More Exam Results

We have the results of the FCE exam taken in June and some recent IELTS results from July. Marek from the Czech Republic passed FCE at grade C - well done Marek. Antonio from Spain is working in England at the moment and he also passed at grade C - congratulations Antonio. Angela from Spain passed at grade C and she can now become a teacher - so well done Angela from everyone at HELC. Kate from Poland and Hsin Lan (Veda) both took IELTS in July and achieved very good results - so very well done to both of you. Currently, we have three Korean students taking IELTS in the next few weeks - good luck to Danny, Charles and Hazel.

Hikaru Climbs Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc, meaning "White Mountain" is the highest mountain in the Alps.

It is 4,810.45m high.

Hikaru Baba from Japan with 'Enjoy English' interviewer Lucy

Listen to this recording of Lucy, from Korea, interviewing Hikaru about his recent attempt to climb Mont Blanc with ex-HELC student Zdenek and two of his Czech friends.

Linda's Birthday

Linda, in red with 'new' scarf, with her class in room 10

Linda has been teaching with us through the summer and is finishing this week to go off on holiday but not before her class wish her a very happy birthday and give her a gift and a card.

Drama at HELC

These are three comedy dramas performed by students at HELC. We hope you like listening to them and perhaps we can add one or two more in the near future for your entertainment.

Hastings Pirate Day

Friday the 6th day of August 2010 was 'Pirate Day' in Hastings. The purpose of the day was to try and break the World record for the largest number of 'pirates' gathered in one place. The previous record was about 1,800 pirates.

Today, in Hastings, we broke the World record by collecting 6,166 pirates on the beach and we have now been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Some of the pirates in George Street.

Watch the BBC report by clicking on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10900288

I Want to Break Free

It's Friday morning at twelve o'clock and I'm working in my office at my computer and, as usual, from next door in room 14 comes the sound of Russell's class singing. Russell uses a laptop and a projector to access songs and lyrics on YouTube then gets the class to sing along. A great way to end the lesson and the week. Ian

It is Marketa's last day. This is her 'goodbye' picture with her classmates. L-R: Paloma from Spain - Hazel from Korea - Russell - Marketa from Czech Republic - Taha from Libya - Rick from Korea - Dara from Spain - Liz from Korea.

Beach Party at French's

The Beach Party on Thursday the 29th of July. After the success of the last event, French’s club venue invited us to attend a Beach party. Luckily we were not supposed to wear swimsuits as the weather in Hastings leaves much to be desired.

Inside the scenery of the pub suited the party theme. There were some beach essentials including air balls, paper palms and, of course, cocktails. There were no contests or other special arrangements, just loud music, lively atmosphere and good company.

The party started at 8.30 pm, but some students arrived at French’s late at 9 pm. At first everyone seemed to be shy, but after a few cocktails all the students cheered up and the party really started.

For some of the students this was their final night, which meant a last chance to take some funny pictures of their schoolmates and the last chance to rock the party. I must say, some of them tried their best!)) The party finished late.
Text by Evgenia from Russia. Pictures by Raquel from Spain.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Thomas, from Switzerland, pounding out the theme tune to everybody's favourite pirate movie.

A for Alejandro

Dear Ian,

I have just checked the result of my CAE exam and I got band A. I checked it 3 or 4 times to make sure that it was correct :)

How are you? I hope you and everybody at HELC is fine. Becky told me that the school is full of Spanish nowadays, I am sorry ja ja ja. Is any of them from Asturias?

I came to the city because of the exam result but since I arrived in Spain I am living in the village with my parents and my grandmother. It´s a really good life, everyday I ride my bike, climb or run depending on the weather and my mood. You should see how long and strong my beard is now ja ja ja. A friend of mine is trying to teach me how to play the bagpipe but I am awful, even worst than playing table tennis. However in September I will start to look for a job and I am afraid I will have to move to a big city, probably Madrid or Barcelona.

I try to keep my level of English and bought a Longman dictionary but it is not the same as living there. I am sure that if I took the exam now I would fail it.

As you can see I attached some pictures. They were taken 2 or 3 weeks ago.

The picture I promised to send you, me with the old tractor :)))

One of the entrance of the house, with the name of the family near the main door, and with the traditional Asturian wooden building called "horreo" on the left.

Here is a picture of the field next to the house where we have vegetables...

...and one of the orchard where we have a number of fruit trees, especially pear and apple trees.

Best regards for you and everybody at HELC

Alejandro from the village of Norón - Municipality of Tineo - Asturias - Northern Spain.

Congratulations to Alejandro from everyone at HELC on passing CAE and getting band A. Well done.

PS: If any ex-student of HELC would like to send me an email with a few pictures of where they live I would be happy to publish them on the blog. Ian