ENGLISH IMMERSION PROGRAM IN CARDIFF

Last summer I decided to go on improving my English and I applied for another immersion experience with andalusian teachers. In this case, Cardiff, the capital of Wales, was my town for 2 weeks and I could live, study and enjoy their custom and culture in the South of United Kingdom.

It was a 50 hours English C1 course for bilingual teachers, led by a travel company called Inturway and the English School TEG Cardiff, where we spent around 8 hours everyday. While the most of teachers were enjoying their holidays, others were involved in intensive classes studing grammar, vocabulary, useful expressions... and practicing listening and speaking all the time. After classes, we visited museums, theaters, typical places, and also took part of activities like videogames, eating festivals and sightseing tours, sometimes by our own and others with native teachers who guided us in a professional and kind way.

And we could discover Cardiff. It is the capital of Wales so there are a lot of things to do, but it is also a cozy city where local people enjoy talking with foreigners and sharing their knowledge about this peculiar country. Places like the Cardiff Castle, the popular Arcades, Cardiff Bay, Bute Park or the National Musseum were part of our paths those days. And we could know the origin of the love spoons, the city of the enigmatic Banksy and take pleasure of local parties like street food circus. We also were able to enjoy two lively weekends because of a classical rugby match between Wales and England and the National Pride Day.

The accommodation was with host families, I mean, all of the teachers lived as a part of an Wales family for 15 days in a single bedroom and without Spanish speakers living there. So at the end of our days, we had to return to our homes with our families, in order to get a total immersion in Wales culture and share daily routines in a English atmosphere. I was so lucky with my hosts. Edgar and Clarys Gladys welcomed me as one of their children and I could taste their foods like Fish and Chips, boiled potatoes, welsh cakes or lamb with peppermint sauce (yummy), and talk about rugby or apple cider after dinner.

Taking into account that we studied a lot, we also enjoyed our free time, almost always speaking in English, of course. We enjoyed the typical pubs with live music, visited some picturesque towns like Swansea, Bath or Bristol and travelled into time to be hypnotized by the misterious Stonehenge. There was a hiking trip to Pen Y Fan as well, the highest peak in south Wales.

All things considered, we spent many hours practicing and improving our English in a real context. We took advantage of the resources and people around us and we are looking forward to applying this knowledge to our classes. I would like to end this essay congratulating the organization and the Junta de Andalucía for their work. This kind of program is really worthwhile.