CISL Blog

By Linda Sintniklaas (CISL San Diego Student)

Arrival at San Diego International Airport

After a rollercoaster of emotions and events and 15 hours of travelling you finally arrive in America, at San Diego Airport. Wow, was what I thought, I’m in America. After all the preparations that have been made I’m finally here and it feels good immediately. In the central hall of the airport my driver is already waiting for me, he is carrying a sign with him with my name on it: Linda Sintniklaas. It was something I had always dreamed about, you can see those signs with names in movies and it made me laugh. The driver was very friendly and he immediately took my suitcase and put them in the beautiful taxi. Within 15 minutes I arrived at the Vantaggio 1736 State Street which I hope to make my home for the next 5 weeks.

“Welcome girl, how are you?!” asked the lady at the reception desk. Again, a warm welcome. After a mountain of paperwork to be signed in which I declared not to damage my room and that I would not harm my fellow students, I can go to my room: no 132. The room is beautiful, is looks neat and clean and the shower is warm. I also have at my disposal to a refrigerator, a microwave, a television, a table and chair, a sink, a closet and a balcony. But now I have to sleep, tomorrow I will go to Converse International School of Language (CISL) and I will explore Broadway.

After a good night’s sleep and a hot shower I walk from the student residence to Broadway (only ten minutes). In between I make a stop at Pappalecco, a nice Italian café where I drink a lovely macchiato and eat a tasty croissant. The student residence is located in Little Italy, that’s a little Italian village within the city with a lot of restaurants, cafes and shops. It looks really nice and promising!

I turn left on Broadway and then I only have to walk straight ahead until I reach the Converse Language School. Again, I am greeted by a friendly guard and I walk up the stairs toward the counter. Despite the confirmation email I received from CISL I check if my registration went well and if it is right that the English classes will start on Monday. “This Monday the English lessons will start”, the friendly lady tells me that on Monday there will first be a test to see what level you are and in which class they will put you. She further said that I was more than welcome and that if I have any questions I can come and ask. She also pointed out the many beautiful sights that CISL organizes or which you can do individually.

After a few days travelling around San Diego I found that this is a city with many beautiful places and sights. The Pacific Ocean, La Jolla Beach, Coronado Beach, the San Diego Cinema, Comic Con (a festival where people get all dressed up as their favorite comic heroes), the shopping malls, San Diego Bay with the big Navy ship, fireworks at the harbor and much more. I’m enjoying my stay here and I am so glad I came.

The people are very kind and hospitable, the student residence is good and I am really looking forward to my first English lesson this Monday. I am so glad that I travelled all over the world as a 20 year old student to come here.
Yes, I really do feel at home here!

By CISL SD student, Dianne Kuijs (The Netherlands)

Do you like adventure? Do you like getting in touch with people from many different countries and cultures? Have you always wanted to learn English or wanted to improve your English? If you answered yes to any of these questions then I have the golden tip for you: English courses at the Converse International School of Language (CISL) in San Diego or San Francisco, California.

Personally, improving my English has always been a dream of mine not only because it is a “must have” when you are in business but also it can allow you to feel more confident when communicating in English.

When I spoke of this dream with my supervisor during my last internship, she told me about CISL, so I visited the site (www.cisl.edu). What struck me first about the site was that the classes have a maximum of only eight people, so you can get plenty of personal attention, a big plus in my opinion. Also I was happy to learn that students from other countries will be in the class with me. This will give me a opportunity to discover other cultures. As I continued to read the site and as I found out more and more about the CISL language school, the more excited I became.

However, before I decided to join CISL, I thought about it a lot and also discussed it with my parents. They said that if I really wanted to do this, I should go for it because it is definitely a great experience and I’ll learn a lot.

Finally, I decided to do it, so what’s the first step I took to begin my trip? Well, making a trip to America as a Dutch student is a big journey and there are many things to consider and arrange.
First I went back to the site, downloaded a form, printed it and filled it out. After doing that, I scanned the forms and emailed it to CISL. Surprisingly, this process turned out to be really easy. I was even able to book my housing on the website where I could specify exactly what kind (alone or shared) of room I wanted. CISL responded very quickly to my application; after sending the email I received a confirmation within only 2 days. I also had some questions about the residence, and, again, they replied very quickly. After I prepared everything right down to the last detail, I could finally relax especially because CISL arranged a driver to pick me up when I arrive at the San Diego airport. The only thing I had to arrange separately was my ticket, but booking that online was also very easy.

My trip includes 3 weeks in San Diego where I’ll complete a Standard English course at CISL. I’ll stay at the student residence on Vantaggio State Street for 5 weeks, so I can explore San Diego. I can’t wait to not only walk across the Broadway, enjoy the many beaches, swim in the Pacific Ocean, watch San Diego’s famous baseball team, the Padres, and go on a trip to LA where I can walk around the huge shopping malls, but, also, to finally fulfill my dream to improve my English!

Does this wonderful trip sound great to you? Do you have a similar dream to improve your English? If so, let CISL help you plan your trip and survive language school, just visit the site www.cisl.edu!

© Dianne Kuijs