Ekaterina's WINNING ESSAY for the NYS TESOL Contest

This year, New York Language Center schools participated in the 11th Annual New York State TESOL Student Project Competition. The theme this year was "Collaboration." We are proud to announce that NYLC students won in both the Essay Writing and Digital Essay categories! 

Below is the winning essay written by NYLC Jackson Heights student, Ekaterina Puzankova. To watch the winning digital submission by Advanced students at NYLC Midtown, visit this post.

 

New York Language Center – Jackson Heights
Ekaterina Puzankova

Teacher: AJ Gonzales

Advantages of working in a group

         Some people prefer to work alone, while others are in favor of a group work. Both approaches have their upsides and drawbacks. However, as far as I am concerned, working in groups is more beneficial for people, because it helps to achieve more far-reaching result, broaden their knowledge, learn how to cooperate and save an ample of time.
 

         To begin with, group of students can reach a better result, because a wider range of knowledge. Several people can contribute more to a project than one individual due to diversity of ideas and skills. A team has the opportunity to look at the picture from different perspectives, while by working alone you are able to make decisions based only on your own opinion and your possibilities are limited. Hence, the group has higher potential than one person and can achieve greater result.

NYS TESOL Writing & Storytelling Contest

New York Language Center is participating in NYS TESOL's Annual Essay Writing and Digital Storytelling Contest, which is now in its 11th year. The topic this year is "Collaboration." 

We invite all students in the High Intermediate, Advanced, and Post-Advanced levels to participate. Click on "Read more" below to read the full instructions. You may write an essay or submit a digital file to share your story. Some teachers at school may also incorporate this as an activity in class. 

Each branch will choose a winner and two runners up, and the winner chosen by NYS TESOL will be recognized at the 46th Annual NYS TESOL conference in Syracuse, New York, in November 2016.

For more information on how to submit, ask your teacher or the academic coordinator at your branch. 

Good luck to all participants! 

Two outstanding students with two excellent essays

 

Aisse Sow and Jesus De Luna were two of our top students in the TOEFL Preparation Course recently at New York Language Center. Both have accomplished their goals in class; they've learned how to take the test and are ready to move on to the next step in the college application process.

For Aisse, who is from the Netherlands and who is spending her gap year traveling, college may be back in Amsterdam, where she will then finish her undergraduate studies before applying to graduate school in the U.S., or she may decide to apply to an undergraduate program in the States, in which case she will seriously consider applying to Harvard or Stanford. Being challenged is important to Aisse, who is considering a double major in psychology and social work.

Student Poems, Short Essays, & Drawings

Seiko writes about her hipster after spending some time in Williamsburg observing one.

If you head over to the Brooklyn Art Library in Williamsburg, you should search for a sketchbook titled "My Hipster." Once you locate the book, open it, and you'll find short essays, poems, drawings and photos of different kinds of Williamsburg hipsters as observed by NYLC students from a Post-Advanced Reading and Writing class. The course was taught by EJ Sepp, who had heard about the Sketchbook Project from a former student and incorporated it into his class as part of his students' experience learning about this artistic neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Write, practice your English, & get published!

A coffee shop can be the perfect place to record your experiences in New York, practice your writing, and improve your English!

If you're a typical student at New York Language Center, chances are you're having the time of your life. You're in New York, enjoying yourself. You visit museums and parks; you go shopping and sightseeing; you hit the clubs at night and sit at cafes during the day. You're here for the New York experience and to see as much of the Big Apple as possible.

• CHANCES ARE - there's a good chance
• HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE - having fun
• the BIG APPLE - New York City

In addition, you're here to improve your English. You study grammar and vocabulary in the classroom; you practice speaking, writing, and pronunciation with your teacher's guidance and direction, then you head out and use as much of what you learned and practice your English as you hang out with friends.

• HEAD OUT - go out
• HANG OUT - spend time

An essay on urban sprawl

This is an essay by Iris Lin for a writing task in the NorthStar Building Skills for the TOEFL iBT Advanced

            Urban sprawl is the growth of cities in an unplanned manner. U.S. cities and towns are experiencing urban sprawl, leading to the rise of anti-sprawl movements such as New Urbanism. Urban sprawl has some negative and positive effects. In the passage, we learn about how New Urbanism principles can help solve the problems of urban sprawl.

            Urban sprawl problems include four parts. First, suburban cities grow outward and use land that should be left to nature. Second, single-family homes cause sprawl. Third, there are traffic jams between suburbs and cities. Fourth, there is lack of social interaction. For instance, in the 1990s, L.A., Atlanta, and Houston experienced urban sprawl. It is very harmful, and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club call sprawl “irresponsible,” a “cancer,” a “virus,” and misuse of the land.

            On the other hand, the principles of New Urbanism can solve the problems and cities are built that don’t harm the environment, don’t cut down trees, don’t pollute the water, while protecting animal habitats. Second, New Urbanism builds single- and multi-family residences. Third, New Urbanism develops transportation systems by region. It provides housing and jobs, creates neighborhoods where people can walk to stores, public transportation and parks. Fourth, New Urbanism increases social interaction.

A huge thanks from Antonio

Hi again!=)

How are you, guys? I'm here today to write a thank-you message for all the staff of New York Language Center. Well, I am leaving next week and I am really happy to have chosen this school for my English improvement. Certainly, the school made this trip unforgettable, with all the activities and fun teachers, always willing to help the students. I really felt that it was my home here! Thanks, New York Language Center for providing this amazing learning experience.

Cassandra: I remember when I got here in the beginning; I was struggling to find a house with a reasonable price, and you stepped up for me. In addition to that, you were the one who gave me tips for the best places in New York, offered me tickets and discounts to a lot of activities. So if you are trying to find a house always look for Cassandra. If you want suggestions for good places in New York, look for her, as well. She is always willing to help despite being a busy person. Any creative ideas, she is the one to talk to; she loves crazy videos, sorry K, but I just realized that. =P

A warm Brazilian recipe for New York's cold winters

Hey guys!

As the snowstorm came to New York last week, it reminded me of how I miss Brazil's tropical weather. It was really hard to adapt to the weather here because I have never experienced a blizzard in my country. So that day I was a little homesick. Since I didn`t want to go out to eat, it got to my mind the rich culture of Brazil. So here I am, sharing this recipe, which is really good to do in the winter time; the black beans is always served with rice. It's really tasty and nutritious. In addition to that, we eat it everyday in Brazil. This food is like part of our culture.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-black-beans/

NYC Experiences continued by Antonio Liu

Hi guys!

I`m on the top of the world!=)

I'm back to share more experiences in this wonderful city! Well, as you all know, the winter here is becoming stronger than ever before. So these days, I bought some coats at the Macy`s store.

Let's start by sharing my experience at the Empire State Building: 

Even though it was my second time going to the Empire State Building, I was really looking forward to doing it all over again. Starting from the moment that I entered, I was mesmerized by the fancy walls and the dark room with some historical presentation about the building. While I was inside the elevator, I felt the pressure of going up, it was really exciting. When I got to the top, I practically saw all the buildings of New York, a really good feeling and experience, all the other students loved it, they were taking a lot of pictures, and had an unforgettable experience.

 Vine video about Empire State Building: https://vine.co/v/hEB2F26Omag

Tips for Learning English in New York

NYLC Midtown

by Gokay

I have been studying at NYLC for 17 weeks. I think studying at NYLC has some opportunities to improve my English. For instance, during these weeks, I joined lots of school activities and met lots of excellent friends and teachers. In addition to English, I learned Spanish, Japanese and Chinese words from my friends. During these weeks, I think my English has improved because in my first day when I tried to talk with people it was really hard to understand and communicate but now, every thing is more easy and also, I like watching American TV series. When I was in Turkey, I always watched them with Turkish subtitles, but now I can watch some of them without subtitles and with English subtitles. That’s amazing!

Indian food & ice skating with Antonio

Hi guys!

This is Antonio writing again. I am back to tell you my experiences in two wonderful activities that I had with New York Language Center.

The first one was a trip to the Indian food culture: located in one of the best places in Jackson Heights, the restaurant is really comfortable; in addition to that, it was an all-you-can-eat restaurant, with a self-service system. When I entered the place, I thought I was in India. One of the reasons is because the restaurant put a really good smell in the air, with fascinating decorations; besides, the Indian regional music added a peaceful environment to that place. While I was getting my food, I realized that Indian food has a big variety.

I got salad, noodles, and chicken curry for myself, but the best food of the lunch was definitely the nan (an Indian mix of bread and pizza) that was on the table, really soft and crunchy, with a light taste. The water in this restaurant was for free. In the end, I found it a great experience; I ate a lot, and it was less than $15, so the place was really worth it.

Haiku, anyone?

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry characterized partly by a specific number of characters and pairings of imagery in language. Its English versions also use language that convey images, often referring to nature, the seasons, and the human experience. 

Traditional haiku usually has 17 syllables in groups of three lines. However, many haiku poets are more flexible with their syllable counts. The typical number of syllables for haiku in English is, in fact, 10 - 14. Like Japanese haiku, however, this minimum amount of words to "show" an image more than "tell" is purposely meant to be vague and unclear, while conveying a message that is rich and profound.

Felipe Ramirez Bautista

Felipe from our level 5 class in Jackson Heights agreed to post the haiku that he wrote for a class activity. Check it out at our student writing blog. Thanks, Felipe, and nice job!