Koki Abe: Student Spotlight

by Isabel Solano

When asked “What’s your favorite thing about working at NYLC?”, the staff’s answer is often in unison: The students! It’s no secret that we love our students and we’re fortunate to receive truly wonderful ones that we miss long after they leave. Among our many favorites is Koki Abe from Japan! 

Earlier in January, Koki sat down with us to discuss his reasons for coming to NYC, some of his favorite memories, and his first days in New York.

Koki began his studies with NYLC back in November 2019. Despite running a successful online business, Koki felt something was missing in his life. He needed an adventure. That’s when he decided to come to NYC to study English for 20 weeks and we’re so glad we were his school of choice!

“On my first day, I was very nervous and I had a headache. My first week was a little difficult”. Koki told us. He was getting accustomed to the culture and he still didn’t know many of his classmates. However, that quickly changed. By the second week, Koki had made new friends, not only in his class but also from other classes at the school.

“My favorite thing (about my experience in NY) was exploring new places and spending time with my friends from school. All the different cultures. Very exciting!”.

Koki really took advantage of many of the experiences the school offers our students- he was a regular at our free weekly Grammar and American idioms classes; he joined many of the student activities as well: a guided tour at MoMA, a game night at NYC’s iconic Fat Cat, and last but not least a New York City ESL school Trivia competition, where he and a team of five other NYLC Students won first place!

“I have many memories,” Koki said “but the trivia night was very fun… the teamwork”. Koki also enjoyed spending the weekends with his new friends playing basketball. He and a group of other NYLC students took a weekend trip to Niagara Falls and Washington D.C.!

We’re sad that Koki’s time at our school has come to an end but we’re happy to hear that he already has plans to return, “I want to come back to study for a longer time”. He also said he’s planning to visit his new friends abroad in Brazil and Russia. 

Koki’s adventure was definitely a memorable one and we’re glad to have been a part of it! 

See you soon, Koki! Good luck in all you do!

Day Without Immigrants

In the news today, you may have heard that in response to President Trump's Immigration agenda, immigrants are rallying together on strike, and pledging to not show up for work; eat out; or send their children to school. This effort hopes to highlight the contribution provided by the immigrant population in America. 

As we are a school whose mission is in part to serve the local immigrant community, we thought it was important that we mention where we stood, and who better than NYLC's Executive Director to do so. 

A Word from Our Executive Director:

"New York Language Center was founded in the belief that English makes the world a smaller place, and that English is the key to bringing together diverse communities to live, work and study in harmony regardless of ethnicity, religion or nationality. We do not make differences as to where people were born nor distinguish any differences regarding ethnicity, or nationality among our students or employees.

New York Language Center would not exist without immigrants and international students. Our employees and students make us what we are".

Getting To Know Our Students: Meet Camila from Bolivia!

Our latest video is on NYLC Midtown student, Camila who studied with our school in 2015.

Camila tells her story about moving to New York as a young woman who left her family for the first time and how she gained confidence as she learned to navigate the city and eventually makes New York her home away from home. Hear how her friends from NYLC helped her become comfortable in her new environment.

Student Spotlight: Ivana Minoska, TOEFL Star

We are very proud of New York Language Center student, Ivana, for her excellent score of 106 on the TOEFL exam!

Ivana is visiting from her home country of Macedonia and has studied with NYLC since October of 2015. She is currently pursuing a Master in International Relations and Law. She is almost finished with her degree and is waiting to submit her Master’s thesis upon her return home.

After a cultural exchange program in Minnesota, Ivana decided that she wanted to allocate some of her time to improve her English further.  She loved her Mid-Western summer and decided then that she wanted to study in an American university—but first needed a great TOEFL score! Her goal is to complete her next educational endeavor at an American university. She is looking at law and masters programs at a few universities throughout the tri-state area. Her TOEFL score has given her more opportunities to the types of programs she will apply to, as well as her eligibility for scholarships. Ivana advises other TOEFL students to read newspapers (she reads both national and local papers) and to resist the temptation to use subtitles when watching TV. 

  

NYLC English Episode 9- Pet Peeves

 Watch Ryan's fun video lesson on some of his personal pet peeves. What are your pet peeves?#ilovenylc

New York Life by Johnny, a NYLC Student & Intern!

    

Hi, My name’s Johnny.  I come from China and have been in New York for 6 months. Time flies. I can still remember how disappointed I was 6 months ago when I couldn't find any graduate school  to enroll in because my English wasn't good enough. However, I decided to come to New York anyway. I had already quit my job, and I had no choice but to move on.  I found New York Language Center (NYLC), and contacted them. Soon after I found myself in Manhattan as an English student. However, my goal was still far from me.

    New York is a big city. There are so many buildings, traffic, tourists, businessmen, students, even homeless people. Sometimes I feel very tiny. New York is a diverse city. The people I have seen in New York are from all over the world. Everyone is different, therefore, no one is different. New York is a great city. A lot of people say New York is a place where dreams come true. For me, I will say New York is a place where the people give so much effort into their jobs or work. So New York is a place where impossibles become possible.

    After 6 months, I’m still here in New York as an English student. But I know some things inside myself have changed, I feel confident about my future, and I’m glad I made the right decision to come here. I met so many ambitious people here, they encourage me to work harder and harder on my English, I didn’t waste my last 6 months, I took TOEFL test three times, and the GRE test twice. In the meantime, I am doing an internship at NYLC; working with native English speakers really helps me improve my English. So far, I have applied to seven graduate schools this year. I think I am walking continually toward my goal. I love this city more and more, as this city gives me more and more passion.

Getting to Know the Staff of NYLC

Meet NYLC's founder and Executive Director, Barbara Dick as she discusses 25-years of working with ESL students.

NYLC Featured in El Diario

Last week, NYLC was featured in the Spanish newspaper, El Diario and selected as the best school in New York for English classes! View the listing below.