Exploring the World

Students in Felicity's Lower Intermediate A English Class reveal their top three worldwide destinations, with hints and tips on what to see and do....

England

London
London is a very interesting and exciting city. It's full of museums, one of them is Madame Tussauds. You must see it because it's really special and interesting. I'd recommend visiting Hyde Park, it's the biggest park in London.

It's really worth seeing.

Personally, I'd go to Portobello Road Market, but I wouldn't recommend it at the weekend because it's too crowded.

You should stay in London for about five days and after that you should go to Canterbury.

It's a small medieval city. It's famous for its important cathedral called Christ Church designed in a traditional English-Gothic style. You should definitely visit the cloister of the cathedral, it's fantastic! The church bell (Bel Harry) is really worth seeing. There is a castle in the city, but it's very far from the cathedral.

Spain

Valencia
Valencia is a city in the east of Spain, it's a wonderful city and it has fantastic weather. Valencia is a small city so I think that you can explore it in 3 days.

On the first day I recommend visiting the City of Arts and Science. These are the most important buildings in Valencia, they are on the Turia River, they are some of the most beautiful buildings in Valencia.

On the second day you must see the city centre it's got great shopping and you should visit "El Barrio del Carmen", it's the old part of Valencia and it's very interesting.

On the third day personally, I'd go to the beach if you want a relaxing day and at lunchtime you should eat "Paella Valenciana", it's a traditional dish from Valencia.

I wouldn't recommend going to "Cabanyal" it's famous for thieves, it's the most dangerous part of Valencia.

Asturias

Asturias is a magical place if you want to relax, it's in the north of Spain.

On the first day you should definitely visit the Art museum, it's really nice and it's got typical Asturian art and craftmanship.

After that you must eat "Fabada Asturiana" it's the most famous dish in Asturias.

On the second day I recommend going to the natural parcs in Asturias, the scenery is stunning, it's a magical place to go with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Japan

Okinawa

Okinawa is located in the south end of JAPAN. There are beautiful beaches and blue sea.

Personally,I'd like to go to TYURAUMI Aquarium which has the largest water tank of the world.

There are three big sharks and many fish, more than 20,000. It is so beautiful and fantastic!You will definitely be impressed. I'd recommended to have your holiday in OKINAWA.

Osaka

OSAKA is a big city in japan. OSAKA has a lot of local specialities. A typical example is baked octopus,and a meat and vegetable pancake. I'm sure you will take to these local foods.

The people of OSAKA have a cheerful and witty personality. There are many Japanese comedians who are called OWARAIGWININ. You can see their performance on stage.

Recipe of the Month - an easy one!

Hi there - I'm Mat and I work in the Sales and Marketing Department at IH London. I've been here for quite some time, 11 years! and in that time I have clocked up quite a few air miles visiting countries and promoting the school.

There is far more to learning about a culture than studying its language. As I enjoy cooking and get to travel regularly to all sorts of places, I often like to entertain my friends and have themed events where I cook a particular country's food.

I had the opportunity to interview one of our Arabic teachers some years ago and this led me to looking into the food that is eaten in some Arabic speaking countries. The other weekend I entertained 9 friends to a Moroccan Day. Apart from turning my dining room into a tent and filling it with north African lamps and cushions, I had to prepare an array of meals from Hummus and breads, to Lamb and Apricot Tagines.

The great thing about studying in a large city like London, is that you can buy almost any ingredients in the capital. A great time was had by all, but more importantly, this is an excellent way to explore the language and culture of other nationalities and have fun whilst doing it.

My next event is going to be Japanese as I travel there in April – but you could easily do any nationality – even English!

If you fancy "having a bash" (having a go) at making Hummus – its really easy and delicious

(recipe for 4 people)

• 200g/7oz canned chickpeas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or more
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 3 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika or Cayenne pepper

Put all ingredients (except paprika or Cayenne) into a food processor and blend until smooth. Put into a bowl and sprinkle with cayenne or paprika and a little olive oil – grab a pita bread and enjoy!

Hello from Modern Languages

Hi bloggers!

I'm Claire the UK Sales and Marketing Manager at International House London. I've just started blogging so thought I'd write a 'hello' message.

There are lots of languages being spoken around the school and not just from our overseas students. You can learn 7 languages at International House London, which includes Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, as well as train to become a teacher of French, German, Italian or Spanish.

I currently study Spanish in the evening and have proudly progressed my way through the levels for the last year (from Elementary Continuation to Intermediate Continuation). I enjoy learning Spanish as it's such a useful language and the classes are really fun and dynamic. There is also the Modern Languages Social Programme to take advantage of, keeping you up to date on the latest foreign and cultural events in and around London.

London is a great place to speak another language and there are always opportunities to practise. Did you know that there are 312 languages spoken in London? This makes it easy to pick up a language exchange partner. International House London has its very own Language Exchange Programme which is where I found my partner to practice espanol with.

We are coming to the end of term now for the current evening programmes, but I'm looking forward to taking the next course in April.

Introducing IH London

Hi everyone,

Welcome to International House London's first foray into the unfamiliar world of blogging. I'm Sarah, the Online Marketing Manager at IH London. We're a teacher training and language school in central London, a few minutes' walk from Covent Garden.

International House London has been around for about 50 years, so we're pretty well established. We teach English to students from around the world; train English language teachers and modern European language teachers; run evening classes in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic; run cultural training programmes; teach professional English to business people; and run foundation courses for overseas students wanting to go to a British university.

I'll be using this blog to talk more about International House London - what sort of courses we offer, what it's like to be a student here, our teaching methods, and of course the social scene!

I'll end with a reminder about our modern languages evening classes. The next and final intake for 2009 is next week. You can take a 'survival' course over 5 weeks - where we teach complete beginners the basics of a language. Or you can take an 'academic' course over 11 weeks, which covers vocab and grammar in more detail. Academic courses start at beginner level, and go up to advanced speakers. Classes are small - generally 5 or 6 in a group, so you get lots of personal attention.

At the moment we have 10% off any of our language courses starting next week. You just need to use the code MLAP4 when booking online through our website.

The nights are drawing in and it's becoming a bit too chilly to spend evenings in the park after work. The perfect time to start learning a new language, or to brush up on a language you learnt at school or university. I for one will be starting an elementary German course next week. Hope to see you there!