International Student and

ELC News

International Student News

Every year, we encourage as many International Students to get involved and compete at the swimming sports carnival. This year it was great to see Nehemiah participate in the costume competition – enjoy!

Simon Veerhuis

International Student Coordinator

ELC News

Semester One, 2021 ELC Reflections

This semester, we are excited to be able to continue the English Language Centre. Currently all nine students are still situated in their home countries which include Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. The students are studying through online learning as they wait for the time when they are able to travel to Melbourne and join our school and community in person. The students have written some paragraphs to introduce themselves and reflect on the past four weeks of learning. 

Brenda James

ELC Coordinator 

My name is Matthew, I am 14 years old now.

I am from Hong Kong and the time is 3 hours earlier than the time in Melbourne. My hobbies are swimming, playing basketball and volleyball.

This year I have joined East Doncaster Secondary College and attended the remote learning class from overseas. My first period starts at 5:55am (my time) and it is hard to wake at the first. I think remote classes are more convenient than usual classes, but sometimes you can’t focus easily because many things beside you will distract you very easily. So my biggest challenge in the remote class is trying to focus myself on the class.

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I live in China. My English name is Clarice. In my country, the first class in the morning starts at about six o 'clock my time. The advantage of taking a remote course may be that the lectures are more natural and the answers are less constrained. I think the challenging ones are listening and speaking. In my opinion, Business is particularly challenging, perhaps because I haven't studied this subject in China, so I'm not very good at it.

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My Chinese name is Jiarui Zhang, you can also call me by my English name which is Emily. I’m from Tianjin, China. I’m 16 years old. The classes always begin in the early morning. I think I like the remote classes, but I hope to come to Australia ASAP. Getting up earlier than before is challenging for me. I like our class because we can get along well with each other, but in China we have some problems joining some communication groups so it made me feel sad. I hope to see all my ELC classmates and teachers soon when I can travel to Australia. 

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My name is Yifei Yang. I come from Shanghai, China and I'm 16 years old now. I love classical music and Biology. I start Period One at 5:55 am in our country every day. The biggest challenging is the Internet. If the Internet is unstable, the lesson can't go well. So, I hope I can come to Australia as quickly as possible. 

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I’m 16 years old, my Chinese name is Tongyixuan and my English name is Zona. I like eating sweet food like chocolate and ice cream cake, but I prefer dairy food. Usually we attend our first class at 8.00 am in China.

My experience joining East Doncaster Secondary College: I was prepared sufficiently before the interview, and my parents told me not to be nervous and said some motivational quotes, but when the interview was happening, I still got very nervous at that moment. Then the impossible thing happened! I was admitted to this school unexpectedly. I was very excited at that moment. I was intend to come to Australia in May, but I didn’t, because of the novel coronavirus. I just stay at home to wait for the virus to be over, and study by myself or sometimes my tutor would come to my home to teach me. But I have learnt some skills when in the virus period, such as drawing and piano.

I really look forward to meeting my lovely teachers and classmates.

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My name is Linh Vu, and I am 17 years old. My home country is Vietnam but I lived in the United States for the past 5 years, and now I am excited for the new journey in Australia. The ELC has been a pleasant experience with the core classes and the teaching of Australian culture. The teachers are amiable, and they are so considerate of us international students. Hopefully I will be able to arrive in Victoria and attend face-to-face classes soon. Best wishes to Australia and its citizens during this pandemic, I look forward to meeting you all!

Best Regards,

Linh Vu(miss)

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Dear Friends,

Hi, I’m Thearanuth Hak . You can call me by my English nickname, Daily. I’m 15 years of age and I’m from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Siem Reap today—being a popular tourist destination—has many hotels, resorts, and restaurants. This owes much to its proximity to the Angkor Wat temples, Cambodia's most popular tourist attraction. It is the second most populous city of Cambodia after Phnom Penh and also is full of traditional culture. In 2002, Siem Reap City held various events commemorating its 1200th anniversary.

It is 4:55am in morning when our first period begins. In the beginning it was hard for me to wake up at that time every day, but now I am used to it so it is just same as a normal life. I do like remote learning because it is quieter than studying in the classroom no one can disturb you so you can pay attention on your studying. Beside this, it also helps us when we are in this situation that we can’t attend our class and have to isolate yourself from public as well as help the world by stopping the spread of the virus.

Finally, I might get some extra sleep helping relieve stress. There are some things that I am not really happy with, like the internet connection. It might have some lag in the meetings, so sometimes we misunderstand. Even so, the teacher sometimes can’t explain the things that really challenge me. I try to understand as much us I can to prepare myself for face to face learning in Australia.

Finally, I just want to tell you that I am a huge fan of football and I also play football for a pro academy club called [Angkor tiger football club]. Unfortunately, I got my left knee injured so I have to step out from the football field around 2 to 3 months. I hope I do great on my recovery and start training back as soon as possible and stronger than ever. 

In my leisure time I like to talk a walk with my friend and my dog around the riverside and tell some joke while sightseeing.

Kind regards Daily

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Dear EDSC, 

It is my pleasure to introduce myself. My name is Kieu Anh, but everyone can call me Anne. Currently, I am living in Hanoi- which is located in the north of Vietnam and taking part in our school’s remote classes. There is a big difference between the time zone between Vietnam and Australia, and Australia is 4 hours ahead of Vietnam. Therefore, when the Period 1 in Melbourne started at 8:55 am, it was only 4:55 am in Hanoi and sometimes the Period 1 started at 9:45 am (Melbourne time), it was 5:45 am where I live.

If people ask me about something that makes me like the remote study course, I guess because it helps me to improve my early morning routine. Also, I can slowly adapt to a new learning styles and get to know teachers as well as friends. On the other hand, there are several challenges for me while studying online. Firstly, sometimes I was unable to attend class on time and missed the first periods. Secondly, there are times when I cannot hear the teacher clearly because the poor network connection. Occasionally, new knowledge makes me feel surprised and a little bit strange. Fortunately, the teachers are very kind and help us slowly get used to the lesson. There are also some games or activities that make us feel comfortable and excited. Above are my shares about our school’s online course and I hope I can quickly have a chance to go to Melbourne. 

Kind regards,

Anne Nguyen

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Hello everyone, this is Sodavann. I’m 16 years old from Cambodia. Australia is 4 hours ahead of Cambodia. At the first period of studying remote class, I’m having a hard time since it is too early for me. However, after previous classes it becomes a habit to me to get up early every morning. What I like about remote class is I experience that I work harder and learning on my own terms encourages me to take responsibility without a teacher watching my every move. I am likely to contact with students from another country, which may be the start of some beautiful long-distance friendships with people who can give me a different point of view and interesting discussions. 

Thank you.