Learning English

... life away from home

London is a bustling, international city with people from all over the world. We spoke to six students who are studying English at Rose of York school here in the UK's capital to find out their experiences since moving here. What things were they not used to? What are they getting used to? And what tips do they have for others who want to move here?

Read the text and complete the activity

To do

Read our tips. They contain examples of this unit's language. After you read there will be a quiz to test your understanding!

Seven top tips!

1) Save money first
Hlib from Ukraine says that London is a "friendly, but expensive city". So, before you come to the UK, do try to save some money!

2) Practise your language – but don't worry too much
Suleyman from Turkmenistan says that getting used to the British accent is important. But Vladimir from Kazakhstan says people don't worry too much about accent, it's more important to communicate with clarity. He added that getting used to the speed of speech was also a challenge. And Hlib believes that pronunciation can be difficult.

3) Make friends
"London is a melting pot," says Vladimir. Because of this it's easy to meet people from all over the world, but not so easy to meet Londoners, in these students' experience. Julia from Germany is an au pair and has made friends through the family she lives and works with.

4) Don't waste your time
When Aijamal from Kyrgyzstan was first here she felt "homesick". But time is precious, so now she "regrets wasting that time." She urges visitors: "Don't sit at home." Make the most of each day!

5) Don't worry about the food
You might have heard stories that British food is not appetising. But as Hector from Chile says: "You can find food from every country here." So don't worry if you're not used to a full English breakfast!

6) Get an app
Navigating the transport system can be challenging. Julia says that getting around the city takes planning. One good way stay organised is to download an app, "so you can know where you are and where you have to go," says Julia. But she's still not used to the way cars drive on the street: "In Germany we drive on the right-hand side, so when I cross the street I don't know which way to look, because I'm a bit confused!"

7) Get outside the city
Suleyman says he's not used to how busy London is - he says this one city is the same size as his whole home country of Turkmenistan! Sometimes it's good to have a break. And if you want to experience traditional British culture, says Vladimir, you have to get outside the big city.

To do

Now, how much did you understand? Answer these questions.

Your turn

Are you a student in the UK? Or maybe in another country away from home? What aren't you used to? What are you getting used to?

Write about your experiences in another country. Make sure you use:

• getting used to
• not used to

Thank you for emailing your comments to us. We enjoyed reading them. This task is now closed.

Here are some of the comments that we received:

Shang from China, and Tomi from Japan

We have both been students in the University of Brighton since last month. We study Art and Design courses.

Food
We are getting used to eating the food here but it is not easy for us to eat some of it like rice, fish and dessert because we are used to eating soft rice and fresh seafood in our countries. Some cakes and bread are too sweet to eat. Also, all of them are more expensive than our countries. 

Transport
We must pay high prices for to get on the bus and the train. However, just 10 pence is enough to take a bus in China while in Japan we need only under £1. We are  used to saying "hello" and "thank you". 

Anazilda, Brasil

Last year, I spent a month studying English at London. It was a terrific but difficult time.

Although I'd saved money previously, London is more expensive than I've thought. So, it took time to get used to its prices. I used to check the figures out before buying anything.

It was also difficult to get used to British food, very spicy and fat. I used to go to a supermarket and buy some fresh fruits and bread and they were my meals almost ervery day. But, once and than, I squandered a lot in one of those superb restaurants.

It was also difficult to make friends. I am a shy person, I am not used to making acquaintece with strangers. And I was ashamed of my poor accent, so I rather talked with the teachers. I regret it, I thing I could have made the most of those days.

Akin, Turkey

I have never been another country yet. I was burn in Türkiye, and live in Türkiye. I guess If I go to another country I will find difficulty getting used to live with  people have different culture. Because of this I'm not an easy going person. So this matter will be spread all of my relationship and experience. It tooks much time me. it's difficult to get used to different food of other country for me. I always will my wife's meats. But that's excatly true that I can never able to get used to wheel which on the right side.

Manuel Juan, Spain

When I was student I sometimes used to go to a foreign country during the summer time. There I studied the native language, knew new people, places and customs while I worked and saved some money at the same time.

The first summer I went to England and lived in Sussex county, in a nice town by the sea. I didn't use to work all the day but just in the mornings. In the afternoons I was used to studying the country's language, some days in an English school. It was difficult at the beginning though after a few months I got used to understanding, which was fantastic because I thought I'll never get used to understanding it.

In the evenings we, me and a couple of friends, used to go to discos, bars or something else. They were gorgeous and unforgettable summers.

Juan Carlos, Colombia

The last year I had to travel to Arequipa city in Peru. When I was there, I ate different kinds of seafood, that I never had eaten it, because in Colombia I was used to eat the food of my own region, for example, hen soup, grilled beef with potatoes and foods without any kind of  shellfish or fish, but in Peru  I started to get used to it, especially this dish (pulpo al olivo), it is really delicious, also I drank a cocktail, it's name is Pisco sour, it is very strong because it is an alcoholic drink. fortunately I'm not used to drink strong drinks but this drink I like it too much.

Anastasiya, Russia

I'm a homebody, but I can tell you about my younger sister Ann. She used to study at Sotheby's Institute of art. She lived in London for three year. Her work is all about contemporary art and she doesn't mind going at any distant place to make arrangements to an exhibition or to meet with unknown, but really gifted artist. She was used to understanding different accents of Londoners such as Polish, Scottish (she admit that it's very difficult), Indian. But she wasn't used to dealing with British people. Ann said, they were too formal. May be, she meant, most of people are a bit unfriendly compared to her. There are loads of regulations and rules at everyday life in Britain and people don't break them. She got used to law-abiding citizens all over London and very slowly she became similar to them. Ann is into fitness and at first she was surprised. In Russia men don't like to attend fitness classes at all. They prefer street workout, cycling, football and such sort of things. She was used to seeing mainly women at fitness-clubs in our home country. But in London as men as women lead healthy lifestyle and do fitness.

Also Ann disliked British changeable weather, she wasn't used to it. Now she lives and works in Dubai. It's too hot there and she is missing British frogs and rains. In Saudi Arabia Ann is getting used to wearing lenten (I mean, simple) clothes, because of strict regulations of this Muslim country.

Mauro, Italy

I was sent to London in 1981 by the company I worked for to study English. I desperately needed it for my job. I had to get used to the school itself and the intensive way to learn English in about four weeks. I was not used to have so many teachers in the same day, nearly one every two hours, neither I was not used to have my mates, only four each class, changed every three days. I had to get used to study and practice both during the school hours and out of them, totally forgetting my language  also when I was dreaming at night. The teachers were superb, some of them were actors, I wasnt used to also study as I actually was acting at theatre. All of this improved my English really a lot and was very useful for my job and my many my travels around the world.

Vincenzo, Italy

Some years ago I attended a course at the University of Southampton, in the UK. The day was structured according to the English standards. After a rich breakfast, there were three hours of lessons in the morning. Then we used to have a light lunch, followed by three hours of lessons and exercises. Dinner was served at 7:30pm. At the beginning I was not used to this kind of daily schedule; however, everything became natural in a short time. I believe that enthusiasm and motivations are very helpful when you’re getting used to something new.

Audience, China

Hello uncle and aunt editors, I am a kid from Chinese now learning in Japan, I am easily getting used to the written words of japanese but not used to its spoken language at all. I am not appreciating the traditional food as well as their "chinese food". Gladly I at last begin getting used to breathe the wet air here. A bit embarrassing  is that I are n't used to the clean streets. I am not used to see foreigners so regularly will be used to it soon.

End of Session 4

And that's it for this unit. Next, we join Gulliver on his travels in our drama. Gulliver has escaped from the land of tiny people in Lilliput – but his adventures don't end there… he has a 'giant' surprise in store for him!