English Language Matters News

December 3rd 2009 News

 With Christmas just around the corner, we would like to wish you a wonderfully festive season, and may you spend the precious time with friends, and family. We know it is also a difficult time for those of you who are far away from those you love, and we hope that you are able to find a place where you can receive support and love as we celebrate the ending of the year and welcome the beginning of a new year. 
Our TESOL course has brought another dimension to our school, with ten teacher trainees being fully involved in their course and interaction with other students.  This one month intensive course will finish December 11th, and it has been a positive challenge for every trainee.  We wish them all the very best as they head off to find work with their new qualification.
The next TESOL intensive one month course will begin 25th January 2010.
We have not only birthdays this past month, but also the wonderful success of our students. We had a 100% success rate with our students sitting IELTS in November.  Our three IELTS candidates studied exceptionally hard with their teachers to reach the IELTS band they needed to achieve their goal. 
Phittawat Chittapraneerat, “Jeen,” produced an amazing overall band of 7.0, a remarkable achievement for a high school graduate.  Often, the essay topics are difficult for high school students, but Jeen followed our instructions and worked hard on his homework to reach the band which allows him to enter university in Thailand. Jeen left for Thailand today, as I write this update, and he was excited about his future plans. 
Mihoko Ui reached an overall score of 6.0 which allows her to apply for New Zealand residency, and she also received a work permit so that she can work as a baker in Dunedin. 
Roslyn Domingo had struggled to reach a 7 in writing before coming to us, but through working with us in the IELTS class, Roslyn is now able to apply for New Zealand registration as a nurse.
This month, we have four more students sitting IELTS, and we wish them all the very best and look forward to reporting their success as well!
On the last day of our school year, I will cook a big Christmas dinner for all of us here at English Language Matters.  I love sharing food with others, and I will cook ham and chickens, and serve it with my bread, new potatoes and fresh salad.  It is hard to believe that Christmas is upon us so soon, but on behalf of all those working at English Language Matters, I would like to wish you all the very best for each day of this special season, and please feel free to pop in and see us at any time.  If you are around on the 18th December, give us a call and come for our Christmas dinner!

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