My language trip to Bournemouth

Hey guys :)

Today I want to tell you about my awesome language holiday in Bournemouth, England.

Last spring I decided to go on a language trip to England. However, I did not have any clue where exactly I wanted to go. Nevertheless, I knew that I wanted to be at the seaside, so I began to do some research about England and I discovered an article about the Jurassic Coast which is in the south of England. I was totally mesmerised by the marvelous pictures of white sharp cliffs and this picturesque landscape. I knew, this was the place I was looking for, and so I did some research for language schools and host families which were near this place.

After a month, all the booking was done, with the result, that I would go to Bournemouth, which is situated in Dorset. I would stay with a host family, and the Bright School of English accepted me as their student for 4 weeks in July.

However, this was the first time, that I was traveling alone and so I was really nervous when my parents and my boyfriend said ‘goodbye’ and left me all alone at the airport in Vienna. Now, I was on my own but fortunately I was familiar with this airport, and I found the right gate very   quickly.The flight was calm and we landed punctually in London Gatwick. From Gatwick a driver from the Bright School of English took me to Bournemouth. After two and a half hours I arrived at my host families flat. My host mother welcomed me and took me for a walk. Sharon showed me the way to my school and the charming town centre of Bournemouth. While walking through the pedestrian area I was overwhelmed by the typical englishness which I am a total fan of.  After a while she asked me if I wanted to go to the Bournemouth pier. I was surprised, because I didn’t know that the sea was so close to our home. After five minutes through the lovely english gardens we arrived at the beach. I did not expect this summer feeling in England. Even though it was 8pm, many people were at the beach, having a barbeque or just relaxing with their family and friends. It was such a great atmosphere and I got the feeling, that this was the right place for me and my language holiday.

And now, after letting you know some of my first impressions of Bournemouth, I am going to tell you why THIS town is such a great place to do a language trip. First, there are so many different language schools you can choose from. However, I was very lucky with the Bright School of English because the teachers there were amazing. All of them were so nice and they actually did a lot with us students. They organised  the courses very well and every lesson was a good mixture of fun and learning. Ben, the headmaster of this school, also organised a leisure time program for the students which included volleyball tournaments at the beach combined with a barbeque, paintball,  the ‘friday-nights’ at the Bournemouth pier and a lot more. Furthermore he introduced us to Claire. She is a 19 year old girl who lives in ‘B-Mouth’ since she was five years old. Claire is responsible for the new students who come to school for the very first time and have no clue about the town and people living there, and so she introduces them to Bournemouth. She showed us the best cafes, pubs and clubs around the town, she went with us to the beach and organised the beach courts for volleyball. Claire was always there for us and gave us hints and tips on how to use our time in Bournemouth right. Through Clair it was easy to make new friends because she always knew an ice-breaking game or took us to the hottest clubs in town. The third reason why Bournemouth is a very good place for your language holiday are the people living there. They are all so nice and communicative. It didn’t matter where you came from, they welcomed you and started to talk with you. As a consequence of that, I was constantly talking to foreign people and I started to get more and more confidence about my speaking and pronunciation skills. I started to improve my English really quick and after a week, I got the feeling to be part of this amazing town. Although the town and the people are very great in Bournemouth, the landscape of and around Dorset was stunning. I went for a walk at the Cliffs and just enjoyed the wonderful scenery. During my stay in Bournemouth I  found a lot of great places and in each place I could relax and sort my thoughts. I will never forget this impressive view from the cliffs of the jurassic coast, or sitting in the marvelous English gardens listening to live music which was offered every day. To sum up, Bournemouth provides many language schools, fantastic sites and very nice people, which makes this place for me the best place for a language holiday.

Bournemouth Pier

Gardens

Jurassic Coast

In my next blog entry, I am going to show you some of my favourite places which I have found on my language trip in England. :)