In the summer the residential junior schools of Ardingly and Cheltenham are full with junior students, where they combine learning English with sports, activities and trips to places such as London and Cambridge. Naturally juniors come to study English during their school holidays from all over the world, quite often coming with a group of students from their own country. Giovanni Manente organizes trips for Italian juniors and is the point of contact for all students and parents, looking after the welfare of every student and making sure everyone settles in well and enjoys their time. Giovanni has been working with British Study Centres since it opened, and also runs the ‘European language school’ teaching English and ‘Lyceum’ private high school near Bari, Italy. He has chosen to send students to Ardingly since it opened:

“The location of Ardingly is very good- you can easily go to London or Brighton. The students like Ardingly, they do activities all day and there is a set schedule. That’s what the juniors need. Normally they don’t say they are going to England- they say they are going to London! Being close to London is very important.”

While going abroad is a big and exciting event for the student, nowadays there are usually high quality English schools in their home country. In fact Giovanni runs an English school in Italy but still chooses to send students abroad. In an English speaking country when they leave the class they are still exposed to the language, whereas often in their home country that is where it stops. “They need to be exposed to language every single moment, and so they learn English in England much more rapidly. Naturally the parents want their children to learn English quickly.”

In teaching adults and children Giovanni has found that juniors, in particular, benefit from going abroad to study a language, due to the motivation issue. Going abroad brings the excitement which they do not get when they are studying in a class at home. When everything is new, and everyone is speaking in a neutral language, English, the children want to be able to communicate much more:

“When kids come to England it’s because they want to see London, and go shopping, and have fun with the other children at school and do the activities. Certainly the reason is not to learn the language!

For example, today my students are in London, visiting a gallery and then going shopping. They are immersed in the language all day.”

Giovanni chooses to come to England every summer to look after the students with the teachers and staff at Ardingly College, in order to provide a dedicated link to parents back home in their own language. Like the students, he also feels it’s good to spend some time abroad. But it’s not for the same reason, because Giovanni can already speak English:

“In Italy, 45C in July and August is too hot- I like the British summer!”