We made up our mind to send our son to take a language course in England; but as he was as young as 9 years old and obviously had no experience of independent trips, we decided that he would join a regular comprehensive school, and we fly with him so that we could pick him up after classes and protect him from any fears of studying in a foreign country with new people.
Naturally, I could not but take the chance to attend an English course while my son was at school.
It was so nice and convenient! In the morning, I would drop my child to school at 9 o’clock, and take a 10-15 minute walk along Baker Street to my course at Scola. I liked having a cup of coffee on the way, watching beautiful people passing by in such a beautiful street.
Studying a language at the adult age always feels special. On the first day, I was warmly welcomed and politely asked to take a test, after which I had a simple interview in basic English and was admitted to a group. The number of students varied from 8 to 10 week after week. In our group, there were students from Iran, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, Kazakhstan, aged from 25 to 60.
It would be an understatement to say that it was extremely interesting and exciting! When the topic concerned family relations, everyday life rules and relationships, everyone would get so much involved into the talk! We even discussed hijab wearing issues, women’s problems and number of wives allowed in different countries! Remarkably, we were not the only ones who were interested: women from the UAE were glad to ask the same questions to us.
A young lady in burqa who came from Abu Dhabi told me she was expecting the fourth child… She cried a little in the morning, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was only 25, and she wanted to relax for a while, but it didn’t happen. Her young husband was caring enough to bring her some water and coffee during each break. When I asked whether she was the only wife of her husband, she strictly answered: “Yes! He is not rich enough to have more wives, and I believe it’s great! But he has an elder brother who is really rich and recently got married to a young woman who is the fourth or third wife of his, I don’t remember exactly… That’s not that fun!” Yes, there’s nothing I could argue about : )
She also showed me lots of pictures on her huge smartphone: some photos of her new-born son, who was the third child in the family, but it was a great party. She showed me the decorations and the celebration in their enormous house crowded with relatives. Looking at her, I could see that she was still a child herself, but got married so early, and there came children and an unkind mother-in-law… The same story as everyone else’s. When girls are born, the family is also happy, but they don’t make a great party when it happens. So, my scrappy knowledge of their life I got from books and movies got confirmed… Hearing it all first-hand and seeing the real attitude to it was so interesting and unforgettable.
All classes passed in high gear. The teachers were so nice, considerate and friendly! They told us a lot of London life and it was so amazing! I had a chance to get to know them personally, learn what Londoners think and worry about! For example, I learned that Starbucks café paid its taxes to a foreign budget and that the British express their solidarity, preferring to buy coffee at different places: they are indignant at its making so much money within the country and paying taxes abroad. They also told me why Joanne Rowling worked on her first Harry Potter book in the same café on the ground floor of the house where she lived. For us such manner is a fashion, but she was forced to do it by some different circumstances.
The teachers conveyed all these to us in such a way so that even if we did not get every word, we could still grasp the meaning. So, our classes contained a great deal of speaking practice. We would start the topic with the textbook, do some tasks and discuss them after. But spoken English and listening always followed the grammar part of the class. My English improved day by day, as our teachers encouraged and praised us. We were never afraid of making mistakes: the learning process was interesting and comfortable. I attended classes for three weeks, but I could go on and on!
After class a half of our group would take a walk along the same unforgettable and lively Baker Street to pick their children up from school.
The children were “handed over” to us strictly one by one, ensuring that they were picked up only by the parents who were on the list, so I relaxed and forgot all my security worries on the very first day of stay. Russian parents were politely but persistently asked to wait and not to jump the queue!
As children ran out, they all looked happy and confident, their eyes shining with joy. So, the foundation was laid: my son realized what learning could be like, he was sure those were not classes, but non-stop fun!
He made friends with a Japanese boy; though they could not talk properly, they just played chess, laughing out loud! Later the Japanese boy’s mother told me that her son admired my Artem. So, all impressions are exclusively positive, that’s why we hope to come back one day! Miss me, London!
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