AYA - Academic Year Abroad 20

I like classes and teachers! It’s so great to make friends and can learn some English slangs and phrases. But because I lived in Fremont, it was so far to go there. Furthermore, I received it the day before that the first day of class had to be rescheduled, and the first day was just an exam, which ended. I don't like this kind of operation

The location of the school is very convenient. It is easy to find even for those students who flew to Berkeley for the first time.
I really liked the organization of the training, which included grammar, reading, listening and game formats that allow you to successfully assimilate the educational material. Training is conducted by professionals who really know how to work with students from different countries.

As for my wishes, I would advise you not only to study at school, but also to involve students in joint activities, excursions.
After all, it is very important when guys from different countries can spend time and get to know each other in an informal setting. Perhaps the organization of such events is currently limited due to the pandemic.

Another wish is a personal curator who would be able to accompany the newcomer from the day of his arrival in Berkeley.
A beginner feels lonely in a foreign country and often needs advice in the domestic sphere.

I can’t say anything about accommodation, as the school did not confirm the hostel and transfer.

As for the atmosphere at the school, I was really surprised by the friendly attitude. Since I am a citizen of Russia, I expected hostility and hatred. But thank God I saw understanding and sympathy!
And I sincerely appreciate this attitude!

Great experience! I loved that the teachers are totally native, and being with a totally multicultural group accelerates the learning process, the location is very good because it can be quickly reached by subway, I highly recommend it, and I would take classes here again in the future.

Language Studies International (LSI) is located at very convenient place. Not only BART but also AC Transit buses will take students every places where they want to go after lessons. There are many restaurants near the school, so students can enjoy lunch from wide varieties of dishes , Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, Indian etc.
Another thing I should mention is nice staffs of the school. They are always friendly and kind. Though my English was not good, they tried to understand my points and did their best to help me. Their kind and soft attitude help me not to hesitate to ask them all the time.

The class operations seemed like flexible than solid to class curriculum on a web page. As far as students have questions or interests to class conversations, the teacher tried to teach English along to student's interests than curriculum. I took 4 weeks Business English course in June. The course had morning grammar classes and afternoon business English classes. The class size was seemed small than other months and i could have more chances to speak out my English. Especially afternoon class were changed to free discussion class than business English, the teacher paid attention to teach English to express student's own thought effectively. That was nice for me.

It was a really good experience for me.

First, the classes and teachers were great. I had two different teachers that always were trying to make the lesson interesting so you could learn more and they were open to answer questions and help.

Second, people from LSI are really helpful and friendly. They make after school activities everyday that helps to get to know different places, others students outside de classroom and make friends.

And finally, even thougth LSI´s facility were nothing fancy, it was ok. It was clean and it is located about a block from the metro station and not even one from YMCA.

I really appreciated my class and everything I did at school. My host family was nice even if the location was too far from the school.