Why everyone loves LSI Portsmouth and learning English in Portsmouth!

Our students love us! We pride ourselves on the constantly high standard of teaching, the quality of facilities here at LSI Portsmouth, and our great vibrant interesting friendly city Portsmouth.  We get lots and lots of compliments and the feedback we see 'officially' is excellent. We thought today we'd share some of the less official feedback we have seen, from Facebook.

Below, the very lovely Alex (who did one of our roof top interviews  last year) recently came back to visit us and here he is talking to Ross the Director of Studies for General English explaining how learning English at LSI Portsmouth benefited him with his studies when he went to university.

A great way to meet new people and practise your spoken English

LSI conversation club with Alex

A great way to meet new people and practise your spoken English

Finding people to practise your spoken English with isn’t always easy. Many students ask me for suggestions on who they can talk to in order to practise their speaking. Luckily at LSI Portsmouth there is somewhere you can do this!

Once a week after school we run a conversation club where students of all different nationalities come together to chat in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. 

I have been running the club for several months now and no two weeks have been the same. There is always a great mix of students from all over the world who have shared their experiences and told me about parts of the world, cultures and traditions that I had previously had no knowledge of. The topics we have discussed have ranged from Brexit to the most popular flavour of ice cream – there is no topic that can’t be discussed. 

I prepare a loose theme for the week, but the conversation generally moves on quite quickly as people bring in other ideas and interests. If there is anything that you want to talk about, this is the place to do it.

Conversation club is a great way to meet students from other classes and especially from other nationalities. It doesn’t matter what your level of English is, how good you are at speaking or which part of the school you are studying in – it is open to everyone. In fact, the more people that come the better. A few weeks ago we had a group of students from Oman, Spain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, France, Kuwait and Thailand to mention just a few. As you can imagine, not only did they practise their speaking, they also found out a lot about the culture and history of the other countries. 

Students often tell me how much fun it is and how they enjoy chatting in a relaxed environment. It’s a chance to make new friends and get to know people who you otherwise might not meet.

The most important thing with conversation club is that it is not a lesson. I’m not there to correct you or give you homework! The aim is for a you to practise speaking English with a group of friendly people without any pressure. So don’t be afraid – come and join us, meet some new people, practise your English.

I look forward to seeing you at the next conversation club.

        Alex

(Thanks Alex)  

9 Easy Ways To Improve English Speaking Without Even Thinking About It

How To Improve English Speaking

Learning a language can either be a dull activity or a fun activity, and it isn’t always easy to know how to improve English speaking. 

When you learn English in England, It is very easy just to go to school, come home and do your homework and then speak to your friends in your own language and put your ‘language learning’ away for the night. What you need are creative ideas which incorporate the language into your everyday life.

Below are some great ways that our teachers have come up with on how you can increase your English vocabulary and keep practising your English, even if there is no one to speak to ;-)

1. See if you can find an English conversation group in your English school, if you can’t, why not start one? (We have one here at LSI Portsmouth that Alex W hosts - come and join it if you are in the school at the moment).
2. Use TED talks, we did a little video a while ago on how to use these to help with your English. Our Video   www.TED.com/talks
3. Keep a diary in English. No one else ever has to read it, but just make sure you write in it regularly. (Read it aloud and maybe record yourself on your phone). 
4. Send postcards, either to your friends back home, or to your host family when you return home. 
5. Write your shopping list in English! 
6. Go onto English forums and post your opinions. 
7. Use LSI’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube page and leave comments. 
8. Get Netflix, watch your favourite TV shows in English. 
9. Find a ‘tandem partner’ and exchange language, if you are following an English course in Hampshire this would be very convenient, but this system also exists all over England. here is a link to the Portsmouth group https://www.tandempartners.org/en

You can only get good at something if you practise, so make sure you speak as MUCH as possible.

If you have any more tips, add them below.

Brand New at LSI Portsmouth - English Courses for Adults Over 30

If you are a little older and are looking for an English language stay in Portsmouth - this is the ideal option for you.

Our 30+ General English course is exclusively for adults aged 30 years and over; learn English with people your age in the south of England with one of the top language schools in the UK! The programme consists of morning classes with optional afternoon electives. It is a very flexible course so you can choose the option which best suits you, your language needs and your personal preferences: if you want to have English lessons in the morning and enjoy free afternoons, if you want a more intensive, full-time course or a course which combines language learning with British Culture.

At LSI Portsmouth, you will benefit from being in a school with: 

• an excellent academic reputation 
• top quality accommodation, from host families to self-catering residences to boutique hotels 
• a full and varied social programme to help you meet new friends and make the most of our beautiful city 
• great facilities and resources within the school, with access to extensive material on our Guided E-Learning platform 
• a wonderful location by the sea with a rich cultural and historical heritage

British Culture, History and Portsmouth
Portsmouth has a rich historical and literary tradition, so as part of your English language stay in Portsmouth why not discover it in the company of one of our teachers? You can enjoy our city’s heritage while communicating in English.
What better way to discover local culture and improve your language at the same time?

Click here to see the brochure

Click here to see the price list

Our Brand New Executive Centre Lounge - Revamped

The Face lift!

Our stunning new Business Centre Lounge - note the unusual lights! - designed by Steve Fury and hand crafted by Mark Hendry.

We decided to start the new year with a big bang and to completely update our Executive lounge. Since January we have been updating, or rather giving a complete makeover to our executive centre lounge.  Below you can see the whole process. So now our students who come to learn Executive English in Portsmouth can do it in style!

The Before Pictures:

Before

Work started

Work started

The During the Process Pictures: 
With our extraordinarily talented builders Mark (Hendry) and Rick (Elliot) - who also made the front of the building the beautiful feature that it is!

The boys at work.

During.

During 

Some More 'Reveal' Pictures of our Executive English Centre Lounge.

Charlies Angels anyone ;-)

We have to give credit to:

Steve Fury for the scoping and design concept http://www.designfury.co.uk/

Richard Jones  for the furniture: http://www.apresfurniture.co.uk/

Mark Hendry and Rick Elliot for all the building work and amazing lights.

Adam Travers and Terry Thorne for all the fiddly bits (and doing the electrics and organising the external contractors).

So a massive thank you to; Steve, Richard, Mark and Rick, Adam and Terry who all helped to create the whole look and transform the whole area – many thanks to all of them from LSI for doing such an amazing job!