Living Learning English - Bristol

José M. L. R.

My name is Juan Leza I am a 17-year-old boy from Spain and I spent two weeks with Daniela Thake and her children.

The last two weeks have been incredible, the experience was brilliant, all the trips we had done it, all the things we had eaten and all the conversations that we had were priceless.

The first day we came home the family was very friendly and each one of the members really wanted to speak with us. The first days we went to London and Cambridge, and we visited the things that Marin and I wanted to see, instead of the family deciding what we are going to visit they put as in c and give us the charge of what we wanted to do it and how we wanted.

The experience at home was incredible. The variety of food we had tried from typical English dishes to pasta, salmon etc.

The conversations we had we all members of the family were very kind and caring, and we learnt a lot from them, and they also learnt from us. The first days we were more with Andrew because he was our guide in London and Cambridge, the rest of the days we were more with Daniela, Emma spending time with them, with the lesson we talked about thinks that are going to be very useful for our lives.

We had enjoyed a lot the big garden that they had, either with the jumping on the trampoline or our chill spots in the gazebo spent few afternoons in the garden.

I will strongly recommend this kind of experiences because it isn’t just a vacation trip to visit London, it’s an opportunity for you to grow as an adult, learn English, learns as well to live without your parents and be more independent.

I don’t know if I will come back the next year because I have already made plans for the next summer, but I will love to come back spend a week or two with them, maybe in another time of the year, maybe the experience is different, and I want to try it.

Daniela and her family have done a lot of things for us, and we were so grateful of having them as a family.

Best wishes.

Juan Leza

Marin C. D. L. M.

I'm a french student who spent his stay at Daniela Thake house in Cottenham.
These courses were very helpful for me to improve my English skills specially in debate and speaking more generally. The complaint letter and the speech were good exercises, and it will help me a lot during my life. For me 3 hours straights are a bit long, it’s better when we’re doing like 2 hours in the morning then 1 hours in the afternoon for example. It’s help me to stay focused on the lesson.
The family atmosphere was very friendly and cosy. Juan and I were quickly integrated into the life of the family. Your children were very kind and specially Andrew who take us to London and Cambridge.
The food is incredible and very balanced with a lot of country variety like Spain, Italia, England(obviously) and many others.
The outings were very goods and it’s for me essential to acclimatise the English territory. This is where I had the most fun during the stay.
Living in Cottenham is very nice because you’re close to Cambridge and London, but you are also free to go outside for a walk or running and just enjoy your free time.
The garden is very nicely maintained and it’s a peaceful place to relax during the free time.
The house is nice and modern. It’s clean and there is nothing that is in bad state.

I truly recommend this stay for every teenager between 14 and 18, it’s a very nice experience that will improve your English skills and social skills. What's more, it will give you certain responsibilities that will help you to mature and you'll come away from this holiday feeling much more grown up.

Rosa C. F.

My name is Rosa, and this was my second experience with Living Learning English. I have to tell that I would strongly recommend this organization to anyone looking for an English immersion program. All the staff is really kind, efficient and helpful.
I spent two weeks with Katy, Ian and their lovely cat Dave in Minster (Kent). We had a 4 hour lesson every morning and Katy did It really light and funny. Every lesson was perfectly planned and We used different resources: Text books, News, films, radio….
She’s a really good teacher, She loves teaching and you can feel It.
Katy had planned different activities to do every afternoon: visiting beautiful cities, museums, castles, the beach.…. And She really enjoyed as I did.
Ian and Katy are very warm people. They were so kind to me that , I went with them to the cinema, to the bowls, to the pub with their friends…... They made me feel at home. Their house is a beautiful house with a lovely garden and I really enjoyed my time there. I will miss Ian, Katy and Dave
All the above, helped me to improve my English level ,much more than I expected. I feel very happy with my experience

Virginia T. H.

Everything was easy with Leaving Learning English. I booked two weeks course and the experience has been really enriching. I stayed in Preston, Northwest, and John Rutter was my teacher. John and Lin were very nice and kind. The location was fantastic: parks nearby, walking distance to the city center; perfect for free time activities. Lessons were perfectly organized and we used different teaching materials: newspapers, videos, radio programs, role plays, etc.; they highly caught up my expectations. My listening and speaking skills have been improved and I gained fluency. However, the biggest advantage was that I could speak English all the time. Excursions were fun and interesting at the same time. For example, we went to a theatre play, which allowed me to meet more people and work on different accents and comprehension. I recommend John Rutter as teacher and Leaving Learning English!

Дина ?.

Company Living Learning English organized my course perfectly! They provided me absolutely with everything: recommendation about clothes, transport, what to bring, gave me all modern and useful course materials.
Elaine’s and Patrick’s family was very lovely! I was so warmly welcomed, they did their best to make me feel at home. The food was delicious, although it wasn’t easy with me, because I’m a vegetarian.
Our lessons were organized properly, Elaine brought me different materials, for example, we watched videos, or read different newspapers and magazines. The teacher asked a lot of questions and organized many conversations, it was very supportive. The teachers there aren’t just teaching you, they entertain you! For instance they’ve shown me really interesting TV-programs, told me about events I might enjoy, invited me to a party with their friends (this was really amazing, I met a lot of very nice, friendly and interesting people!).
I’ve learned a lot, not just grammar but about speaking natural English. Before I came there I was shy speaking English, but now I’m confident, I’m not afraid to speak and make mistakes.
I’d recommend Living Learning English to everybody!

Yijin C.

I am happy to review my experience with my home stay family. This is my first time staying with an English family and I have realized that my English level has improved a lot that I am pleased with it.
I also did leisure activities with my teacher after my lessons, such as: cycling, Segway, gym, crazy golf, running and swimming. At Christmas/New Year, we went to London with tickets to see the amazing fireworks display and had a party with Dot brother’s family on Southbank near the London Eye. I had a traditional English Christmas which was fantastic.

Blet N.

Two Awesome Weeks With Daniela
Hello! My name is Ivan Bokhan. I’m 15 years old and I’m from Belarus. I staying in a nice two-story house in Cottenham , Cambridge. I will be here for two weeks, with Daniela, Deryck (her husband) and two nice children. I stay here with another student called Hugo. I’m really happy that I can stay with so nice family.

Family

The family is really polite and funny. I think that is good that I can talk with native speakers. They have a children, Emma and Andrew (7-years old and 11-years old) and they are very nice and polite kids. I’m spending a lot of time with Andrew and we become a friends. I didn’t expect that in these family they have a children and I thought that it will be worse that without them but later we started to communicate very well.

Lessons

This is very good that in our lessons we can decide the time of the lesson per day (we choose 5 hours per day) .

In our first lesson Daniela show us the fat book called “Phrases, Saying, and Quotation” and every lesson we need to take two frappes from these book and explain it. In the beginning it was hard but later it became easier.

In our lessons we work from the book as well as discussing exercises with my partner. And that was interesting and fun. Daniela reproduced texts for us and we listened to it. We had a lot of reading, speaking and working with exercises. I think that the main reason for this improvement is that I’m speaking English all the time. In lessons, with the children, on the excursion and with the partner. And I think that is important to think in English. I’ve been in England twice before, but this time was the best.

House

I was really impressed when I arrived. I went upstairs and I saw my room and it was awesome because the room is very big and we have our own bathroom. I shared the room with Hugo(my partner) but there is more than enough space for both of us. Our bedroom looks very big and clean and there are two windows so the room is nicely lit up the whole day.
But not only our bedroom is really comfortable. We live here in a big house, the sitting room as well as the dinning room are quite big.
Sometimes we have dinner in the big, nice and comfortable garden.I was extremely glad when I saw our house.

Food

I’ve been in England twice before, but this time i had the best meals. We have three meals a day. In the morning we always have cereals with milk and orange juice. After lessons we usually have a lunch. Sometimes it is something lite like omelet or sandwiches. Near seven o'clock we have a dinner. Daniela always cooking something nice and tasty for example pizza, pasta, risotto, fish or chicken. And sometimes we can try very tasty desert like chocolate cake or “pavlova” cake.

Excursions

Excursions was really interesting. One time we were in London and the other days we stayed in Cambridge.
In Cambridge we visited many different Colleges. For example the St. Johns college impressed me because it looks like the Hogwarts from Harry Potter. We had many activities in Cambridge, like visiting tho shopping centre, the Fitzwilliam Museum, swimming pool, aqua park, and I really enjoyed the boat ride in King’s University.

When we went to London we had the possibility to decide what we want to visit. So we decided to go on the London Dungeon. After this attraction we did a short boat ride which was very beautiful. We left the boat near the Tower Bridge so we climb to the top and took some beautiful photos and went by metro to the Picadilly Circus. The excursion to London was absolutely lovely.

In the end I want to say that the house, people, food, excursions was really great. Thank you "Living Learning English"!

Tetiana T.

Hi! I’m from Ukraine. I’ve stayed in Newport 3 weeks and now I want to share my recent experience.
To begin with, I want to say a few words about my host family. The family was very friendly and caring, because they were spending a lot of time with us. Also, there was a little baby, called Mollie. She was very funny and we enjoyed to play with her. They were like our friends: we were playing different table games, football, watched British TV series together and talking about everything every time.
What about excursions: that was really awesome! We got a lot of impressions and emotions from different places. We’ve visited Swansea, Burry Island, Cardiff many times and also the places like coal mine, mountains, museums, restaurants and shops.
Furthermore, I made a lot of friends. We really got close with the Spanish girl- Lucia. We had a lot in common, so we’ve spend our time together. There was also the ability to meet family’s relatives and friends.
What is more, the English program was very good. It was definitely appropriate for my level and improved it even better. I’m not absolutely fluent, but I can easily talk with others, keep up the conversations and talk on different topics. Also I improved my other skills, such as writing, reading, listening.
All in all, I want to say that I’m really satisfied with that opportunity. I’m recommending this family and LLE school for everyone, that wants to improve English skills, taste British traditions, make new friends, and , of course, spent the summer unforgettable!