Name: Catherine

Nationality: French

Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

My name is Catherine, I am 37 and I am on a career change. I wanted to improve my English and get the opportunity to travel far from France.
I compare prices between English classes in London and English classes in Australia and New-Zealand.
The exchange rate between euro and NZD is very advantageous for Europeans, ETC was the cheaper than the others schools and also it was the only one providing 3 meals a day when living in a home-stay family.

I arrived on the 8th of March in Palmerston North and start English class on the following Monday.
On my first day at school, everyone was very kind to me. I enrolled directly into the red class with Marie.
At first I thought that the level was easy for me, but it was not at all. It was exactly what I was looking for: serious and demanding work. I learn a lot. We read and discussed about various topics in class. It was very interesting to exchange about our cultures. Even thought I did not intend to pass the IELTS, I know that what I learn will be useful in a business context (ie how to comment a chart in English).

I really like the atmosphere with others students, I'm still in touch with most of them.
We went to a "farm fair" in March; we had a lot of fun there.

I really enjoy facilities at Palmerston North: Library, swimming pool, shops, Yoga classes, buses, coach to travel at weekends! Palmerston North is a peaceful city. From there it's easy to travel anywhere in North Island. As I did not have a car, I travelled by coach. So I went to Napier, Rotorua, Wellington, National Park, Wanganaui, Mount Taranaki and Auckland. There are so many beautiful landscapes in NZ, very different from Europe.

I also enjoy a French coffee shop (next to the library) with delicious cakes and croissants!

I would recommend ETC to my friends because the English classes are of good quality, teachers are very professional and helpful with students. Also the all staff at ETC are available to help students with any enquiries.
I wish I had been less than 30, I would have stayed longer !!!

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Name: Saori Komori

Nationality: Japanese

Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

Hi, my name is Saori.

Studying at ETC was one of my most brilliant experiences in New Zealand. I have studied at ETC for 6 weeks, and feel my English ability has truly increased. Also, now I am more confident to talk to other people than I was before I came to New Zealand.

In addition I was very nervous on my first day but everybody was so friendly, kind and helpful. I have made lots of friends from all over the world. After class we usually had an activity once a week. When I joined it, I discovered  more about my friends and different cultures.

Furthermore while I was studying at ETC I stayed at a homestay. This has also been a great experience for me because now I understand more about Kiwi's life-style and culture. It has also helped me understand the difference between their culture and my culture.

Therefore I would like to recommend this experience to others wanting to learn English in a foreign country.

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Name: Akiko Yamamoto

Name: Jingyu DAI
Nationality: Chinese
Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

I have been studying at ETC nearly seven months. I needed to pass the IELTS exam then go to Massey University so I chose ETC to study. My class is Red Class, which is the top class at ETC.

I felt nervous about studying in Red Class because all my classmates are excellent students, who have good English skills and they study hard. But they are very friendly, they always helped me to improve my English skills then we make a close friendship. My teacher is Marie Wilton. She is a very good and highly qualified leader. She gave us a lot of practice and taught us lots of ways to improve our academic English level. During that period, my English improved dramatically. Finally, I passed the IELTS exam in July. I will study Health Science (Psychology) in Massey University.

I was very happy to study at ETC. Not only did it improve my English level but also it was a great opportunity to meet many people from different countries. And ETC always arranges some activities such as ski trip, farm visit, BBQ and many other exciting activities.

Name: Yuka Yamaguchi
Nationality: Japanese
Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

Hi, my name is Yuka Yamaguchi. My dream is to be a registered nurse in New Zealand. I started studying academic English at ETC after receiving an overall score of 6 in IELTS; I decided to study at UCOL for the Bachelors of Nursing. I have now gained a 7 in IELTS each band.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the staff at ETC, particularly Marie who devoted many hours to correcting my sentence structure and to John and Shiho who gave me good advice and support.

I am very happy to recommend ETC to serious students who want to improve their academic English.

I am now going to apply to the Nursing Council of New Zealand for registration, and hope to start working as a nurse next year.

Name: Zheren YE (Ryan)
Nationality: Chinese
Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

I have been studying at ETC about half a year. I have found my English has improved. I remember the first day, when I studied in Green Class, I had no idea what Dennis was talking about. at that time, I asked myself, "Have I got into the wrong class or is my English seriously bad?" Then after one week, I found my English had a little bit improved and I easily understood the topics in the class.

During this half year, I made some friends at ETC even though they came from different countries. I found lots of funny things in Green Class and sometimes Dennis would go to the Coffee Shop with us to drink a cup of coffee and have conversation together especially when a student's last day.

I used to study in Green Class and now I am studying in Red Class. It is very different feeling between two classes. Marie always wants her students to make every thing perfect, so I just feel nervous at the beginning. However, even though I felt nervous and stressed, my IELTS obviously turned up a lots, especially my listening and writing.

Name: Raj
Nationality: Indian
Enrolled in: Certificate in English Language Competence

Raji came to New Zealand in May with the goal of becoming a New Zealand registered nurse. She had an IELTS score of six and needed to increase her score to a seven. She eventually passed the OET exam in October which enabled her to finish the process of becoming a registered nurse in New Zealand. Raj had no idea that it would take so long to pass the exam and she advises other nurses to get their level of English to as high standard as possible before they arrive. Raj says, "It doesn't matter how much experience you have, you must have the language, without it, you can't do your job."

Raj's hard work has paid off and she believes it is due to maintaining a positive attitudes and never losing sight of her goal. The most difficult thing was working to support herself and studying at the same time. Also the loneliness was awful, "the first six months, it was exciting...after that it was difficult...preparing for food, working, studying so I called friends, prayed a lot and listened to music to lift my sprit."

Raj's success has been largely due to the strategies she used to improve her English and to keep herself in a positive frame of mind. She joined the library, went to church services. "I was thinking it was one way to listen to songs, the priest's accent, and prayer as well." She made friends with other nationalities and socialised with them, texting, got their phone numbers. "I chose the way to spend my time to kill the loneliness."

Raj was also supported by her homestay and ETC. When Raj first arrived in New Zealand, she went into a homestay. "I spoke a lot with the family...every day I was learning. They took all responsibility for caring for me, took me to the park, cooked for me and drove me to school. New Zealand was really, really new to me, you know, so it was good to be in a homestay." She spent about five months at ETC improving her English in preparing for IELTS and OET. "I learned English at an academic level which is a requirement of the Nursing Council. On the very first day so many red marks on my essay." laughed Raj. "After four or five months my confidence had grown so that I could speak to people. The staff at ETC helped me a lot. I gained different experiences from different teachers and that helped me with general knowledge. I liked the flexibility of the teachers. Marie spent a lot of extra time with me after class in her own time. ETC is the place that I made many different friends, experienced different accents, different food. ETC arranged trips to Ten Pin Bowling, kiwifruit picking and the snowy mountain. I did not have that chance in India."

Raj chose Palmerston North because she felt the other cities were too big. "Palmerston North is small and quiet. It is easy to get familiar with Palmerston North because it is small; I am always bumping into friends which don't happen in big cities." For Raj, the highlight since coming to New Zealand has been passing her OET exam. "My parents are so proud of me. I am in New Zealand on my own. They are so happy with what I have achieved. If they are happy, I am happy."