San Francisco Student Feedback

We asked some of our students studying English in San Francisco with us to write short articles about their time learning with us. Below are three great articles we recieved from some of them!

San Francisco – The City I Love Most!
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
By Yura An (from Korea)

When I was in Korea, I had a fantasy. I wanted to go to San Francisco. I wanted to learn English and see a broad world. So, after classes ended and my school was over, I taught high school students and saved the money I made. I t was really hard for me. There was no resting. Four years passed and I finally came to San Francisco. I paid for school and a plane ticket by myself. I did it!!

Since I’ve been in San Francisco, there have been many things that have happened. I missed my family and friends in Korea too much in the first week. I have also been to a lot of awesome places in San Francisco. I’ve met many good friends. And, two weeks ago, there was a car robbery and all my stuff, including my passport, purse, and iPhone, were stolen. My teachers and friends helped me a lot. It was really terrible, but I learned many things.

Many things have happened to me, but I’m standing strong and trying to see things in a positive way. Although I’ve gone through some bad events, I love San Francisco. Being in San Francisco, but was a dream for me a year ago. I know that when I go back to my country, I will miss it here and these friends who I’ve met. I want to have enjoyed this time. I need to enjoy my youth in San Francisco, the city I love most.

God Bless America!
Thursday, November 17^th, 2011
By Daniel Bonazzi (from Italy)

This is a declaration of love; this is love at first sight! I grew up with American movies, TV series, Levi Jeans, cars, etc.  When I came to the U.S. for the first time, I came here to San Francisco because I have many relatives.

There are many reasons why I love this country. One is that things are always bigger than in my home country. However, there is one very interesting reason: in general, the young people love their job, and when you meet someone, they will bring up their job, for sure. This is a big step for happiness, because you spend most days at your workplace and if you don’t like it, you can’t be happy.

The Americans are very proud of their nation – you can see the U.S. flag everywhere. I have a feeling that almost everybody is happy about their life. They believe in family and the younger people save their money to buy a really nice home. Maybe in my country most people save their money for a luxury car.

The Americans care about their future, about politics, and other important issues. The U.S. is a place of dreams. It doesn’t matter if your father is a gardener, for example. If you have a plan, a dream, you can find investors for your business plan and become an owner of your company.

This is America; this is my love!

Learning English at St Giles
Monday, November 20^th, 2011
By Odin Gil (from France)

I’m a French student and I have been at St. Giles S.F. with the goal to greatly improve my English so I can have a chance at finding a good job.

If I am here it’s because in my country, the English classes are definitely bad. I’m not putting down the English teachers who do their best, but I’m talking about the system of learning English. I had 5 hours of English per week, during 5 years, but my level wasn’t very high. I had poor vocabulary and very bad grammar, but it’s because the English classes were very bad. Sometimes I didn’t understand something at the end of the class, and because I couldn’t practice, I never understood. The problem is that in France, we speak French during English classes. So when class is finished, we forget the English we’ve learnt.

However, at St Giles, all the courses are in English so you don’t have to think about other things except English. And, trust me, 4 hours every morning of English really helps – especially the way the lessons are taught. Sure, not all the teachers are perfect, but they are all very good. Certainly because they are teaching their own language and they’re better teachers of English than most others.

Also, I’m with two housemates in a host family and they don’t speak my language. So our exchanges are in English and it’s a very good way to improve. Sometimes I see students who stay with other students who speak the same language and I realized that their speech and grammar are not as good because they don’t practice as much.

Yes, after one month, you acquire some reflexes and your speech is better. For example, I was a little bit nervous when I had to speak English with the others at the beginning but after practicing and practicing my speaking skills have increased.

Finally, the multi-cultural environment is also very important, because each country has their own way of teaching and sometimes you can learn a lot of things about English. I have increased my vocabulary from conversations with other students.

If you would like to find out more about studying at St Giles with us, please do not hesitate to contact us at sanfrancisco@stgiles-usa.com. We look forward to welcoming you!