Category Archives: Stay in Touch

New brand for GV Sunshine Coast!

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We are pleased to announce that, from 01st September 2011, Global Village’s schools in Australia will be known Lexis | English.

This exciting new brand has been created to highlight the dynamism and energy of our schools, their unique locations and the high quality tuition, facilities and lifestyle that you enrolled for at Global Village.

You may have already seen our new logo, website, brochure, blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, which we feel reflect your student experience more closely, but other than our name and branding, nothing else has changed.

Our school are still owned, managed and operated by the same caring and supportive teams of academic and administrative staff, who continue to work hard to ensure a smooth transition from GV to Lexis | English.

We hope that you will feel as excited as we do about our new look and feel and that you will take a few moments to join the growing Lexis | English online community via the links below.

Should you have any questions about our new name and what this means for you, please do not hesitate to speak to our staff, who will be happy to tell you more about Lexis | English.

A Surprise Visit

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Earlier in the week GV Sunshine Coast had a surprise visit from very smartly dressed brother and sister Harold and Yamka. 

They both came to Australia to study english for 14 weeks with the goal of going to the Sunshine Coast Grammar School.

They both said that they were settling into high school life and were making new friends, although they hadn’t forgotten the friends at Global Village as they were visiting for the afternoon.

We wish you good luck with your secondary studies Harold and Yamka and think you look very smart in those uniforms!

A Great Result for Lukas

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This week we received a hello all the way from a strangely sunny Germany; Lukas Fritz a past FCE student sent us an update on his study results and his future plans since he finished his English studies.

Being a hard-working student obviously paid off for Lukas as he received the outstanding overall result of an ‘A’ in the FCE exam. He said “now I’m more convinced that my whole stay and the hard work has been more than worth it.”

Lukas’s ‘A’ result was a requirement for his future plans of becoming a pilot, he will be applying for positions in the next few weeks and will have the first round of tests in a month.

He mentioned “After almost two months of leisure time I have to start learning again,” luckily talking to fellow classmate Marius on Skype is allowing him to still practice his English but he fears he isn’t as fluent as when he was in Australia.

We wish Lukas all the best in his future studies– we know he will do well, we also hope for an aeroplane flight someday!

Martha’s Farewell

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After 45 weeks of study at GV Caloundra and Maroochydore campuses, Friday was time for Martha to say goodbye.

Her hard work paid off as she finished her study in the Upper Intermediate level. Her Classmates and teacher Andy threw a goodbye party and presented Martha with a special card signed by everyone.

Congratulations Martha, we wish you all the best in the future.

Farewell Global Village Sunshine Coast

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It is Friday, October, the 22nd! Today is probably my last day at Global Village English School – a good occasion to say “Good bye!”.

But first of all I’d like to thank you all for these absolutely wonderfull 4 weeks. Now … I could tell you a lot of stories about snuggling koalas, amazing pelicans or steep paths to the top of Mount Coolum. Instead, I’ve uploaded some photos to not waste your time…

What is the next thing I want to do? I’m going to stay here in Maroochydore and look for work. If I get a job, I’ll maybe come back to school. If I’m not successful I’ll travel up North to Cairns.

See you mates! Have fun and always remember to start the day by speaking English and keep on speaking until saying “Good night!”!

Greetings, Marius

Marius (centre) with Raphael (left) and Lukas (right)

A Message From Sonja

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So what am I supposed  to write..

My seven weeks at Global Village are over now. I enjoyed every day at the Sunshine Coast. Whale Watching, Fraser Island, Noosa or just relaxing at the beach in Maroochydore or Mooloolaba. All the crazy weekends with all the amazing people :)

School was great as well. I loved my first class and I loved my new class and of course I had the best teacher ever :P (thanks for the Pizza!)

It was a nice place to study English and I loved all the activities!

I love and miss you guys :) keep the party going!

Sonja.

GV Caloundra Online Community

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We have a great online community for all students to enjoy.

Not only do we have a blog, we have Facebook, Orkut, Youtube and Flickr accounts. There really is something for everyone. These are great to keep up-to-date with news and events, but also to show your family and friends, what you have been up to in Australia. Why not have a look, you may find some photos of yourself!

Facebook
www.gvenglish.com/facebook/caloundra

Youtube
www.gvenglish.com/youtube/noosa

Pictures
www.gvenglish.com/flickr/caloundra

Orkut
Just visit Orkut.com to sign up or log in and search for Global Village.

Kyohei and Aki return to base

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After class on Friday I was glad to see two ex-Global students, Aki (left) and Kyohei (right), walk into my office.

Kyohei, has been working in Bundaberg for 3 months and was working 7 days a week in the peak time. He was picking capsicums and tomatoes in the hot summer sun. He stayed in a share house with Yan and Jennifer (also former Caloundra students – now picking in Stanthorpe, Queensland) and had a great time especially at the pub on Friday night  because Friday was pay day.

Aki is  living in Brisbane at the moment. Today he was in Caloundra looking for work and has been promised a job in February, so we should see more of his smiling face at the campus.

Good luck guys.

New Year Wishes from the Czeck Republic

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mark__karen_home__in_plzenHi
Andy and everyone at GV Caloundra,
 
Happy New Year to everyone.  We hope your year will be healthy, happy and successful.
 
We had a great Christmas in Europe….even though it is very cold!  The snow is now about 2 feet deep outside our front door.  We hear it is quite hot in Caloundra.  We miss the warm weather and beautiful beaches.
 
We have been to a few English schools in Europe and nothing compares with our home school at GV Caloundra.  It is “simply the best”. The thing I think we love the most about Caloundra, is that it is so friendly and a great place in the world for students to enjoy themselves and make friends. We have heard, via email, from quite a lot of past students from GV Caloundra and they all say it is their special home they will never forget.
 
We are enjoying the school we are teaching at in the Czech Republic.  The people have really welcomed us and we think the students are enjoying their classes……we think!!  It has been a challenge as Mark & I are the only native speakers of English.  All the other teachers are Czech. They have had to accomodate us in teacher meetings etc. and speak English. A bit strange for an English College to have it’s teachers speak in English?????  outside the classroom.  It is really like role reversal for us. English only in the classroom and Czech only outside. We are slowly changing that as they all feel rude if they leave us out of the conversations.  We have begun Czech classes…..it is quite a difficult language.  So now we can relate to what the students go through trying to learn English.
 
We are having a great time seeing as much of Europe as we can on week-ends and days off. 
 
We trust all is well over there and thinking of you all over the miles.
 
Mark & Karen (former teachers of Elementary class – GV Caloundra)
(Have attached a picture…..the botton left is our home.)

Lesley is off to Biloela

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Lesley, who graduated a few weeks ago, is off to live in Biloela in Central Queensland.  While she was at GV Caloundra she was in homestay.  Now her homestay parents are moving 700 kilometres north to this little country town and they have asked Lesley to Join them.  What a great opportunity. We will all miss her and wish her good luck.

Stay tuned for more news – Lesley has promised to send photos and news to our blog.

Love is in the air at GV Caloundra

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It was nearly a year ago when Joel came to Caloundra with his best friend Max. At about the same time Lucy came to study here.

Joel and Lucy got to know each other in class and ended up travelling to Ayr, in Northern Queensland, to pick vegetables for 3 months. They went to Sydney after that, then returned to Korea.

Last week they came back to Caloundra because they were missing us and the Caloundra lifestyle.

When I asked them about their future plans, they said they would be opening a restaurant in Korea and eventually settling down on the Gold Coast. 

GOOD LUCK!

Evan’s adventures

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Hi everyone, 
How are you?! I still work in Charleville. This week is very bad, because I cut my finger at the work by machine, and my friend too. You know what? The same day, we both cut our finger by the same machine. My injury is not too serious, but my friend has really hurt himself badly. 

I will still be in Charleville until 20th December and then I’ll go to Byron Bay and Sydney for Christmas and New Year and then I will come back Charleville and keep working at the factory until 8th March.. Then I will go to Melbourne, Tasmania and Perth for other jobs.
 
I wish everyone a happy Christmas & New Year.
 
Evan (former GV Caloundra student from Taiwan)

Has Renat become a GV Brisbane fan?

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Renat is a former GV Caloundra student who now studies at GV Brisbane. He is coming to the big soccer game on the 5th of December, but who will he barrack for? Caloundra, where his old friends are, or for the GV Brisbane team? Perhaps he will even play against us.  

This is his message to us:

“Hi everyone, I’m going to visit Coloundra in 5th of December with the Brisbane soccer team so be careful coloundra)))) and see ya!!!”  RENAT

A message from Noriko

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Ｈｅllo Andy!
I’m Noriko Kimura from Japan☆Do you remember me?
Sorry,I send mail too late(>_<)
 
☆Ｒｅｃｅｎｔｌｙ☆
I ‘ll go training camp for get a driverslicense since Dec3(for 2weeks).
Ｉ’m exiciting♪
I think I’ll be able to drive around beautiful bridge in Tokyo on X’smas☆
 
Yes,I’m fine.Extra English?…….Mmmm（＾ｖ＾；）
Do my best★
 
Thankyou reading
I’ll send mail again☆good bye.
 
                                                                      from Noriko♪

News from the Czech Republic

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Well, today it is snowing……our first snow for the season.  Just thought I would let all you people in the beautiful sunshine in Australia know.
 
We went to Munich for the week-end as Monday was a holiday.  I will update you all on our last few weeks sometime over the week-end.  We had a fabulous time in Munich.  The BMW establishment there is amazing.  We enjoyed the beer halls of course.
 
Enjoy the sunshine!!
 
Catch you on email soon.
Mark & Karen Schebella (former Elementary teachers at GV)

My new life in Australia – Update from Yula

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Hi everyone at G.V.  This is YULA.  I used to study at GV several months ago just like you guys.  I am just visiting CALOUNDRA again for a holiday from MELBOURNE.  I have been in AUSTRALIA for about 10 months now and I have done many things such as travelling,studying and working as well.

It has been quite an adventure and I have had a lot of challenges. Whatever I do ,wherever I go , I always do my best and try to enjoy myself.  Wherever I go, I always think CALOUNDRA is the best place, because it feels like my hometown in Australia and because of GV, the beautiful weather and the great memories I have from here.  That is why this is my second time to visit Caloundra since I left.

How lucky you guys are because you have decided to live here. Oneday, if you move to another city, you will know what I mean. 

Nevertheless, I am living in Melbourne at the moment for study and further travel.  Actually, I have just finished my schooling. I have done a TESOL course. The reason I decided to do this course was to study English in a different way, even though some of my friends who already had done TESOL told me it is not easy at all and not so enjoyable. Honestly,it was quite difficult. I even thought about giving it away as it was a little bit boring at the beginning of the course. But I was surprised that I get totally engaged in the class. It was really interesting and even amazing.  I learned how to organize the lesson all together with listening, writing, speaking and reading etc. It reminded me that, actually when we have a speaking class, we are listening too at the same time. When we have a reading task we are learning vocabulary even grammar and so on. They are not isolated tasks. 

When I started doing lessons in English at G.V, I didn’t know why the teacher asked me do a task, or

why I should read loudly or why I should do group work, but now I know why I should do things like that, why my teacher asked me to do things. Now I understand how a teacher organizs a lesson to include the students.

It’s pretty technical and it honestly surprised me. In my point of view, you guys are leaning many things without knowing it through the your teacher’s magic way.

If you guys get a chance, I recommend you do a TESOL course.

I hope you guys find this interestings and helpful regardness of whether or not you know me.

Enjoy your life in Australia and good luck.

YULA

Cintia loved Caloundra, but it’s time to move on.

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(PICTURES: Cintia at the front of the Esky holding a drink and (right) Cintia with a glass of wine.)

 

First I’d like to tell you that it was a pleasure to study here and also to meet everyone here.

I really enjoyed GV Caloundra.

Caloundra, for me, is like a paradise… I magic place to make friends and relax.

Of course while I was here I improved my English a lot, but also I learned how I can live with different people with different cultures.

I also learned things about myself: to be patient, relax and enjoy life.

I will really miss everyone here!!! My family in Australia!!!

Thanks for everything!!!

Cintia Bembibre

 To contact me: cintia.bembibre@hotmail.com

Cintia is planning to do further studies in Australia. GV Caloundra staff and students wish her luck. 

Four students leave and the whole school is sad

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(Pictures: Renat the Romantic, Diana the Shopaholic, Coco the Optimist and Aki the Surfer)

Last Friday was graduation day for 4 of our students. While we are always sad to see students go, it is particularly sad when we lose people who have been here for a long time. Diana from Colombia and Renat from Russia had been with us for about 30 weeks and were amongst the elders in the GV Caloundra family.

We also said goodbye to Coco from Taiwan and Aki from Japan who were both in Pre Intermediate A Class – the class is not quite the same without Coco’s great smile and Aki’s great enthusiasm.

Former students return to Caloundra

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Picture: Jason, Eva and Ricky

It is always great when former students come “home” to GV Caloundra to visit and tell us what they have been doing.

Today Jason returned after travels in Victoria and South Australia. He leaves for Korea tomorrow and is taking his IELTS test in Seoul on the weekend - best of luck mate!

Eva is back in town, working as a kitchen hand and enjoying the sun.

Ricky is also back and has been working at a local Thai restaurant. He is also planning to return to Korea within a few weeks.

Suguru and Kyohei visit the Red Centre

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Suguru and Kyohei (former GV students who are taking the  Bar and Coffee Course at Cadet International College) recently visited Central Australia.

 

 

SUGURU: I went to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park from 14 to 17 of September. It was really beautiful and so mysterious. One night was a full moon – fantastic!

It was a long way from the Sunshine Coast. I took a 2 hour flight and then took a bus for 6 hours.

At Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) I saw this great rock change to 7 colours as the day passed from sunrise right through to sunset. At night we camped and slept under the stars and dingos barked.

KYOHEI: I went to the centre of Australia. After 6 hours on a bus I arrived at Uluru and King’s Canyon. It was very emotional. It was a very good experience for me and I want to go back to Uluru again someday. 

A letter from Yula (former GV student)

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How’s It going In CALOUNDRA? ^^

As you know I am in Melbourne to study TESOL. I am having fun here; all things are totally different and new, in particular it’s colder than the Sunshine Coast.  However, I always miss my hometown  Caloundra.  Wherever I go and when I meet new friends I always recommend  Caloundra^^ especialy GV.  I want many other students to know GV Caloundra so that they can enjoy the happiness that I had there . 

That’s why I will send you one of my friends from Korea. I proudly recommended GV to her. She is coming in the middle of September. but, she dosn’t know anything. How to apply, how  much  accommodation is etc  .

I trust you to help my friend and await your reply.

P.S: I especially want my friend to study with PATTY^^but I suppose it all depends on her level^^ 

I will probably be back in Caloundra in the middle of December with my 3 sisters & brothers.  I will show everything to them.

See yaa, YULA

Schbella update

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Mark and Karen Schebella, who taught the Elementary class in 2007, recently returned to Caloundra after travelling through Asia and Europe. Their trip got off to a great start and they enjoyed Vietnam and Thailand, but unfortunately Karen got extremely sick while they were in the Czech Republic and they have been forced to return to Australia to recover. 

Karen plans to stay around for a few weeks until her grandchild arrives while Mark will return to the historic city of Pilsner in the Czech Republic for a job teaching English to people working in the IT industry. And also sampling their devine Pilsner beer no doubt.

We wish them all the best and look forward to the next update from them.

Ken is back in Japan, but his adventure continues.

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To everyone especially my classmate.
I promised I would send a message about Deserted Island in Japan.

Well,,,
I went to Deserted Island between 15th and 17th of August.

There were no machines.  The light was the Sun not a lamp, fire was from wood not gas and my food was from nature not from  a supermarket.

The day went something like this: wake up, hunt something to eat, eat, take a nap, hunt something to eat, eat, drink alcohol, go to bed (in my tent)…

It was a really simple life, so I could feel that I was alive. Also the natural seafood was amazing!! Please see my photo.
I was wild man, wasn’t I? HAHAHA

From 2 September, I’m going to a big mountain in Japan which is called “Sword Mountain”.
It’s really dangerous, also really exciting!!

Anyway I’m continuing my adventure.  I think it will never ended until I die, because my motto is “no emotion – no life”.

I feel that Australian life was like a dream, but it was real. Sometimes I look my Australian photos to remember my yime at GV Caloundra.

I’m looking forward to seeing you again.
Good Luck in our life! Thanks for my friends.

KEN (former student of Patty’s Intermediate Class) 

 

Sad farewell to graduating students

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This week was quite emotional for our teachers and students as we said “Bon Voyage” to 5 students.

Ken, from Japan, (pictured in front in traditional Japanese clothing) has been at GV for 24 weeks and has had many adventures in Australia including climbing in the Glasshouse Mountains and travelling to Cairns. We also said goodbye to Miyuki from Pre Intermediate B and Min from Elementary who were with us for 17 weeks. Myron, the grammar expert, will be missed from the Intermediate Class. Sophie, a great student from Korea will be missed from Pre Intermediate A. As always, we wish them happines and hope they will keep in touch.

News from Lisa in Switzerland

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Dear  friends and students. I returned to Switzerland 2 month ago. It’s very nice here, but not the same like in Australia. I miss all the students, teachers (yes Patty, its true, I even miss the gramar-lessons;-) ) and all the nice things all day.
I work now for the biggest insurance company in Switzerland. This company is in Zurich, the biggest city in Switzerland as well. It is a very interesting job, but all is new and the building is so big and now it is summer in Switzerland, but the weather is not very nice and we haven’t been to the beach.
The pictures are from the last weekend-trip to the west of Switzerland. It is a very nice place with mountains and a lake. The other picture is from the biggest waterfall in Europe. It is very close to my house, maybe 5 minutes away.
I hope, I will see somebody from my school some time in Switzerland. It’s a nice country:-)))
See you and take care. A big hug from Switzerland for you.                     Lisa