Californians are known as being outdoor and sports-loving people, so while you are studying at CISL San Diego or San Francisco, you can expect to have plenty of opportunities to break a sweat! The love of sports continues long after the game, however: English is full of sports idioms! Do you know some of these...
Begin your year with the most exciting experience: CISL’s Winter Jr. Program in San Diego! Converse International School of Languages offers an exciting winter program for teens who would like to improve their English and enjoy life in beautiful California. Three words come to mind when describing CISL’s Winter Program: adventurous, fun, and action-packed! CISL organizes numerous...
CISL students preparing for the Cambridge FCE Exam are aware that the Reading and Use of English Module begins with Part 1, which is a paragraph with missing words and multiple choice options for the correct answer. What is the best way to prepare for this section of the test? Familiarize yourself with as many collocations, expressions,...
Do you love California as much as we do? It’s hard not to love this incredible state, and apparently, musicians feel the same: there are countless songs about the state of California! We are celebrating California with one of the most famous songs about The Golden State: “Hotel California” by The Eagles. Many have heard the...
“Go fly a kite!” Have you ever heard this expression? It means “go away.” It’s a very funny and strange idiom of the English language (but also powerful: people know exactly what to do when you tell them to “go fly a kite!”). There is one time, however, that being told to “go fly a...
In a previous article, we looked at the types of questions that students can encounter in the TOEFL Reading Section 1. Today we are applying this information to a practice test on an article about the history of one of the most famous California icons: The Hollywood Sign. This practice test contains all of the...
California’s history is rich: literally! The state’s past is closely tied to the Gold Rush of 1849, which began after James Sutter found a large piece of gold in the foothills of Northern California. Shortly after, many people came to mine for gold, and the population of California skyrocketed. Today you can still visit these mining towns,...
By CISL SF student, Cornelia The back door on Muni only opens if you step down. You can smell Marijuana almost all the times. Don’t try to understand the trash bin rules. There is no simple explanation. The people who like being naked in public aren’t always good looking. Hugs, no handshakes. Perfumed garbage...
Most picture Napa when they think of California’s world-famous, award-winning wines, but the entire state’s coast is filled with wineries that students living in both San Diego and San Francisco have the opportunity to visit. When you go wine tasting, you will hear specific wine-related words: here is some wine vocabulary you need to know before your next trip to one...
We all have that one friend who loves to pack too many things for a vacation. (Maybe we ARE that friend?) CISL student face this problem often, since they take many weekend trips to places like Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Palm Springs. How can you provide advice for this friend, and help him or...
