At ESL, we decided to celebrate our 20th anniversary by doing what we love the most – giving away language stays abroad for this special occasion!
María, one of the lucky winners, decided to go to an English summer camp in Galway for three whole weeks. She had an amazing time and told us all about her experience firsthand.
María, tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is María, I’m 16 years old, from Barcelona and I love basketball, languages and hanging out with my friends. I decided to do a language stay abroad to learn more and improve my English, since I think there’s nothing better than studying it in a country where it’s the native language.
Why Ireland rather than somewhere else?
I decided to go to an English summer camp in Galway because they say the English there is very pure and because I had already been to England for a few weeks’ stay, and I wanted something different this time.
What did you like the best?
I really loved Galway and Dublin. The Irish people are very open and nice, very different from the English. My residence (Glasan Holiday Village) was very close to the school we went to every day (GMIT International School), and the truth is, it was huge with great facilities and very nice and polite staff. They would help you whenever you needed it, and we ended up having a really good relationship with them, as well as with the school staff and activity leaders.
Did you meet many new people?
I made friends really quickly and we formed a little group with people from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina…
Sometimes when you travel, you’re faced with totally new situations. How would you describe your experience?
The truth is that I didn’t have any problems, and I had an absolutely fantastic time. It helped me learn to do things on my own, make friends from all over the world and learn about different cultures, the English language and the Irish culture. I was expecting not to understand the Irish people very well in the beginning, as I’d heard that they had a more difficult accent, but the second day you’ve already got the idea and understand everything.
The weeks I spent there were incredible, and I’d love to go back next year. Everything was very well organised and the people were wonderful. I recommend that everyone do a trip like this at least once in your life!
If you want to follow in María’s footsteps and have an amazing experience in this Irish city along with students from across the globe, check out our English summer camp in Galway!
What do you think?