From 16th July to 27th July I had the opportunity to attend an English course at St. Giles’ school, in London. Being a teacher involved in the bilingual programme at my secondary school, I am conscious of the importance of keeping updated with regard to speaking English, and that’s why I decided to take up this course in order to improve both my speaking and my listening.

On my first day, I took an exam to be allocated in the appropriate class according to my level. To be honest, I must say that I really enjoyed the class I was put in. The teachers were well-qualified, innovative and inspiring, which contributed significantly to achieving a real learning environment. Not only did I improve my English, but I also learnt new methodologies from them.

In the classes we covered all the skills, focusing on speaking and listening, which are, by the way, of the utmost importance for me in my daily routine as a teacher of mathematics in the bilingual programme.

Regarding my classmates, there were eight people, ranging from teenagers to a couple of women in their fifties. Far from being a disadvantage, this variety of ages and interests turned out to be a valuable source of fascinating topics to discuss.

The classes started at 9 am, and they finished at 1 pm, so I had plenty of free time after the classes. I decided to take advantage of this free time by mixing with the locals and getting to know London. As I had already visited London many times, I decided to go off the beaten track and explore areas of the city I had never heard of before this summer, such as markets, parks or bizarre museums.

Overall, it has been an amazing experience, both personally and academically, and I must thank all those people and institutions which made it possible.