See something of England while you are here and practise your English at the same time.
The English Language Centre, York - Social Programme
There is a year-round social programme with, usually, two or three events each week during winter and three to five a week during the summer season.
In addition, every Saturday during summer there is a free coach to many beautiful places around Yorkshire. There are three main types of weekend excursion: Town, Country or Coast. The school tries to vary these on a rota basis to ensure that those students on short courses can get a diverse taste of Northern England while studying in York.
Town
There are many impressive towns within a comfortable distance for a day trip. Some of these feature national collections and museums. Popular trips include the Royal Armouries in Leeds, the National Media Museum in Bradford. Closer to home are the award winning Jorvik Viking Centre, the Castle Museum and the National Railway Museum in York.
Country
The countryside around York, and the North in general, has a picturesque quality. The area is very popular with TV and film crews, many scenes from Harry Potter were filmed in Northern England. For example the stations and villages along the North Yorkshire Moors Railway have appeared in numerous TV and film scenes. Yorkshire abounds in impressive large country houses Harewood House and Castle Howard are perhaps the most beautiful of these.
Coast
The coast of Britain is spectacular. As an island there are miles and miles of wonderful beaches, cliffs, and the jewels of the coastal scene, some very pretty towns and villages such as Whitby, where you can visit the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. For nature lovers there are many places of interest such as nature reserves looked after by the the RSPB and the National trust.
In and Around York
The social programme is run by the teachers and gives students a chance to get to know their teachers out of class. Students have commented on how good this is for practising English. Because the programme is led by teachers there is a huge range of activities designed to suit everyone.
In the past we have arranged the following trips and activities: a visit to Old Trafford - the home of Manchester United, and more recently to Anfield the atmospheric ground of Liverpool FC. We have watched English premiership games featuring Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. Ever popular on weekday evenings are playing footbal or volleyball, pub social evenings, sport on TV or table tennis in the common room, sometimes a quiz or maybe a DVD or karaoke, a university open lecture or just a good old chat.
Recently we have organised the following social events: International Food Nights, Quizzes, Treasure Hunts, Ghost Walks, Pub Nights, Karaoke, Theatre Evenings. We are lucky to have a great cinema very near the school and organise social evenings to catch the best films. See what's on here.
