Anna Hirst

Meet Anna from Paris – the capital of France – who joined us for the Summer English Course in 2023.

What country are you from and where do you study?

I'm from Paris in France and I study at the University of Nanterre, which is really close to Paris.

Why did you choose to study the Summer English Course?

I was attracted to the length of this course, at first I thought three weeks were sufficient enough to improve my English skills – that it would be long enough – but in fact it was short.

I had heard about UCL before, but I chose UCL because of my grandmother, she is the one who recommended this university. She went to UCL during her career since she was an English teacher in France.

What are the main differences between studying in your school and studying at UCL?

I thought the style of teaching and learning approaches were really different from what I am used to at my university. Our tutor was spending a lot of time with us and really cared about our learning and us memorising the lesson.

Something that I wasn’t really used to was to talk with someone at each class, it was great because at each class I was talking to another person from the group. Our tutor let us talk about the previous lesson or the previous lecture, we had to try to remember all the information.

What have been the highlights of the course so far and why?

I really enjoyed the topic about UK slang, it was really interesting and I wish we learned a bit more about this topic because it was fascinating. I liked to know about the cockney rhyming slang, it was at the same time interesting and funny.

On the last day of class, our tutor took our class into a visit of London, I learned a lot on this day, especially about some hidden places in the city, what I was expecting at first when the students from UCL gave us tours of London.

Which skills have you developed on the Summer English Course?

During the course, I leaned how to be more confident with myself when speaking English. I had difficulties to articulate some words and sounds but speaking English every day was a gift because I never have the opportunity to do so in France.