We Had a Facelift - The New Face of LSI Portsmouth

LSI Portsmouth is a beautiful large eight storey 1930s Art Deco building.  While it is a lovely building, it does take a lot of maintenance, for which we have to thank Terry and Adam for managing.  Over the last year we have had a major redecoration project on the outside of the building.  The pictures below show some of what was involved.  The builders Mark and Rick with the help of Andy have done a fantastic job (and been great fun to have around), and we are now delighted to unveil the FABULOUS new face of LSI Portsmouth.

The big reveal!  We are so pleased with the new look.

Going back to the start, when it was very cold ...

 Mark and Rick braving the cold.

All covered in scaffolding and netting.

We got used to seeing paint everywhere!

And more paint!

Andy, Mark and Rick - proud of their handiwork.

Just so you can see how the look of the building and the surrounding area have changed, here is a picture from when we first moved into the school.  Note the cars driving past the building!  Now we have a fantastic cafe at the base of the school, new signage, and a beautiful pedestrianised area, but of course with that come new traffic signs ;-(

Approx 1998-9

Today! 2015

Congratulations to our Pre-Sessional Students!

We would like to say a massive 'well done' to our recently graduated pre-sessional students for all their hard work and commitment to their course over the past 4 months. Some of the students we have had to say goodbye to, have been here for over a year, and their progress has been outstanding.

We are so grateful to have such hard-working and dedicated students studying here at LSI Portsmouth, and we wish you every luck and success for the future. Our pre-sessional students will be starting their Bachelor degrees at the University of Portsmouth in September, and we are confident that they will all be amazing!

Here are some photos from the pre-sessional leaving ceremony last week, as well as a few photos from a delicious Arabic feast organised by one of the groups to say thank you to the teachers and staff that have helped them throughout their course.  You have all been fantastic to teach, your progress has been amazing, and we hope you will come back and visit us in the near future!

Happy ‘Official’ Birthday to the Queen!

Happy ‘Official’ Birthday to the Queen!

Did you know that The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year? Her actual birthday falls on the 21^st of April , which she usually spends privately, probably with her family and those closest to her. However, it has long been tradition in the United Kingdom, for the king or queen to have a second ‘official’ birthday which is held on a Saturday in June (the 13th June this year). This is because there is a greater chance of good weather for the Birthday Parade, which is also known as ‘Trooping the Colour’.

This military ceremony dates right back to the early eighteenth century, and involves an impressive display by the Queen’s guards. After this ceremony takes place the Queen then rides in a carriage back to Buckingham Palace before taking the salute at the Palace on a special royal throne. The Queen then joins other members of the Royal Family on the palace balcony to watch the Royal Air Force perform a ceremonial flight over the palace.

Her official birthday is also publicly celebrated by gun salutes all across London! There is a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London and a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park. There will be lots of exciting things happening all over the city and it will probably be even busier than usual in London this weekend!

If you aren’t visiting London this weekend, you can watch the parade as it is broadcast live on the BBC. Everyone here at LSI Portsmouth would like to wish The Queen a very happy ‘official’ birthday!

Songs and Swear Words - Some of the Advantages of being Bilingual!

What is it like to be able to speak equally well in two (or more) languages?  Luis and Frankie here discuss how they became bilingual, and give tips on how to learn a language (after all they are experts!).

June Vocabulary Calendar - Sport

All in a Good Cause - Oxford Fun Run

On the 9th May, as part of the LSI Social Programme, 35 students and a handful of staff jumped on a coach to Oxford to take part in the Oxford Rotary Club annual fun run. It was our first year taking part in the race, and we joined several other language schools from across the country in a 5km run around Oxford University Parks.

It was a great opportunity for our students to do something a little different, meet people from other language schools, but more importantly, to raise money for our chosen charity, the British Red Cross emergency aid appeal. The organisation has been providing much-needed supplies to the survivors of the Nepal earthquake disaster, including food and emergency shelter. The Red Cross volunteers are also searching for survivors through the rubble of the collapsed buildings and have recently built a blood bank in Kathmandu to provide blood to help injured survivors.

We were very impressed with all our students who took part, and although we didn’t win any trophies, everyone had such a great time and tried their best. We’d like to say a massive well done to David Losua, one of our Cambridge students from Spain, who came 8^th overall, and also to Nadja Patriarca, our fastest female! Even those who weren’t keen at running still walked the 5km route and cheered on the other students who were running the course. Everyone wore LSI T-shirts in the school’s signature blue, which were specially produced for the event. The students liked them so much that we will now be selling them in school (available from Belle, our Social Programme Organiser)!

After the award ceremony, we all headed down to Oxford English Centre for a post race BBQ with all the other competitors. We even managed to enjoy some rare English sunshine whilst we enjoyed sausage baps and drinks in the garden! Our students then spent the afternoon exploring the historic streets and buildings of central Oxford before heading back to Portsmouth on the coach.

 If you’d like to donate to our appeal, or buy a t-shirt, see Belle in room 305.

For more information on the event, please visit the Oxford fun run website:

http://www.oxfordfunrun.org.uk/

Belle

Strange but True!

This may be the strangest video you have ever seen, but it's a very very good tip!

From the lovely Nicki!

The Guardian thinks Portsmouth is FAB

It’s home to Ben Ainslie’s new sailing HQ and will host the America’s Cup in July but the city isn’t just about sailing, there are some great festivals on the horizon ...

Click here for the rest of the article.

The UK General Election 2015

Check your knowledge of the UK General Election or feel free to use it with your students!

Our lovely Senior Executive Teacher Jeremy Catlin gave this presentation to some of our executive students in the run up to the General Election - it was brilliant and so successful that we thought we would put it on the blog for others to look at.

To benefit the most, click the square as shown here.

May Vocabulary Calender - New Beginnings

Download and print our monthly calendar - pin it up,  learn all the phrases and by the end of the year you will have an even bigger vocabulary range!
For May our theme is... New beginnings!  Spring cleaning is out of the way and thoughts are turning to changes!

Delighted to welcome Paul Rosenmöller to LSI Portsmouth

We were recently absolutely delighted to welcome the lovely Paul Rosenmöller, the Dutch TV Presenter at LSI for an intensive English course here.  A man with such an interesting and busy life, he was kind enough to take time out to let us interview him.  

Andrew Edwards and Paul Rosenmöller

Andrew: You’ve been here for two weeks, but what was the decision process that brought you here?

Paul: I started to realise in the summer that I wanted to improve my English, my fluency and gain more confidence in English, so I decided in the summer that I would like to follow a course.  With my job it is quite difficult as there’s always the pressure of the work itself, so the first thing was to find time.  February in the Netherlands has a lot of holidays so relatively speaking it’s a quiet period. Secondly, I needed to decide where? I decided that in terms of effectiveness it would be better to do it in a native speaking country instead of just doing it the Netherlands.

Andrew: Why?

“Paul: Someone told me that following a course and stay in a host family in England is the most effective way to make the improvement. If you stay at home you are always disturbed with emails etc., but I wanted to give priority to the language.

Andrew: How did you find LSI Portsmouth?

“Paul: When I started searching for courses on the internet, there was a huge variety of possibilities, so someone suggested I should go via Study Travel!  I had never heard of them, so my secretary called Study Travel who gave me several options, one of them in London one of them at LSI. They were very positive about LSI in terms of quality and teachers and also with a good match with a host family.

Andrew: How did you do this? Was it an interview on the phone?

Paul: It was all by phone, all in Dutch, about my requirements not my level.  I was thinking about London. London is the place to be, visit museums etc, but then I started to realise it’s about my language.  If you really want to be successful, if you really want to give priority to the language, the city itself is not the most important thing, so I decided on LSI because of the combination of the reputation of the institute and the option of having a good match with the host family.

Andrew: So what type of things did they ask you about, your objectives, what type of course, what type of host family?

Paul: Yeah it was very professional, so Erika from Study Travel asked me several questions. Because I am more or less well known in the Netherlands it is not difficult to explain who I am.  It was important to explain what I wanted to achieve and what my goals were, and it was important, the match with the host family. She gave me good advice and suggested a host family that were a retired couple who were interested in all kinds of social, global and international things.

Andrew: Did Erika get it right for you?

Paul: Without any doubt, she got it right. Now I am nearly at the end of the course, I have to say I’m tired, I’ve worked hard, but I’ve made some progress as well in terms of vocabulary, and confidence. You start thinking in English, which is important. With the course we started at 8:00 in the morning. It is intensive, then it’s conversation with the homestay, then homework. The days are long and intensive but the focus is the language and that is the most important thing.

Andrew: You took a super intensive course, 25 hours plus an extra 5 hours and executive lunches, you have a homestay family, you speak English when you do the social programme. Was the course too intensive, would you have preferred 5 hours a day?

Paul: I am used to working quite hard. I was very satisfied with the first week, then there was the start of the second week, the second week was more intensive than I expected.

Andrew: Outside work you are a keen sportsman and keep fit? But not so much sport this week, was the balance right?

Paul: Compared to the Netherlands yes a little less, but I did four runs, running along the seashore and that’s nice, into the wind and with the wind on my back because  my host family lives five minutes from the sea.

Andrew: What kind of city is Portsmouth? Is it what you expected?

Paul: I visited the old town in the first week in the evening and the shopping mall, close to the ships; I walked around a little and got the impression of the place close to the harbour and the sea.  Honestly speaking I can’t give a very detailed description about Portsmouth, but this is a city that is easy to survive here, there are nice restaurants, nice shops, the location of this institute is close to the centre. In the end I am glad I decided to come here instead of London.

Andrew: We tried to personalise the programme to suit your specific needs, do you feel we got it right?

Paul: Definitely, I think LSI did a perfect job, the programme was personalised. The programme touched on different issues related to education and subjects I brought up.  There was a huge variety of subjects we discussed, there was the focus on presentations, debates, negotiations, sharing meetings, these things are important in my work, not that often in a foreign language, but a good way to make further improvement and so it was definitely personalised, different teachers with a different perspective.

Andrew: Would you have preferred to be in a small group like some of the other students here?

Paul: No, no I took the decision to do 1:1, it is very intensive, but without doubt it was the right decision, I think it is intensive, but it was good.

Andrew: On your first morning you were interviewed by Lea for your objectives. We don’t just train English language but confidence and skills and fluency etc. What were your key objectives when you started and how do you feel about them now?

Paul: My two key objectives were to first gain confidence, because I always had the feeling that my English wasn’t good enough, confidence is essential to make sure you make further improvements.  Secondly, was the fluency, and thirdly, to broaden my vocabulary.

Andrew:  And how do you feel now?

Paul: The most important is the confidence, I had the idea that I could speak at a certain level. You call it advanced; I sometimes have my doubts about that. (Andrew and Sue: “trust us it is!”) One of the teachers showed me something, which was good for self confidence; I gave a presentation, he counted the pauses and the errors, he said “during 6 minutes you made ‘slips / mistakes “so in terms of pauses and fluency it was 99% correct ;-)

Andrew: Do you feel more confident now, and listening and speaking in English is more natural.

Paul: There is still a long way to go. I can say your teachers taught me a lot, I learned a lot, I did my best, they invested in me, I invested in myself . But in the end in terms of confidence and fluency I definitely made progress. 

Andrew: What is your best memory of Portsmouth?

Paul: Depends on your level but my experience is if you really think you have a problem with confidence, go there. They can help you.  It’s really a major advantage to go to a country where they speak the language. It is the lessons at the institute, the conversation at home, the conversation with the students, watching the news in English.  I would definitely recommend doing it the way I did, I can also recommend your institute because I am very satisfied.

Andrew: What would you suggest to a future student from Holland about their options, where they go, what type of course?

Paul: I would say to someone like myself, go to a good school recommended by organisations like Study Travel, with a good reputation. Forget about whether it is a nice city, go for the language, give priority to the language. I’ll never forget LSI, or the host family in the city.

Andrew: Paul, it’s been such a pleasure having you study here, thank you so much for speaking to us here and allowing us to print this – we now hope to get lots and lots of students on the back of this, so we are incredibly grateful to you.

Study Travel in Netherlands

Wikipedia Page for Paul Rosenmöller (in English)

Paul Rosenmöller is a Dutch television presenter and former politician and trade unionist. Between 1989 and 2003, he was member of the Dutch House of Representatives for GroenLinks. After leaving politics, Rosenmöller became a TV presenter for the IKON, an oecumenical broadcasting organisation. He also chairs PAVEM, a government advisory committee on the position of migrant women, in which Princess Máxima has a seat.  He is married and has 5 children.

Colourful Southsea in Pictures.

For a lot of us who live and work in Portsmouth, it can be easy to take the city for granted and forget what an interesting place it is.  It isn't Brighton, it isn't London but it has it's own charm.  Here are a few pictures just to show the fun side of Portsmouth.

A Bizarre and Scary Way to Spend Your Evening?

At LSI, we are very proud of our full and varied Social programme, particularly our weekly ‘Nights Out’. From dance parties to fundraisers, usually held on a Thursday, our Nights Out are some of the best activities on the social calendar, and a great chance for our students to unwind, meet new friends, and have a good time! However, there is one activity that proves to be a real hit with all our students, and that is our karaoke parties!

Our karaoke parties were originally started by Hugo, an English teacher and DJ, who sadly left us at the end of last year. He was a HUGE fan of karaoke, and could never resist the urge to get up on stage and rap for the students! After he left, his legacy was continued by Belle, our Social Programme Organiser, and the karaoke parties now happen on a fortnightly basis. The parties also attract ex-LSI students who are still living in Portsmouth, as well as loads of our teachers and staff members.

Some of you may have your reservations about karaoke, you might think singing in front of a large crowd of strangers as a bizarre and scary way to spend your evening! But believe it or not, karaoke is fun. Serious fun. Apart from the friendly staff serving delicious drinks, a HUGE repertoire of songs to choose from, and a great overall atmosphere, the DJ also plays international songs and chart hits, which always gets everyone partying together on the dance floor. And of course, singing is optional; most people just come along for the fun.

Check out some of the photos from our karaoke parties, and if you are a student currently studying at LSI, make sure you’re at the next one!!! They really are a highlight for many of our students!

BDH.

April Vocabulary Calendar - Weather Words

Download and print our monthly calendar - pin it up,  learn all the phrases and by the end of the year you will have an even bigger vocabulary range!
For April our theme is... Weather!  April always has interesting weather in Britain, here are some of the phrases you might need.

The Social Programme at Portsmouth

Early summer last year saw the lovely Belle join us to become the new Social Programme Organiser for the General English side of the school.  Well ... the social programme has been transformed!  The students now have something to do every day, and that includes Saturdays as well. Lots and lots of new exciting events and parties have been organised; sporty, cultural and fun, something for everyone.  Belle is pretty much like the Duracell Bunny.

We recently did a rooftop interview with Belle, to show what kind of events are on offer to the students. Do watch as Belle explains the different types of event, the most popular events and why students should join in. 

If you would like to know more about Belle, here is a post from when she joined the school.
Welcoming Belle to the Party

Looking for New Teachers to Join Us!

More Information Here

Night on the Town - Executive students in Old Portsmouth

One of the trips our executive students have is a meal out in Old Portsmouth near the fish market.  Vincent, a past student here at LSI, sent in this photo that was taken down on the Camber in Old Portsmouth. We love the way it captures the spirit of the evening and also features the beautiful Spinnaker Tower in the background.

International Day of Happiness! Rewind to last year!

This is what LSI Portsmouth did last year as our part towards the day, and it certainly made our lives happier ;-)

In 2012 the UN declared the 20th March as the International Day of Happiness, aimed at making people from all walks of life's lives better.  

This is what they say on the official page:

"Aim

The day recognizes that happiness is a fundamental human goal, and calls upon countries to approach public policies in ways that improve the well being of all peoples.

By designating a special day for happiness, the UN aims to focus world attention on the idea that economic growth must be inclusive, equitable, and balanced, such that it promotes sustainable development, and alleviates poverty. Additionally the UN acknowledges that in order to attain global happiness, economic development must be accompanied by social and environmental well being."

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/happiness-day

St Patrick's Day with LSI Portsmouth.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day!!

Today is the 17^th March, otherwise know as St. Patrick’s Day, named after the patron saint of Ireland. People here in the United Kingdom, often celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, by attending festivals, parties and parades all over the country, or simply by going to their local pub and enjoying a 'pint of the black stuff', otherwise known as Guinness.

St. Patrick was the man responsible for bringing Christianity to Ireland, and was believed to have died on 17^th March sometime during the 5^th Century. However, the modern origin of St. Patrick’s Day only dates back to 1631, where the Vatican officially recognised the date, and St. Patrick’s Day became celebrated as a religious day of feasting.

Considering its religious roots, St. Patrick’s Day is often celebrated by drinking Guinness, an Irish dry stout with a particular taste that some people love, and some people hate! In fact, it is so popular, that it is estimated that over 13 million pints of Guinness are drunk every St. Patrick’s Day! That’s a lot of stout!! In recent years, St. Patrick’s Day has become a great excuse to have a fun, and has officially been named ‘the friendliest day of the year’. 

So if you want to experience ‘the friendliest day of the year’ by having a sip on your first pint of Guinness, head out in Portsmouth tonight, and you will be greeted by a lot of smiling faces, and people dressed in green! As part of our Social Programme, we will be celebrating at one of our favourite local pubs, playing games, dancing along to some traditional Irish tunes, and maybe enjoying a pint of the black stuff.  If you are busy tonight but would like to join in the fun at the weekend, there will be a fantastic night of Irish music from our very own Vice Principal Lea Brophy. See the poster above.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everybody! 

Comic Relief at LSI Portsmouth

What is Red Nose Day and Comic Relief?

You may have seen normal people wearing red noses on Friday 13^th March, and perhaps doing silly things. Wearing a red nose for the day may seem really odd, but Red Nose Day is in fact a big fundraising campaign that aims to raise money for a charity called Comic Relief. The idea behind Red Nose Day is simple; just buy and wear a red nose! The money raised helps people in need in the UK and also in Africa.

How did it start?

Comic Relief was started 30 years ago by the famous English scriptwriter Richard Curtis, and comedian Lenny Henry, who together decided to start Comic Relief as a response to the severe famine in Ethiopia. Their idea was to use comedy and laughter as a way to get people to donate money, and also to get across messages about social injustice in the world.

Every Red Nose Day, there is an evening telethon, full of live entertainment, comedy sketches, and also news reports that explain how the money raised will be spent. During the telethon, people from all over the country donate money, and the last Comic Relief in 2013 raised over £75 million!!

At LSI we wanted to do our bit to help, so we sold red nose cupcakes handcrafted by our fantastic interns  Thea and Marianna. These were sold at our Friday Leavers’ Ceremony and we managed to raise £125.16.  Thanks to all our students who bought a cake or donated some money; LSI are extremely happy to do our bit for this amazing cause.

What Type of Student Are You?

It's Red Nose week so for fun we made a quiz. What type of student are you? take the quiz and find out.

Don't forget to share it with your friends.

Revamped Study Centre - All systems Go.

LSI Portsmouth is always trying to ensure our students have the best facilities possible to make their stay and their study as good as it can be.  
With this in mind we started last year to upgrade our study centre.  Over the year we have completely revamped the centre with brand new computers, brand new furniture, lots and lots of new study materials, free Guided Online Learning and the addition of plug-ins for mobile devices on the desks ;-) (we try and think of everything ).  Added to this we now have teacher support available every day.  Becky Scott heads the team of teachers of Joel, Anisa and Tom, and in the video below gives a brief overview of what is available for our students in the lovely new centre.

Here's a short video from Becky to explain what you can do in the centre.

Below are a few pictures showing the transformation over the last year.  
With thanks to Adam, Nick, Nicki P, Man from Taylor Made, Becky, Joel, Anisa, Tom, Terry and everyone else who helped the process along.

Adam doing his thing

Nick playing with cardboard

Nick in the picture again ;-) with Nicki P

Man from Taylor Made setting up the computers 

From left: Nicki P, Anisa, Joel, Becky and Tom.

All the new computers

Showing the Teacher support station