So whether you’re searching for unusual fashion items, or just fancy treating yourself to some home-made delicacies, take a look at some of our recommendations for London’s best markets below.

Camden Market
In London’s most popular open-air market in Camden Town you can easily find some real bargains and great souvenirs. This is also a great place to enjoy fresh international food in food stalls all over the market.

Open: Mon- Sun 10am-6pm
Where: Camden High Street, London, NW1

Old Spitalfields Market
Since 1600 these market halls in East London have been a buzzing spot for visitors. Anything from boutique fashion, design, antiques, jewellery, bars, coffee shops and restaurants can be found in this area.

Open: Mon-Sun 9am-5pm, Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 8am-5pm
Where: Brushfield Street, Spitalfields, London, E1 6EW

Portobello Road Market
This Market is the world’s largest antiques market. With hundreds of dealers you can find any kind of collectible and the most extensive selection of British antiques. Fruits and vegetables, Food, fashion and second hand goods can also be found there.

Open: Mon-Wed 9am-6pm, Thurs 9am-1pm, Fri-Sat 9am-7pm
Where: Portobello Road, London, W10 5TA

Borough Market
The award-winning Borough Market is one of the largest food markets in the city, spreading under the railway arches at London Bridge.It’s a gourmet’s paradise, offering top quality produce and artisan foods from all over Britain and the continent.

Open: Thurs 11am-5pm; Fri 12 noon-6pm and Sat 8am-5pm
Where: Borough Market, Borough High Street, London, SE1

Brixton Market
Brixton Market is Europe’s biggest Afro-Caribbean food market. It sells unusual foods and spices, exotic fruit and vegetables and specialist meats and fish. You will also find local art, clothing and lots of reggae music!

Open: Mon to Sat 8am-6pm
Where: Brixton Market, Brixton Station Road, London, SW9

Berwick Street Market
Berwick Street Market has been selling fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, herbs and cheese since 1840. The market traders still shout out special offers and many offer big discounts late in the afternoon.

Open: Mon to Sat 9am-6pm
Where: Berwick Street Market, Berwick Street, London, W1

On Monday new and old students went for a walk and chatted about their learning experience at Strawberry Moons bar.

On Tuesday it was raining so instead of the South Bank walking tour, we decided to go to the National History Museum. It was a really interesting afternoon, but we felt that one day was not enough because the museum was huge and there was so much to explore. We really enjoyed the dinosaur skeletons and understood the myths about why they died.

We took the escalator up through the giant earth sculpture made from iron, zinc and copper. We also walked an avenue of sculptures and examined beautiful specimens including a piece of the moon. It was a great day!

On Thursday the weather was better so we went on our South Bank walking tour. Before setting off we had a really good pizza close to the school, and then took a bus to Trafalgar Square. There is always something going on in the square, live shows and street performers. After we crossed the Hungerford Bridge and the Golden Jubilee Bridge, where is possible to take good pictures of the Houses of Parliament, the Shard and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

We enjoyed a nice walk along the river with the London Eye on one side and the Royal Festival Hall on the other. The day was cloudy so we could take really good pictures, however it started to rain so we went to have a coffee in Las Iguanas at the Royal Festival Hall.

We spoke in English all the time and one of students was even writing down some new words she was learning in her notebook! I am always happy to help the students to improve and to speak with me about the English culture and the London experience.

Friday, as usual was a chance to put on party clothes as we were going to Zoo Bar in Leicester Square. UIC students love this bar!

Don’t miss the social programme activities at school this week!

See you soon
Stephanie

We knew where the theatre was; by the river bank  in Southwark (between London Bridge andWestminster) as there were plenty of maps in those days. We knew what it was
called; it was The Globe Theatre. We knew what it looked like as there were afew drawings and printed pictures of it.

Theatres were quite different then. Most of the audience stood up in the middle of the theatre in front of the stage. The expensive tickets were for seats at the back at various levels . The first floor would be the most expensive. Also, there was no roof over the whole theatre so the poor people standing up would get wet in the rain.  The audience could be expected to get very involved in the play, they would boo the villains, cheer the heroes and shout their approval or disapproval of the play or the actors. It was more like going to a football
match.

Theatres were not popular with the extreme Christians in the government and they were frequently raided and closed down by the army. Some puritans thought that the plays promoted low morals, aggression, sexual promiscuity and criticism of the government. Of course, all the plays did really was describe  life and people  as they actually were.

Sam Wanamaker’s grand idea to reconstruct and open the Globe theatre to the public was a huge risk.  Would people really want to stand up and watch plays? Would they buy
tickets with a chance they could get wet or cold? ( this is London remember)  The answer to these questions was a loud ‘yes’. The Globe theatre is now in its 3^rd decade of
operation and it’s difficult to get a ticket. Shakespeare is more popular than ever and, thanks to the Globe theatre, there is always a Shakespeare play to see in London.

I’ve just booked 2 tickets at the Globe to see ‘The Tempest’,  Shakespeare’s last play and one of my favourites, but it wasn’t easy.  It’s standing room only.

Robin, Assistant Director of Studies

For example:
* You might want to extend your course at UIC and study a bit longer
* You would like to book accommodation with us so that you can stay in London for a bit longer
* You have a lost your purse or your bag got stolen which contained all your bank and credit cards or a lot of cash

Bank transfer
If you have a bank account here, there is always the possibility of transferring money from your home country (sent by your family or a friend) into your UK bank account. Please bear in mind, your bank might charge you extra fees for international banking and it might take 3-7 working days until you receive the money.

Western Union Money Transfer
For those of you who are only studying here for a few weeks and haven’t got a bank account, there is another way to receive money from home.

You can use Western Union in order to move money from home to different countries worldwide. By phoning Western Union (please visit www.westernunion.com to find the right customer service number for you country) money can be sent within minutes or the next day to you. A given bank card will be charged and the money will then be ready for collection at any local agent in the UK. You only need to show the receipt number of the transfer (which you will be given after the transfer has been successful) to the agent and they will cash the money for you.

To find the closest location to your house, you can visit http://locations.westernunion.com

Closest local Western Union agent to UIC:
EURO EXCHANGE
107 Great Portland Street, London W1W 6QG
Tel: +44 800 833833
Open Monday–Saturday 9 am – 6pm, Sunday closed

TRAVELEX
184-188/400 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1NP
Tel: +44 08458 727627
Open Monday –Sunday 8am – 8pm

If you have any questions, please ask in Reception.

On Tuesday we welcomed our new students at UIC at All Bar One. It’s always interesting to sit at one table with students from all over the world, coming from different backgrounds and job positions, or academic knowledge, but all with the same purpose to improve
their English skills and to get all the best opportunities that London can offer.

Tonight after the success of last Friday we are going back to Zoo Bar in Leicester Square! Hopefully we’ll share some delicious cocktails and pizzas and dance along with great music.

Next week at UIC:
Monday: Welcome Meeting & All Bar One
Tuesday: South Bank walking tour
Thursday: Buckingham Palace & St James Park
Friday: Zoo Bar & Leicester Square.

Do not miss the opportunity to enjoy this amazing city with other UIC Students and me.

Stephanie

To keep up to date and make sure you don’t miss anything:

* Follow us on Facebook : see photos from recent social events and keep in touch with your classmates, old and new

* Tweet us on Twitter : follow news about learning English and things to see and do in London

* Check out our YouTube channel : we have a great new animation, which we’re sure you’ll love!

* Login to your E-Learning account : have you seen the news page and the events calendar?

* Keep reading these blog posts : we’ll be bringing a new look to the blog soon – be the first to see it!!

We started the social programme week by exploring the Museum of London on Tuesday. Inside the museum we learnt about the history of London and got a feel of how it was living in this amazing city in different times. We had the chance to take a trip in the time machine through Roman London, Victorian London and more until nowadays where we could have a look at some of the amazing costumes of the Olympics opening ceremony in 2012.

Thursday was an excellent day: we went to St James Park and Buckingham Palace with a large group. In the park we paused to take some pictures close to ducks and squirrels. After that, we decided to keep walking and see Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, also because there was beautiful sun throughout London.

Thank God it’s Friday! And we are going for the first time to Zoo Bar & Club in Leicester Square to have some cocktails, pizzas and nachos. I am sure that we will spend a wonderful evening there!

The School will be closed on Monday for the Bank Holiday, but this should not discourage you because the newspapers are saying ‘May Bank Holiday to be the hottest of the year!’. So after you have done your homework head to the 2013 Canal Way Cavalcade London event for a unique and free festival celebrating the city’s waterways.

The London Canal way Cavalcade at Little Venice festival takes place from Friday 4th May – Sunday 6th May 2013. Opening times are 10am – 6pm Saturday, 10am – 6pm Sunday (followed by music at 8pm and the illuminated boats procession at 9pm), and 10am – 5pm Sunday.

Admission is free.

I hope you all have a great Bank Holiday Break!

Stephanie

One well-known course book writer once said that ‘what students really want is to have better conversations in English’.  And of course that’s quite true. The wish to use English in various kinds of conversation is by far the most common reason for our students to come to our school. What this really means is that they need to develop fluency and a wider range of expressions.

One of the great advantages for you if you study in a class that you find relatively easy is that you will be able to speak with confidence. Confidence is one of the most important aspects in learning a language effectively.  Confidence will give you the ability to communicate things which you didn’t think you could say. You may make mistakes but that’s what your teacher is for. If you think you will be able to do a speaking task quite easily, you will be able to push yourself to say more, try different ways of saying things. This is how you develop the range of your communication.

It actually helps you to work with students who are not quite as good as you. It’s quite common to hear people say that if you want to know something really well, teach it to someone else.  Try this yourself, tell your friend about something you need to learn well. You’ll find it makes a lot more sense to you. It’s the same with language; one of the best things you can do is help a fellow student about, for example,  the past perfect  or the difference between 2 or 3 words. It’s much less likely that you will forget it again after you do this.

English teachers talk about the idea of ‘comprehensible input’. This means that the language they use should be at the level of the class or slightly above. You won’t know all the language your teacher uses but you will understand everything she says. In a class which is high for you, you will be constantly struggling to follow exactly what’s happening and feel tense and under pressure. This is no way to learn to communicate. It’s better to be comfortable with the language used around you. Each time you hear a familiar pattern of speech and fully understand a sentence, you internalise a bit more deeply that speech pattern (that way of saying something).

All teachers know (or at least they should know) that students, without sufficient review, will probably forget 80% of what they tried to learn in one week.  We can help this situation with constant practice, homework and review activities in class. However, it will still help to limit the number of new bits of language you try to learn in a week. There really is no point in trying hard to learn something and then forgetting it. What a waste of time! The best way to limit the new language items to a reasonable number is to stay in a class where you are familiar with most of the language you need to use.

Luckily, UIC school is very central and you can find almost everything you need within a 5 minute walk.  Here are some tips:

Passport Photos
Give a passport photo to Reception to get a UIC student card it offers discounts in various shops and cafes, cinemas and attractions
Mr Craftsman’s Workshop
50 Great Portland Street
London W1W 7ND
www.mrcraftsmanswork.com

Pens & Notebooks
You’ll need something to write with during your UIC classes. Ryman sells everything you could ever need for this!
Ryman
14-16 Great Portland Street
London W1W 8QW
www.ryman.co.uk

Adaptor Plug
If you didn’t bring one with you, you’ll need to buy one so that you can use all your electrical equipment in the UK
Boots
302 Regent Street
London W1B 3AS
www.boots.com
(Boots also has a Pharmacy if you need to buy any medicines)

Mobile SIM Card
There are many mobile phone shops in nearby Oxford Street so you can quickly get your phone working in the UK without paying expensive calls charges. We recommend you visit several shops to find the best deal for you.
Carphone Warehouse
407 Oxford Street
London W1C 2PA
www.carphonewarehouse.com

O2
368 Oxford Street
London W1C 1JW
www.o2.co.uk

Phones4U
339-405 Oxford Street
London W1C 2BU
www.phones4u.co.uk

Supermarket
There are two well-known UK supermarkets close to the school
Sainsbury’s
29-35 Mortimer Street
London W1T 3JG
www.sainsburys.co.uk

The subject this month was London parks.

Jihuyn wins a FREE London attraction ticket. Watch this space for details of May’s competition coming soon!