recommendations about language immersion), I even had dreams of English! I met people from different parts of the world, most students in my group were from Germany and Brazil. I made friends with a girl from Zurich – we walked around London together, went to the musical " The Phantom of the Opera", watched the translation of Prince Harry's wedding together with afternoon tea, went to Hyde Park and had fun at Aqua shard bar – it was the best view of London from there. We keep in touch with each other, and we are going to meet in other countries. Our schedules didn’t match all the time, so I visited some places alone. I was delighted with the Warner Brothers studio, where Harry Potter was shot (it’s a must-have for the fans of the novel about the boy who survived), St. Paul's Cathedral (now it’s one of the favorite places of mine), the Royal Court (very beautiful architecture), performances in Shakespeare's theater ""Globe"" – I watched the comedy " As you like it"". The trip was amazing, it’s a pity that I had only 2 weeks, however, I couldn’t get longer vacation at my work. By the way, my boss, who is from England, noticed that my course was beneficial for me. I enjoyed both the trip and the process of preparation for it. I want to thank LinguaTrip’s team for willingness to help at every stage of my trip, excellent service, and convenient website. Now, when people ask me the details of my trip and how I booked the course, and everything else, I refer to LinguaTrip) ...

"One of the first results on the query ""English courses abroad"" was linguatrip wesite, that is how I found a website and booked a 3 weeks course at EC London school. I used the service ""assistance in getting a visa"" to get it for sure and began to get ready for the trip. 24/7 support, including answers for all the questions and all sorts of useful tips - this is all about linguatrip team. The whole process from preparing the documents to getting a visa took about 3 weeks and I still had around a month before the start of my trip. Up to that moment I had been sent all the data about my host family. Before arriving in London, I contacted them to make sure they were waiting for me and I received a positive response. To determine the level of English you need to pass a placement test before the start of learning in school, this can be done online following the link that the school will send you to your email address. I got from Heathrow Airport to my accommodation on my own, it is convenient because there is a metro station right at the airport and it is easy to get to the city center. Yet it is quite expensive to travel in London by taxi/uber and I decided to save some money having chosen public transportation when moving to / from the airport /. Staying in my host family included breakfast and in the morning I was allowed to use everything that was in the fridge and cook myself as all family members went to work early in the morning. There are two types of schedules in the school: in the first case, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday you study in the morning and lessons last until13:00, but if you have an intensive course, classes finish at 15:30, on other weekdays classes start at lunchtime and last until 18:00. In the second case, students study in the morning on Tuesday and Thursday, and in the second part of the day on other weekdays. There are 10-13 students in the group, teachers try to find an individual approach to every student. The topics of the classes are currently actual, we talked about politics, economics, sport, culture, etc. The methodology of teaching in the EC is built on the constant interaction of students with the teacher and students with students. The learning process took place in spacious cozy classrooms. The only drawback was workplaces, they are too small and you will have to choose to put either a book or a cup of coffee on the desk. The location of the school is very convenient, just a minute walk from the metro station. Every week the school sends list of events that will take place next week. To join the event you are interested in, you can just go to school reception and say that you are interested in a particular event and you will be recorded in the list of participants. My trip was very productive, interesting and unforgettable. I advise everyone to use linguatrip when registering for a course in the language school. Do not think to go,just go, as I did it;)"...

I liked everything very much, thank you! A wonderful host family, which provided a comfortable environment accommodation. The teachers are very good, interesting, unusual, very pleasant atmosphere at the lessons, never was boring or not interesting. Well, London itself is beautiful, i visited a lot of places, i see all the interesting sights, museums, parks. We will keep cooperate with you, thanks to Linguatrip!...

School is good, teachers are great and high qualified. But i recommend you to take an intensive course if you want to improve your language skills. Big thanks to Linguatrip!

I'm satisfied with a trip. As some classes were boring all depended on the teachers: with some teachers classes were fascinating and useful, with others just useful) The organization of my trip was excellent, you are great fellows, guys! I'm thankful to Catherine particularly for her help)

A lot of people from my country recommended EC School and that is why I chose this English school in London. I like the most the way they teach. Before I came here I was worried that some of the lessons will be boring, but it wasn’t like that at all. In every lesson we played some games. Also they were always happy and made a lot of jokes. My most unforgettable memory of EC is to meet a lot of people from all over the world. Also to find a lot of new friends. And for sure the free time activities like Zoo bar and shoreditch Food Market form the Social Programme. For sure I will recommend EC to a friend, because I learned a lot and the teachers and students are very friendly....

I love EC! London is the best place to study! We went with friends, everything was on top! School is super!

I really enjoy my stay with EC and it'a a really competent school

EC London is in my eyes a great school! The team is super organized and cool, they are at all times so helpful! I was surprised about how much they really care about you, when you have a problem they directly try to solve it. Same goes for the teachers … they teach in a very playful way and they want you to take as much home as possible, not just new language skills but also good memories. All in all I can put my thumbs up and give 5 big sparkling stars for EC London! Thanks for the great time I had!...

Overall, I'm more than happy with the trip! London is a beautiful and vibrant city, surrounded by palm trees and flowers. The school was next to the metro station, which can be accurately attributed to the advantages of living for those who live in a host family. The EC school operates at a business center where not only every teacher or employee will treat you with attention and help solve a problem, but this is also a safe place, since it is well guarded. Of the pros, I can definitely name: the excellent technical equipment of classes and schools in general, comfortable good furniture, everything is clean and there is Wi-FI. No person here speaks Russian, in addition, I was the only Russian speaker in my class. Everyone knows one or two other languages, but this is not a barrier, for me it's the other way around - it's a motivation, because my goal was to practice language knowledge in a natural environment, learn to express my thoughts and speak more freely, which, I think, to me It was possible to achieve. In addition to a total immersion in culture and language, there were a lot of interesting activities at school and outside, which could be visited outside the classroom, which was sent to the mail every Friday. ...