Friday, July 25, 2014

Things to do in London in July



In a vibrant city like London, social events, festivals and tourist hotspots are never lacking; each month has its own series of event highlights so start filling the July section in your diaries. July is the perfect time to visit London, with the sun shining and giving you the chance to experience the rare British heat wave with one hand holding a melting delight and the other holding a refreshing beverage. What better time to come to London to study English with Twin?

Let’s kick off with some free London music festivals. From July 9th until July 25th every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunchtime and evening at the Scoop at More London you can join in with the variety of live music performances. No matter what type of music you are into, from lounge genres of the 50s/60s and London’s favourite Gypsy bands to rock music reminiscent of The Beatles era, there’ll be something to suit your taste.


If you’re not that into music, how about heading to the Real Food Market in Southbank Centre Square on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from July 18th to July 27th. The Real Food Market is a fantastic place to discover over 40 food and drink producers, and each producer is known to be promoting sustainability through the organic growth of vegetables. The Real Food Market is also a great place to grab a quick snack; try one of the local favourites like the Spanish churros and the Korean korritos.


Is that not enough for you food fans? Well, the Street Feast at Dalston Yard, held every Friday and Saturday from July 18th to September 20th, is right up your street, and you can get in for free before 7pm. It’s perfect for those who appreciate the cultural taste of street food, from Korean bibimbap, full of spices for that extra kick, to juicy burgers, topped with your choice of relish. If you can still squeeze in something else after this, it should definitely be some chocolate brownies. 

You’ve come just in time for the London Zoo’s late night openings on Friday 18th and 25th July. The Zoo Lates have a series of events and performances lined up, and you will get to explore over 175,000 wild animals including pygmy hippos, Sumatran tigers and various species of monkey. You will also be treated to food specialties from around the world, acoustic music, and hilarious comedy shows from the Comedy Den.


Thumbs up if you checked out those amazing churros at the Real Food Market! Whether you’re looking for something to do during the week or at the weekend, when it comes to finding something to do in London either during the week or weekend make sure you visit one of these hotspots in July.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

English & Accommodation Spectacular Summer Offer



Now, long time readers of our blog will know we hardly ever advertise here, but this is an offer we felt you needed to know about! Many of you looking to find English courses will often find that most companies always seem to lack in two areas. Price and accommodation. We believe that a well-rested mind is an attentive mind, and without decent accommodation, what’s the point of trying to learn? You’ll be grumpy and groggy, and will not want to pay full attention to the fantastic English course. With our super summer offer you’ll be saving bundles of cash and improving your English in next to no time.


Well what’s included?

Many of you are probably wondering just what is included with the course, so let’s have a look. First of all is the price. The longer you stay, the greater the discounts, giving you even more incentive to boost those English grades. If you stay eight weeks or more, the price drops to £170 a week, that’s a £48 drop from the original £218 a week! And for those of you, who only want to stay a few weeks, don’t worry! You’ll still get a great discount, so why not check the website for full price listings and find something that suits your needs.


And now to see what’s actually included with the price.  Well for starters, you’ll get your very own Twin two person room in a shared flat in zone 2/3 in North London for accommodation, and then fifteen hours a week of general English tuition. To ensure that the course is catered to your skill level, there will be a language placement assessment from the start to give you the best opportunity to improve and place you in the correct class. This will cover grammar, oral, and writing. You will also receive progress monitoring by the teacher every month and tutorials every fortnight designed to help you become the best you can. On top of all this is personal access to Twin’s e-Learning facilities, from the start of the course to an extra 3 months after completion! And of course, at the end you will receive a personalised assessment of your progress and a certificate of achievement, and the ability to brag about all your newfound English skills!


Where do I sign!?

Hold up, obviously there are a few conditions that must be met before you can take the course, but for more details and how to book, just follow this link:

Everything you need to know will be on our website. We hope you really enjoy our special summer offer, but do remember it’s not going to be here forever, so book soon! Have a great summer (while it lasts), and we wish you the best of luck with your English courses.

Friday, July 04, 2014

How to Prepare for Your English Exams



You may be wondering what we could possibly tell you other than that the best way to prepare for an upcoming exam is to do as much revision as possible. However, it’s the way you do this revision that’s important; sitting and reading notes over and over again will bore you and isn’t always the best way to revise. The way you organise your work can make a huge difference, as can the atmosphere you revise in. In this post, we’ll be giving you few tips on exam preparation, which we hope will help you to avoid feeling too stressed and make you feel as confident as possible. If you've been taking English lessons with Twin English Centres and are planning to take an exam soon, make sure you read on!

Advice for the exam:
- Check the time and location beforehand
- Plan your travel; how to get there, what buses/trains you can use to get there
- Allow plenty of time to travel there; never assume that the journey time the internet has provided you with is correct. If you think it will take 1 hour to get there, leave 2 hours before, in case there’s traffic or there are train cancellations
- The address at which you booked your tests will not always be the address you will be taking the exam, so ask your teacher to make sure you go to the right place
- Always read any information, rules and advice available to you about the exam you are taking
- Do not forget to bring photo ID with you if necessary, and fulfil any other requirements of the exam


Here a few tips on how to prepare for exams
It’s crucial you organise your study space well, and study somewhere quiet without distractions where you feel comfortable. Some people find that having relaxing music playing in the background can help them to concentrate, but this doesn’t apply to everyone; you may find you work better in silence. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time for revision, as cramming it in last minute rarely helps, (it will probably just cause you to panic). Plan out when you are going to revise by drawing up a timetable, and make sure you stick to it. Keep the area you’re going to be working in clear so you don’t get paperwork mixed up or become confused. Something that may help to avoid boredom is getting together with class mates and revising together, so you can help each other out with things you struggle with and maybe even have a go at quizzing each other. Make sure that when you’re revising you’re eating a good, balanced diet; ‘brain’ foods, which can help with concentration, include fish, blueberries, yoghurt and nuts. Also, make sure you keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water, as this can help you to stay focussed too.


Don’t forget to allow yourself regular breaks, so you can stay focussed and take in as much information as possible. We advise asking your teachers/tutors about what will be included in the exam, as they will probably be able to give you a good idea of what topics you will be tested on and what sort of questions you will need to answer. Different people learn best in different ways, so you should experiment with different ways of revising. Many people find it difficult to just read a lot of text and take it in, so often drawing diagrams and flow charts using key words can be a great way of remembering things.

Last of all, try not to let yourself become too stressed! Hopefully if you follow our tips and spend a good amount of time revising you will feel confident, and you should get the results you deserve.

Good luck!