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Japanese bar food – Megan Gouw
An interesting food to go with drinks!
Read MoreWilliam Roberts: France, June 2018
Spending time abroad with friends
Travelling abroad is one of the best ways to not only make new friends but to catch up with your old mates too 🙂
Read MoreA big thank you to the John Speak Language Trust! Samantha Fernandes – Japan
I would like to say a big thank you to the John Speak Language Trust for supporting language students from England. As English is a worldwide lingua franca, often the importance of supporting careers in foreign languages is overlooked. It is wonderful to know that there are organisations such as the John Speak Language Trust…
Read MoreGolden Week, China – Charlotte McGarry, October 2016
每年在十月份期间中国人有一周的假期来庆祝庆节，叫 ‘黄金周’。很多中国人趁着这个机会到国内和国外各种地方去旅游。我们班的学生也不例外，同学们之间去了十个多城市在三个的国家。我跟我的同学恩诺去苏州和上海。 我们参观第一座城市是苏州，江苏省东南部的一个地级市。该城市因漂亮的运河和花园而出名。 我们花了整天沿着运河走，参观苏州最为优秀的花园，不停地吃各种各样的可爱小吃。最初我们打算花整个假期在苏州，但看地图之后而发现了苏州到上海的距离多么近我们 那一刻就决定绕路去上海。上海是中国文化和经济中心，比苏州繁华得多。我们参观了该城市大部分的名胜，如外滩，人民工场之类的。当初上海的热闹气氛对我有很多诱惑力但过了不久我们累了要命，花整天在这么挤满的城市 东奔西跑 让我们烦躁不堪。 总而言是，黄金周去旅行是个不能错过的机会，让你自己体验中国各个地方之间的文化和语言区别以及玩的很疯! 不过我推荐去旅游之前要心理准备一下, 只有在中国黄金周去过旅游，才能真正地明白’人山人海’的意思！ Every year in October, China has a week of holiday, called ‘Golden Week’ to celebrate its National Day. A lot of Chinese people take this opportunity to travel, both within the country and abroad. Us exchange students were no exception; between us, we went to…
Read MoreAndy Newton – Hakata, Japan – March 2016
6月前に僕の友達の映画会に所属している先輩を手伝ったことが思い出せますか。じゃー昨日ね、九州で映画が出ました。日本人の友達と見に行きました。人が多いかもだと思ったのであらかじめ博多のカナルシティーへ切符を買いに行っておきました。切符を買った後で余暇の一時間がありました。 ペコペコでしたから、お食事処を探そうとしましたが、生憎、全部はまだ開いていませんでした。後には、ちょっと迷ってしまって、博多の売春街にいることを思い出しました。ゲロゲロのような違和感が襲いました。びっくりしましたが、好奇心からそこへ歩いていきました。窓の後ろに女の子が見えて、外には黒いスーツを着ている用心棒がいました。友達に会って映画館に行きました。 ３０分が経った後で、僕がバッチリ映っているシーンが見えます。見たとたんにドキドキし出して嬉しかったです。競演することが大好きでした。また競演する機会がなかったことは残念です。帰国までにＤＶＤを必ず買うべきです。 ENGLISH TRANSLATION: About six months ago I wrote a report about volunteering in a film to help out a friend of a friend as they needed ‘a European’ who could speak English. Well it came out in cinemas yesterday and I planned to go and see it with a Japanese friend of…
Read MoreNikki White – favourite quote
“Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres” which roughly translates to, “When in Rome do what the Romans do” and is exactly the way I like to try and live my life out here in Spain!
Read MorePaige Ribchester – Germany, February 2016
Ich kann nicht glauben, dass es bereits Februar ist und mein Praktikum ist fast zu Ende. Es hat viel gewesen, in diesem Monat zu tun und ich war sehr beschäftigt. Bald wird es Zeit für mich, nach Augsburg gehen, um mein Studium zu beginnen. Am Anfang des Monats haben meine Eltern mir besucht. Sie blieben…
Read MoreWishing you a very Merry Christmas!
The John Speak Trust would like to wish all it’s followers, scholars and past scholars a very Merry Christmas Feliz Nevada Feliz Natal vrolijk Kerstfeest 圣诞节快乐 Joyeux Noël Frohe Weihnachten …
Read MoreOktoberfest 2015
A few weeks ago I went to Munich to visit my friend who is spending the first part of her year abroad there and to attend something that had always been on my bucket list, Oktoberfest. As I mentioned, my friend is currently living in Munich, and knowing that she was meeting me at the…
Read MoreTag der deutschen Einheit
3rd October. Since 2004 many people of my generation will think of mean girls when someone says this date, but in Berlin and Germany this date has a very different, less trivial meaning, “Der Tag der deutschen Einheit” i.e. the day in 1990 when East and West Germany reunified and became Germany once again. I…
Read MoreShalekhet
Moving experience in the ‘jüdisches museum’ in Kreuzberg, Berlin
Read MoreNadia, Beijing, China – April 2015
我在⽢甘肃的经历 本⽉月初是清明节。我决定了趁机会去⽢甘肃和⻘青海旅⾏行。最初，我不知道应该去四川旅⾏行或者⽢甘肃，最后，我选择了⽢甘肃因为⽢甘肃的游客不多。虽然在云南旅⾏行很好玩，但是游客挺多。这⼀一次，我想 去没有很多游客的地⽅方。 因为嘉峪关的机场是张掖最近的机场，我从北京坐⻜飞机到嘉峪关。到嘉峪关以前我知道我在那⼉儿有 两个⼩小时，但是我已经决定从机场坐出租⻋车到嘉峪关的⽕火⻋车站。在⻜飞机坐在我旁边的男⼈人觉得去嘉 峪关但不看名胜古迹就不好，所以他跟他家⼈人带我去嘉峪关的很多名胜古迹，帮我拍照。然后他们 给我吃烤⾁肉。最后，他们送我去⽕火⻋车站。我从来没有经过了这个⽔水平的好意！ 从张掖我去看⻢马蹄寺和张掖丹霞。这两个地⽅方很美。我在那边交了很多中国朋友，我们都⼀一起去吃 晚饭。 张掖以后我去⻘青海的同仁，然后去⽢甘肃的夏河。夏河有⼀一个很有名的寺院叫拉⼘卜楞。⼏几百藏族⼈人从 拉萨去拉⼘卜楞朝圣。拉⼘卜楞的科拉有三公⾥里，我看到了⼀一些⼈人为每向前迈⼀一步就跪拜！这就意味着 为了绕⾏行，他们很可能要花费⼤大量的时间。你从没⻅见过这样的情景！ 同仁和夏河的多数民族是藏族⼈人，但是还有穆斯林回族⼈人。我对多元社会有兴趣，所以看到回族⼈人 帮助藏族⼈人建设⻄西藏区拉⼘卜楞的⼀一些建筑。中国的族群多样性⾮非常惊异。 我在郎⽊木寺跟别的游客决定了搭便⻋车到兰州。在中国搭便⻋车⼜又好玩，⼜又容易！我们每⼀一次不等在路 上五分钟多。⽢甘肃⼈人对我很好奇。他们很愿意帮助我们去别的地⽅方.总的来说，这是⼀一次⾮非常成功 的旅⾏行。 ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Adventures in Gansu At the start of the month we had Tomb Sweeping Holiday so I decided to go traveling solo to Gansu and Qinghai province. Initially I was deciding between visiting Sichuan or Gansu, but…
Read MoreJosie Holley – Case Study Geneva, Switzerland (2013-2014)
After having finished my degree in French and Spanish with Interpreting at the University of Sheffield, I knew where I wanted my career to go. Since the age of 16 I have wanted to be a conference interpreter. I took the entrance exams for the University of Geneva, and I was accepted. The only problem…
Read MoreTibidabo, Barcelona – Sian Summerton, April 2015
Since arriving in Barcelona at the beginning of January, I have visited Tibidabo a number of times. Tibidabo is s mountain located in the northwest area of Barcelona. The top of the mountain houses a Catholic church, a telecommunications tower and a theme park. This mountain, some 1,679 feet tall, is the highest of the…
Read MoreGerman football – Oliver de Planta, March 2015
I’ve been to football games in Austria, France and Switzerland and they are all different experiences when compared to games in England. Germany was no exception. From the atmosphere where a conductor dictates the chants, spending the game facing the crowd rather than the on field action and the noise doesn’t really relate to what’s…
Read MoreSacré-Cœur, Paris – Alexander Arch, March 2015
We went to the Sacré-Cœur which is my mum’s favourite monument in Paris. We got there just before sunset so we have a great view of the city. The Sacré-Cœur is amazing, the paintings on the walls and glass are really impressive. I agree with my mum that it is the best monument in Paris
Read MoreSamuel Franklin, March 2015
Following the start of lectures last month, I have had a relatively calm few weeks, but I did record a rap album.
Read MoreSamuel Franklin, March 2015
Tutoring Since last November, I have been tutoring a 13 year old boy English. We meet each time at a café just five minutes’ walk from my room, where we talk for two hours. At first, I wasn’t sure if this would be a good use of my time, but on reflection I am pleased…
Read MoreSamuel Franklin, March 2015
What’s in a name? I’m certainly no expert on the influence of names on one’s life, but I still maintain a genuine interest in unusual names. I can remember very clearly, in our second Chinese lesson at university, my class received our Chinese names. I was relatively content with ‘Fan Shanming. At a recent chess…
Read MoreTrip to Weimar – Phoebe Ellis, March 2015
Weimar is often called Germany’s town of poets.
Read MoreIncredible architecture in Barcelona
Antoni Gaudí is quite possibly one of the most revolutionary modernist architects of his time. Throughout his long career, he designed and built some of the most striking and comfortable buildings to live in, using innovative solutions, always based on nature. Many of his works, which are more than buildings, you can find in Barcelona,…
Read MoreYunnan, province in China – Nadia, February 2015
Although I have not been to every province in China, I honestly think Yunnan is one of the best provinces to visit in China. I started my journeyby flying into Kunming from Xiamen and then took a 7 hour sleeper bus to Yuanyang to see sunrise over the rice terraces. The sunrise was very beautiful…
Read MoreJinghong city in Xishuangbanna – Nadia
My next destination was Jinghong city in Xishuangbanna region. This area borders Laos and Myanmar, and the cultural influence is obvious. In this region the main ethnic group are the Dai people. Their accents when speaking Mandarin were extremely difficult to understand! Jinghong had some strange huge elephant statues all over the city (rather tacky),…
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