Hello guys. My name is Juan and I have been studying English at Langports in Brisbane for 6 weeks now.
Last year, I participated in a campaign called ‘The Ultimate Gap Year Queensland Australia’ and I was one of the winners. Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to come to Australia to study English in several cities in Queensland (Cairns, Noosa, Gold Coast and now Brisbane)! Taking a year off is one of the best things you can do!
You can go to places you never thought of and you will also meet people from all over the world with different cultures and traditions. This gap year experience has changed my life.
As soon as I arrived in Brisbane, I was very happy and excited to explore this big city. The streets are full of friendly people. There are also a lot of art shows and cultural events that give you the impression to live in a cool and modern city. Brisbane is totally different from Bogotá, the city where I was born and that I left 5 months ago with the aim of improving my English and making new friends.
My journey at Langports started in the middle of my Gap Year Program* and after I was immersed into the Australian culture. The first day, I did the classificatory exam to see which was going to be my class for the next 8 weeks. I have to admit that I was impressed with the high level this school has! Also, the comments I heard from previous students about Langports were actually true and I realised that as soon as I got into my classroom. All students were having conversations about business, diagrams, charts, and so on.
At Langports, you will find a totally wide mix of cultures. English schools with a high variety of accents are much better because you will listen to English pronounced in different accents and that’s a good thing for your listening skills. You can also make friends from all over the world, which is one of the best things about living abroad.
I am in the Academic English and IELTS preparation class. My teacher is Judith and there are about 8 students in my class. I am definitely excited to study the IELTS course and I find it really challenging for me. But I know that I am in good hands with Judith as a teacher. This is my sixth week of class and I have already improved my English a lot.
The next step is to keep working hard and studying a lot. I am thinking about sitting the IELTS exam at the end of the course to have an English qualification recognised by many companies around the world. I will also keep up my afternoon plans with Langports activities, friends gathering and more. In other words I will continue to enjoy life now that I am young. Life is short, isn’t it?
JUAN CAMILO LEAL
facebook.com/jcleal3
IG: juancamleal
#QGapYear
*Contest run by TIQ in 2014 in five different countries: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and Colombia.
More Info:https://www.facebook.com/studyqueensland/info?tab=page_info
http://www.studyqueensland.qld.edu.au/