Meet Jerry ...

Xinlong (Jerry) is a MSc Architectural Engineering: Environmental Design student at the University of Bath. 

Jerry has kindly taken some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us today about his experience on the English pre-sessional course which was combined with his degree offer, and gives some advice about academic skills and culture.

So first question Jerry, why did you apply for the University of Bath?

I applied for  Bath because this university has a very good reputation in the architect industry in the UK and the courses in the degree are very well organised - covered most of my interests. Plus, Bath is a very delicate town.

How did the pre-sessional English course help you?

Firstly, as this is my first time to study abroad, the pre-sessional course helped me start to talk to people in English, which made my following study much easier. Secondly, the writing part of the course was extremely helpful. I learned how to structure an academic essay in English properly. Thirdly, I met many friends who were going to take the same degree course as me in the course. Overall, the pre-sessional course was a very good start point of my study in the UK.

"the pre-sessional course helped me start to talk to people in English"

Were you surprised by the differences between the academic culture in your country and in the country where you studied?

Yes, the academic atmosphere in the UK is more active than in my country.

What differences did you not expect?

The relation between tutors and students is more like friends.

Do you think it's a good idea for students applying to an English language university to do an academic course/pre-sessional course to help them prepare?

Yes I think it’s a very good idea to do a pre-sessional course before the degree course for students who plan to study in English for the first time, even if your English level has reached the requirements, because this can help you to get familiar with the academic style beforehand.

"It’s a good idea to make clear what you need to improve in particular."

Do you have any advice for students who are thinking about taking an academic preparation course?

It’s a good idea to make clear what you need to improve in particular. This could make the course more effective. Also, try to engage in the course as much as possible, the more uncomfortable you feel during the pre-sessional course, the more comfortable you will feel during your degree course.

Are you happy with your experience on the course?

Overall I am very satisfied with my experience during the pre-sessional course. I feel very lucky to have met all the people in the course.

Thank you Jerry, and we wish you the best with your studies in the future.

Starting up Solas English

Our first blog post is by Deirdre, the owner and founder of Solas English. In this post Deirdre tells us how Solas English started and what she hopes for the future of Solas English.

I have been working in the English language teaching profession for ten years. In that time I worked in many different countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Spain. I also developed and up-skilled by completing my DELTA, and then going on to get a Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Throughout my career I have had great experiences which have given me many ideas of how to make English language learning more dynamic and interesting for the different types of learners. However, applying these ideas in the classroom was not always easy for various reasons, so I decided to build my own school.

"imagine you want to improve your English ... Imagine you had the opportunity to go online and find a language school ... There are no travel and accommodation expenses, no visa issues - all you need is a computer and good internet connection. 

This is what Solas English offers - not just classes but a school."

The word Solas is an Irish language word that means "light". I decided to use this word because, personally, it is nice to have a name of a school with my own native language in it. Not many people know that the Irish language exists. For me, the word Solas has a positive feeling to it. This reflects how I feel about this school - a positive place to learn English. Also, it is important that students can say and spell the word easily, and the vowel sounds in the word allow for that.

The idea for an online school seemed the best and easiest way to get started as a freelance teacher. I looked around at what other teachers and learning platforms were doing and looked for a way to be different to what was out there. The key thing about Solas English is the direct link to your teacher through Skype. While many schools offer a "log in and learn" type of model, I decided to focus on a "log on and learn" model. The difference being: you log "on" to have your own one-to-one live class with your teacher on Skype, rather than logging "in" to watch videos as your main way of learning. However, I did note that logging in to a platform was valuable to learning and decided to develop an online platform for students to access if they wanted to. This platform compliments the Skype classes I do with the students, so overall it feels like an online school.

Another reason for starting the online school was the ability to connect worldwide. The one thing I love about English language teaching is meeting people from different cultures and countries. I learn so much from this. Having an online platform enables me to meet people from so many places in the world. It makes Solas English very diverse and interesting for me.

The online option works very well for my students too. Imagine you want to improve your English language and English language skills, but you are not in a place in the world where there are good opportunities to do so. Imagine you had the opportunity to go online and find a language school at your fingertips with qualified and experienced teachers to work with. There are no travel and accommodation expenses, no visa issues - all you need is a computer and good internet connection. This is what Solas English offers - not just classes but a school.

"Solas English started because I wanted to turn those ideas into reality"

Learning online is a new experience for many people. A lot of people think because you are not in a classroom, it is not as valuable an experience. I find from working on Skype that this is untrue. Technology today can make things very easy, and the one-to-one Skype classes are very intimate and focused. I would recommend giving Skype classes a go. It's not for everyone, but you could be very surprised how much you like them and how well they work for you. There are many people who offer Skype classes now. I think it's very important that you find a teacher with good qualifications and experience. A good teacher to work with is important and well worth investing in.

"... it's not for everyone, but you could be very surprised how much you like them (Skype classes) and how well they work for you"

Solas English is very small at the moment. There is a lot of work to be done, but it will take time and determination. I hope to build the online school platform more as I go, so there will be more activities and options for the students. Hopefully further down the line I can extend and offer more courses and classes. I am currently working on IELTS material, and I hope to start IELTS classes in September. Ideally, it would be great to see a language school grow out of it, but I'm not sure where that location would be yet.