Tenth birthday at ELA!!!

Happy birthday to us! Join us as we get misty eyed and take a trip down memory lane. Along the way there will be some fantastic vocabulary for you to learn- just see the bottom of the blog!!

happy-birthday

 

A decade ago this month the Edinburgh Language Academy opened its doors for the very first time. From just 3 classrooms in Leith the school has grown to ten rooms spread over 3 floors in the west end.

For the last decade Olga, our director, has been here to oversee the smooth running of the school. We asked her for some personal highlights. Here are some of her most memorable moments from the first ten years at ELA:

  • 12 year old Simone locking himself in the toilet and refusing to come out because he was so homesick for Italy! Olga remembers “we had to bribe him with chocolate to come out!”
  • Abdullah from Iraq finally getting the 7.0 in IELTS he needed to bring his family to Scotland and start his masters. “It was his third attempt and he had so much riding on the result, it was really very emotional” says Olga.
  • A day trip in 2010 to St. Andrew’s that coincided with the Open golf championship and tens of thousands of golf fans. “We had planned everything for the students but nobody told us about
    One of our early classrooms in Leith

    One of our early classrooms in Leith

    the golf! We were waiting in traffic for 3 hours.” (It’s fair to say that this isn’t one of Olga’s happiest memories….)

  • Attracting our first big of students in November 2006 was a big breakthrough. “I remember thinking: we can do this. It proved to me that we were going to be a success.”
  • The first teacher development course, for a group of Georgian teachers, the school ran. “It was a big challenge for us and it went really well; it was a big step for us and something I want us to do more of us.”

 

We have been in contact with staff from past years to see what memories they have of the school. Almost of them said: the students! It seems their happiest memories of ELA are connected to the students. David and Sarah, who taught at the school over several summers, remember the chaos of enthusiastic Spanish teenagers during summer school. “You never knew what exactly was going to happen but you knew it was going to be fun.”

Current staff also stress the students are the best thing about the job. “Working with people from all over the world, all in one

building, is incredibly rewarding” says Steve, our director of studies.

From Scottish Bridges to...

From Scottish Bridges to…

...horse riding. We've done it all at ELA!!!

…horse riding. We’ve done it all at ELA!!!

 

Over the last ten years we have taken groups to every tourist attraction in Scotland and taught a huge range of exams to people from (almost) ever country you can name. We’re looking forward to ten years more!

 

To celebrate our 10th birthday we’re offering some great treats on our website, check out www.elacademy.co.uk for more information!

 

Match the underlined expression to the meaning, when you think you know the answers tweet! @E_L_Academy

  1. Misty-eyed (adj)                                      6. Riding (v)
  2. Take a trip down memory lane (v)       7. Coincided (v)
  3. Oversee (v)                                               8. Breakthrough (n)
  4. Bribe (v)                                                    9. Stress (v)
  5. Treat (n)

 

a) To pay someone to do something in a dishonest way     e) To be in charge

b) Depend                                                                                   f) To remember things from the past

c) Upset and Nostalgic                                                              g) A big and important development

d) Something that isn’t ordinary but is very good                h)  To emphasize

e) To happen by accident

 

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