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TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials about English lessons
Testimonials about lessons in other languages

Testimonials about English lessons

The people and the teachers are very friendly.
His Highness Prince Sultan Bin Saad Bin Abdullah A. F. F. Al Saud.
August 2009

The teaching is good because the school takes into consideration my requests.
Sylvia S.
November 2009

There is a friendly atmosphere at Rands.
Anna L.
November 2009

Sasha is a good woman for learning English.
S Al Marri.
August 2009

I adore the teaching. The place is lovely and the atmosphere warm and friendly.
V Petropoulos.
August 2009

I’m very comfortable in this school and very happy.
Yahya Al H.
August 2009

I like the small classes.
I.  Zuleta.
August 2009

I lke the experienced teachers.
Ako S.
August 2009

I like everything in it!
Saud Al S.
August 2009

The lecturers are very helpful
Sadeq Al H.
August 2009

I learned a lot of vocabulary and I think my writing is getting better.
A Al Banna.
August 2009

Testimonials about lessons in other languages

Learning French at Rands
As a university lecturer I find that most people I meet these days speak more than one language but I believed I was not to be one of them. For some time I have felt that this skill had passed me by. I have always enjoyed listening to French when it is spoken and to catch the odd word or phrase that I recognised but I felt reluctant to attempt to speak in this language.

My French teacher at grammar school spoke with a delightful Parisian accent and as a teenager I studied French for 'O' level for five years and I passed the exam much to my surprise but I never followed this up. For some reason I did not regard myself as a person who could speak in French. In 1980 I went to Picardy in Northern France on a First World War battlefield tour and it was in a pharmacy in Albert that I realised how poorly those five years of study had prepared me for listening and speaking the language. My attempt to communicate in the native language deteriorated into pointing at the batteries I needed to buy for my camera.

Sadly, on looking back it appears that the emphasis at school was more on exercises in conjugations than practice in listening and speaking. With only one French teacher for thirty four pupils I realise now that this was far too big a ratio to enable a high level of conversational French to flourish. Believing in life long learning and it is never too late, I decided that one day I would do something about this and capitalise on those years spent getting familiar with irregular verbs and that past historic tense.

When you think about all this it is surprising that so few people in the British Isles speak French as the languages are so similar. Alexander Dumas, the author who wrote the Three Musketeers, once said, "English is all French but badly pronounced." Michel Thomas, the linguist, also said that many people get by in English with an active vocabulary of between 500 - 1500 words. With this more realistic view of what the task of speaking a language is I decided to look for a French language tutor. Perhaps I had been thinking the task was far bigger than it really was. As a student of neuro linguistic programming (NLP) I have come to understand that if you change the way you think about something this can have a radical effect on your view of the task. In becoming a Master Practitioner in NLP I had also studied how best I learn and how to model how someone who does something really well does this skill. With this self knowledge and approach in mind I sought out one to one teaching, with the emphasis on building up my confidence by lots of listening and speaking at my own pace, I wanted to find a tutor that would give me the opportunity to monitor my own learning and to discover more ways to learn better.

After discussing my aspirations with Sasha at RANDS in Hebden Bridge I embarked on a series of French lessons. Now Thursdays are my French speaking days and I even find myself thinking in French words during the week. My tutor Sara works from where I am at each week and is highly perceptive of my varying rates of progress. With just the right blend of pace and challenge along with positive encouragement and recognition for what I do in fact already know, my confidence and motivation to progress is very noticeable. After all learning a language is easy – young children do this all the time and we must not forget that.
Mike Booth
November 2009

I need a lot of time to talk about Rands school. So I want to talk just about the main points:

1. The ways of teaching are very good and I can get a big chance to talk in class.
2. The teachers in this school are very friendly and very patient when I talk with them.
3. The numbers of students per class at the moment are maximum 7, so it gives me a good chance to speak.
4. The Rands website gives you a lot of sites to improve your language and test yourself.
5. The management of Rands is organised and it works with the students quickly.
6. Lastly, I love, love, love this school!

I would like to especially thank my teacher for her encouragement and support, and for guiding me to use different ways to improve my language.

Anwar F.
January 2009

Rands is a very good school. The teachers enjoy teaching. It has a new building. In the school there are not many students in each class. The beginners’ class is different from any other school. we can speak a lot with our teacher. The place, [Hebden Bridge] is very good because it is in the middle of Leeds and Manchester. My teacher can help anybody.

Mohamad Al J.
January 2009

Hebden Bridge is quiet and good for study. However, Manchester is the next big city and it is only 40 minutes by train.
In my opinion, studying in Rands is the best way to make the most progress.
Rands have a clear plan for developing my language.

Meshaal Al A.
February 2009

The school is very, very good. My teachers are very good. I am happy in school. I came from Saudi to learn English.

Yahya Al H.
January 2009

There are a few students on the course so that helps me improve my language. I think all students here will improve their language very fast.

Ayman Al J.
February 2009

We are very grateful to you for multiple reasons.
 
Really your teaching has helped us to improve our English greatly because none of the teachers we had in the past were concern to correct our grammatical and spelling mistakes. Your teaching surpasses all English teachers I have personally had since I arrived in UK.
 
As French speakers we were taught how to understand the difference between French and English pronunciation of the alphabet - things that many teachers had never paid attention to. Sasha you are a wonderful teacher.
 
Here are some words to underline what we are thinking about you: 
 
Sasha's teaching has helped us to improve our English greatly.
Sasha has provided excellent English language tuition.
Sasha is a wonderful teacher.
Sasha's lessons are really fun and exciting.
We really enjoy our lessons. We laugh a lot.
When we first came to England our English was only basic. These lessons have been really helpful. Our English is much better than befocre.
We would recommend these lessons to anyone who wants to improve his English.

Yves and Abraham E

Sasha is great at teaching pronunciation. All the games and summaries of grammatical categorisations are very helpful.

Kamil K
July 2008

Sasha is a brilliant teacher who provides excellent English language teaching. When I came to England a year ago my English wasn’t good. I knew some grammar rules but I couldn’t use them and I had many problems with speaking. After one year of Sasha’s English language tuition my English seems to be much better than before. She is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. She encourages me in writing, helps me in understanding and speaking. Her lessons are really interesting and funny. I enjoy them very much and never get bored! Every time I go back home after the lesson, I look forward to being taught by her again. And I keep recommending these lessons to all of my friends.

Dorota C

My name is Tomasz. I came from Poland.I met Sasha in June 2007.She was my English teacher. These lessons have been really helpful. After just a few lessons my English is much better than before. Sasha`s teaching has helped me improve my English a lot. Sasha is a
wonderful teacher and she has provided excellent English language tuition. I would highly recommend these lessons to anyone who wants to improve their English. When I met Sasha I had no job. She helped me find good work. Now I have been working for 3 months and I am very happy.

Thanks Sasha.
Tomasz O

I learned a lot. Sasha helped me understand things better and improve my pronunciation.

Abdullah A

These lessons have helped me improve the scope of my vocabulary. They have helped me to understand people better.

Tomasz C

I have enjoyed the great, friendly atmosphere. The course is exactly how I expected it to be. I really like the way the teacher explains the rules.

D Czajak

Since my English has improved they have offered me training to get a higher position at work. I am not afraid of going to an interview for a better job.

Dorota C.
2008.

I could not write in English before. Although there is still room for improvement, I now use English for report writing in my workplace.

Tatiana H

Of course I still have a strong accent, but I can carry out a conversation and people understand me.

T Holmes

I enjoyed working and learning with Sasha and I feel that she has helped me on my path to better English. I always enjoyed the lessons because of the content and most importantly because of Sasha. She is a very good teacher and her personality made me always feel relaxed and eager to learn. She is an ideal teacher.

Zhanna A

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