ESL Students

Anna Kosenko

When I first arrived at Aiglon I barely spoke English. My roomate at that time was a British girl and when she first spoke to me I could not understand a single word she said (well, her hurried manner of speaking didn't help either).

Then slowly I have learned English, beginning with lots of help from my ESL teachers, who slowly and comprehensibly taught me, as well as encouraged me to read and to speak in English.

Currently I am finishing studying  my A levels, which are Art, Physics and futher Maths, and, partially yes, it is thanks to the ESL department that I had a chance of studying any A-levels. That was because my English was boosted in the first year, which gave me a really good chance to do very well in my GCSE's and therefore to have freedom choosing my A-levels later.

I find ESL one of the most vital departments in a school such as Aiglon since it is very international and therefore for most of the students English is their second, if not third or -fourth language. Quite a few of them start learning English properly only when they come here, so they need to have good support from the ESL department to not miss out on doing as well as anybody in the public exams.

Emma Okamoto

When I first arrived at Aiglon I was twelve. I came into second form and I didn’t speak any English. Back then I felt left out since I could not communicate with anyone or even understand what was happening.

Being a boarder actually sped up my process of learning English since I was surrounded by English all the time. Friends and teachers were always trying to talk to me slowly about what was going on so that I could understand.

Being in ESL was my main source of improvement of English. The ESL class usually has a very small number of students who speak a similar level of English. I wasn’t very confident talking to friends or teachers because of my English. ESL is the place where I could talk freely without embarrassing myself. After 2 years being in ESL I moved to normal GCSE classes with native English speakers. First I was very worried but because I had help from ESL teachers, I could be confident and successful in GCSE years.

Now I am in Sixth Form taking AS-level Biology, Chemistry and Further Maths. I am able to do these subjects and take exams because I had special support for English in ESL classes. The ESL department is very important for Aiglon which is an international school. A lot of thanks to ESL.