Have fun learning English and living in the Gold Coast

Moving to a new country to study is an exciting time. I’m originally from China and I’m currently living and studying English in Australia – this is my first time abroad by myself! I study at Griffith English language Institute (GELI), and if you are a student here you can join lots of activities every week. You can improve your speaking skills, have fun, and meet new friends – just like i have 🙂

Here is a list of my favourite activities I have joined so far and that you could also try:

Trampoline Park ‘Bounce’ at Robina:

This was the first activity I joined at GELI. We played at the biggest trampoline park I have seen in my life (I have never been in one back in China). We played ball, jumped non-stop and had so much fun. I feel this activity was so exciting, I made a lot of new friends and I also practiced my English because we could only speak in English to communicate with other people.

Volunteering at the Color Run Gold Coast:

 My job as a volunteer was to give out flyers and give medals to the participants who crossed the finish line. Everyone was so happy to receive the medal and I also got to meet a lot of new people.

Volunteering at the Gold Coast Multicultural Festival:

My job was do a survey to the visitors and ask them questions like: do you like this festival? or Who did you came with?  in order to find out more about them. In this festival I saw many people performing different shows from their countries and traditional cultures. I listened different kinds of music and eat traditional food from other countries. This was really a lot of fun.

Visiting SeaWorld:

This activity was special because all Brisbane and Gold Coast GELI students were together for the day. We saw Polar bears, Seals, a Dolphin show, Penguins and we went in the roller coasters. We also met country people and talked about Australian country animals. I also made a new friend from my home country, Sunny – it was amazing to meet someone from my country who also lives in Australia 🙂

GELI free Grammar and Vocabulary workshops:

This workshop has really helped me to improve my English and learn more academic grammar such as ‘present perfect’ and ‘would be’ tenses. The teacher has helped me to learn to use a dictionary and learn new words as well.

All of these activities have helped me enjoy living in the Gold Coast, I have met new friends and have never felt alone living away from home. If you are also a student, make sure you balance your life with time to study and time to have fun. There is so much to do and to see when you live abroad – and for me this is just the beginning.

Until next time

– Zhao (Crystal) Yuqing

Chinese guest blogger current GELI student

 

About Crystal: My name is Crystal, I’m 18 years old. I come from China and my hometown is Xi’an. Now I study at Griffith English Language Institute (GELI) and then I will continue to Griffith College. I want to show you all the activities you can enjoy living abroad and learn more about life in the Gold Coast together.