Queen Mary's University London

On Tuesday 17th August 2010 the English for University (EFU) class went on a trip to Queen Mary’s University. The EFU course is designed for people who want to study at university in the UK, either at undergraduate or postgraduate level and the visit to Queens Mary’s provided our students with a valuable insight into what life is like at a British university.

We arrived at the main campus, which is situated in East London and the opposite side of the city to our schools, at 10.30 for a tour. We were taken around all the main buildings and faculties by two undergraduates and saw the many student bars, shops and cafes on site. We saw some of the halls of residence and sports facilities and were able to get a feel for the place even though it was mid-way through the summer holiday. This was because the university was running its pre-sessional programmes and there were lots of students on campus attending lectures and milling about.

In fact, after our guided tour we were fortunate enough to be able to sit in on one of these lectures. We attended an hour long lecture entitled Key Changes In Intercultural Development Approaches by Julian Clover Ba Hons, MBA designed for overseas students. It was very interesting and all the students and I learnt a lot about how we look at cultural differences. There were probably 150 international students in attendance and the lecture included an interactive element where the students had to find people from their own nationality and discuss some cultural issues. After the lecture we had the opportunity to buy a cheap lunch in one of the university cafes and we then returned to school for the afternoon. All in all it was a very enjoyable day and the students were able to feel what it’s like to study at and engage with a real British university.

Glossary

• faculties - (n.) academic departments of a university
• to get a feel for – (idiomatic exp.) to start to become familiar with something
• pre-sessional programmes – (n. exp.) a course to get you up to the required university standard
• milling about – (phr. Verb) to walk or move around aimlessly in a small area
• an interactive element – (n. exp.) part of the lecture involved interaction between the students

By Ben