Week 1: English for IELTS lessons by Jessica Li

It’s a class for international students. I have had a class for vocabulary. It’s quite interesting because Clare told us lots of phrases, and how to use the words in the sentence. We learnt vocabulary by reading an article. In order to let us get familiar with the phrase, Clare divided us into groups (with students of different nationalities) to play a phrase match game.

Week 1: A-level Biology lessons by Jessica Li

For the first class we had a test about testing pulse rate. It really made me confused because I have never done this in China. The questions were practical. It needs you to think widely, guess reasonably and use your knowledge flexibly. It’s quite difficult to me, but the second lesson we began to learn meiosis. This is something that I have learnt in China, that made things easier, the only difficulty is vocabulary, lots of words that I don’t know. But after searching I could understand the teacher.

Jessica Li - first impressions

Why did you join the JLC A-Level Taster Course?

I am planning to study A-levels in the UK from September 2013 and wanted to get a taste of the A-level classes and the style of study in the UK. JLC was recommended by my agency as they know the college specialises in this type of course.



Welcome to Jessica!

What are your first impressions of college?

The college atmosphere is relaxed and happy and students appear to be enjoying their time. The buildings are modern and the campus large and it takes time to find the class rooms!

How are you finding A-level lessons? Which is your favourite subject so far?

I don’t really have a favourite so far but maybe after a week or so. Lessons are different from China – both content and teaching style. Biology is very different and difficult and I felt a little bit anxious before joining the class.

I have tried an A2 physics class and it’s really difficult. There are things that I’ve never studied before in China.



Jessica borrows library book to brush up on her biology

Are the teachers and what happens in lessons what you expected?

At JLC they are good and helpful and help you to understand. They are encouraging and try to help and reassure you that it’s ok and you can have a go at everything even if you’re not sure of the answer.
In China the teacher stands at the front of the room and teaches. Here the teacher gets close to the students and moves around. In China there is no opportunity to ask questions as there are too many students but sometimes teachers ask us though.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but the style of learning may suit some better than others, it depends on the student. I think you have to adapt.

How well have you got on with other students (UK and International)?

I have worked with other students in lessons – when you work on tasks in pairs. I have met other Chinese students but it is a bit tricky to enter a class as a new student as everyone else has known each other since September.

Gemma (from China) has taken good care of me at lunch time. She is a very enthusiastic student and knows everyone and has lots of friends.

What do you think of the JLC international centre?

It’s like a big family and anyone with any difficulties can come here. They help lots and solve problems.



Jessica's souvenir ID card

What are your first impressions of your host family / their home? What is it like living with a host family?

My family is very nice. This is my second visit to England and second host family experience but this is better than my than my previous homestay. The family has 3 children and they have taken good care of me and made me feel at home. It’s a nice old house, 100 years old, in the countryside. It’s really nice and quiet.

New student! Jessica Li

Yesterday we welcomed Li Zhe 'Jessica' from Guangzhou, China, to the college for a 2 week taster course. She is our first taster course student from China.

Jessica has been super busy since her arrival into the UK on Saturday so watch this space for updates and photographs - coming soon!

Looking forward to the first taster course student of this academic year

On Monday 19 November we will be welcoming Anastasia Badashova into college for an A-level Taster Course. She has chosen to follow a bespoke programme and will be sampling 6 different subjects during her two weeks at JLC - Biology, Maths, Psychology, Sociology, English Language and Art & Design.

Watch this space for daily blogs from Anastasia who will be sharing her experiences and photographs.

Lera makes the news in Scunthorpe

Day 10 at JLC by Lera Yakubova

Here it is… my last day at John Leggot College. It was good despite the weather. English literature was alright when we watched a Macbeth movie this time produced by a BBC channel. I also got a copy of reading suggestions, might read something from that list. After break at double IELTS I had a surprise from the International centre and a couple of my teachers. They all gathered to give a Certificate of Achievement stating that I completed my two-week taster course at JLC. They also got me a gift. Thank you all very much!!! The lesson of IELTS did happen afterwards and it was interesting all the information was very useful.

The rest of the day wasn’t long as my last period didn’t happen. At French we had a goodbye party for two language teachers of French and Spanish. So the atmosphere was a little bit sad in the end.

I had a really good time here at college and gained a lot of experience. Thanks to all the teachers who were teaching me these past two weeks. I hope I will have a chance to study at JLC after I finish school.

Lera is presented with a certificate in her final English lesson.

Day 9 at JLC by Lera Yakubova

Today my post won’t be big because a couple of my lessons were cancelled. But the day started great. I finally won the thing at Math I wrote about earlier. It really gave some sunshine to the day because good weather which was lasting for three days now suddenly disappeared. I guess that was the best of sun and warmth I could get. At ICT I finished my last project which was a jigsaw puzzle. I had fun doing it. Unfortunately, that was my last ICT lesson.

Day 8 at JLC by Lera Yakubova

Today I hadn’t had any lessons because I visited Bradford University. I had to get up quite early because it was almost a 2 hour drive, plus we got lost in Bradford itself. As it was an ICT trip everything was connected with computering and programing. First we had a small introduction. First lecture was about creating animation and making character movements. It’s really hard to create an animated movie clip. A three-minute one takes about six months. Can you believe that? After that we worked with java and made computer do simple command like writing “Hello World” on the screen. I’ve never worked with java before but it was really interesting to know about. After a quick lunch we had a last event for the day which included a character workshop with a lady. We had to create a character for a video game which was also supposed to have something in common with a movie. It had a title “Red Riding Hood” directed by Quentin Tarantino. In the end our Red Riding Hood wasn’t exactly a girl with a basket carrying cookies to her grandma but she really corresponded to women in Quentin Tarantino films.

Day 7 at JLC by Lera Yakubova

I think this was my most active and hectic of all since I’ve been here. First of all there was Biology. I wish it never happened. Although I got to know some useful information about kite diagrams and discovered how many kinds of grasses there could be on a field that looks green and you assume it’s just an ordinary grass. So by the end of this double my legs were wet covered in dirt but at least the weather was great. I don’t know what could’ve happened if it was raining again. At my break I met the Principle of the college. After that there was a double Maths. We were revising the previous lesson topic and had to make a poster on this topic. There was also some sort of math solving competition using distance remote control system. They weren’t hard but unfortunately I didn’t win. At ICT I was still working on Flash program and our teacher gave us some “chocolate” dip (it really tasted like coffee). At my free 9^th period local press came to interview me. I enjoyed answering their questions very much. They also took some photos outside of college. So I’m hoping to see my face in the paper soon.