Exciting Courses Starting!

TESOL started Monday

On Monday, we started our TESOL/TKT course with 11 students from 6 different countries - Japan, Korea, Colombia, Thailand, China and Switzerland. A perfect mix of students striving to improve their English and learn the techniques to be a successful English teacher. This training course lasts only 4 weeks. So, if you want to teach English too, the next TESOL/TKT course starts on 13 October.

Lower level IELTS course

 

For the first time, we opened a lower level IELTS course on 19 May for 6 weeks with an entry of 3.5 - 4. Its popularity is proven by the fact that it was full a month before the course even started. This class is composed of 15 students from 7 different countries - Japan, Korea, Thailand, Russia Vietnam, Colombia and Brazil. This is an early preparatory course to help students prepare for the IELTS exam and is an excellent course to do before our regular IELTS course.  We will announce the start date of our next lower level course very soon.  Our next higher level IELTS course (entry level 5 -5.5) starts on 23 June.

For more information on any of our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz or contact us at marketing@dominion.school.nz.

Written by Hinarau Lin, Intern from Tahiti.

 

Special Guests

Last week Dominion had some very special visitors.  A group of VIP agents from countries all over the world visited our school as part of their IALC tour, after the conference in Brisbane 10-13 April.  The group included agents from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Ecuador, Spain and Germany. 
Our guests were given an extra special Dominion welcome, which included an informative presentation, a mingle with our students and a tour around Auckland's best tourist sites.  The highlight of the day was our student mingle activity in the morning.  We invited students from our Cambridge classes to attend a "speed dating" session with our guests.  The session consist of 5 minute long mini-interviews with the students. The agents were allowed to ask the students anything they wanted about our school, courses and teachers.  At the end of the 5 minutes, the students moved to a new group so the agents could talk to a new group of students.  The activity was highly enjoyable for both the students and the agents.  There is nothing like real-time testimonials to show what it is really like at a school. 
We would like to say a big thank you to all the agents that visited us as part of this IALC tour and, of course, a special thank you to our students who participated in the day, making it an unforgettable experience for all.

 

Competition Time!!!

At Dominion English Schools, we hold regular competitions and award our students with great prizes.  This month we had a "selfie" competition.  We asked our students to get out and about in Auckland and take some photos of themselves in front of some iconic Kiwi backgrounds, with a Dominion logo.  The winner would receive free tuition for one week!! The competition was run via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DominionEnglishSchool).  The winner was the photo with the most "likes". 

We had some great entries, but Carolina Henao from Colombia won in the end with over 160 "likes".  Congratulations Carolina, we hope you enjoy your prize!!! Thank you to everyone else who entered. 

The best bits from the competition (including Carolina receiving her prize) are below: 

For more photos of our students around New Zealand or to find our more about our school and our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz.

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’

 

When deciding to study in an English speaking country, there were plenty of destinations to choose from, but it was New Zealand that caught the eyes of Lucas da Silva Fontes, a young teenager from Brazil. Lucky us, as we had the opportunity to welcome him to the Dominion family – and what a great student Lucas has turned out to be!

Lucas started his studies at Dominion as a General English student. His dedication and commitment soon led him to our Cambridge course, which he successfully completed last week. The beautiful country of New Zealand alongside the high quality education and student support Dominion provides, made Lucas realise that his studies were bound to help him in his future goals and that he could count on us to support him.

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’ The more, the better! After all, English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world! From General English to Cambridge, Lucas is now part of our IELTS class and we are very proud of him and even happier to have him longer!

Studying English abroad is a big decision and requires a lot of work, but equally can be the best experience of your life. No matter what your goal is, Dominion will work with you towards achieving it and provide you with an outstanding language education!

 

Cambridge Course Testimonial

We have been running Cambridge courses for many years and it's always great to see a student successfully completing one, with a great opinion of the course and a fantastic grade!  Here is Irina's story about her recent Cambridge course.  She got a grade A in the end and was understandably thrilled! Our Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE courses run a regular times throughout the year.  Please see our website for further details http://www.dominion.school.nz/courses/exam-courses/.

It just got easier to study and work in New Zealand with Dominion!

From January 2014, it will be easier for students to study and work at select schools in New Zealand.  From January, students that study full-time for at least 14 weeks will be able to work for up to 20 hours per week.  This is a significant improvement on the current situation where only those students who are studying for at least 6 months and who have IELTS 5.0 are permitted to work.  There is one small catch; these new work rights will only be available to students who are enrolled in top-quality schools that are considered to be Category 1 by NZQA.  The good news is, Dominion English Schools is a Category 1 school and has been for many years!  We are very excited about these changes and are happy to assist our students in finding work in New Zealand.  We offer a range of services to support students looking for work.  Our services include:

• Monthly lectures providing information on travelling and working in New Zealand
• Optional CV writing workshops
• 3 day courses in coffee and cocktail making (conducted at our partner institute)

For more information about the changes in work rights, please see http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/internationalstudentchanges

For more information on our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz

Teacher Training Courses Starting Soon!

 

What students say about Dominion

 Yasir, Saudi Arabia

 

Yasir with Kirstin (our Director of Studies) and his brother Saleh (also a Dominion student)

 “I’ve studied for over 55 weeks (at Dominion).  At first I couldn’t cope with the way of teaching because it’s quite different from Saudi Arabia, but a short time later I got used to it and I liked it.  The teachers are kind and respectful, and the classes are enjoyable.  My English has significantly improved.  Going from level 3 to level 7 has meant a lot of study, but because of that I got my IELTS result that allows me to do my postgraduate.  I made a lot of friends, some of them have gone back to their country, but I’m still in contact with a lot of them.  New Zealand is a peaceful, enjoyable, green, lovely country and I strongly give my recommendation to visit it.”

Yasir Alzahrani is going to study Engineering at Auckland University of Technology.

Agent Newsletter Out Now!

 

 

Every month we email our newsletter to our agents to keep them updated on what is going on around school here in Auckland.  If you would like to receive our newsletter, please email marketing@dominion.school.nz.

Cambridge Course Starting Soon!

　

Our next Cambridge course starts on 9 September. Students can study this globally recognised course for the same price as General English (plus $470 for exams/text/materials). Please contact us if you have interested any students.

ACADEMIC UPDATE

 

 

It's the end of term here at Dominion, so our students have been busy sitting exams and (hopefully!) will be moving onto new classes on Monday - well done to all! 

Good luck to those students who still have exams to do this week such as our IELTS class.  These students have all worked very hard over the last 6 weeks, so we hope you get the results you deserve. 

Another course that finished this week was our first Business English/TOEIC Preparation class.  These students have been studying part time for 5 weeks on this new course and have had a great experience.  Some have even chosen to sit the TOEIC test here at Dominion next week - good luck guys! 

Starting next week is one of our English for Academic Purposes courses.  Dominion offers 3 levels of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses that focus on skills, strategies and language for academic studies. The course starting this month is EAP1, which is ideal for students who are aiming for IELTS 5.0 or further study.  This course gives students direct entry into the Dominion EAP2 course and into lower level certificate courses at external institutes such as Crown institute of studies, AMES IT Academy, Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design, Media Design School and NZMA.  If you want to know more information about the courses we offer please visit www.dominion.school.nz or email marketing@dominion.school.nz.

 

Timetable change!

On Monday April 2nd, Dominion is changing the class timetable. The main reason for the change is so that students finish 30 minutes earlier. This also means that our after school activities can start earlier. The only actual change is to make the morning and afternoon breaks 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes. The classes and contents remain exactly the same:

Class times and focus:

9.00 – 11.45: Focus on language: grammar, vocabulary (course book)
12.45 – 2.15: Focus on skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking – topic based
2.30 – 3.30: Focus on speaking and conversation

Courses:

Part-time: 9.00 – 11.45 or 12.45 – 3.30: 12.5 hrs
Intensive: 9.00 – 2.15: 20 hrs (+ social programme)
Super-Intensive: 9.00 – 3.30: 25 hrs (+ social programme)
Conversation: 2.30 – 3.30

Contact us at marketing@dominion.school.nz if you have any questions or a PDF format for this post.

March Magazine 2012 + Summary

March Dominion Schools magazine is now available in our school. Our students have already received a free copy. Colour copies are $2.50.

Summer is coming to an end in the City of Sails as we welcome the new month of March and all the excitement it brings with it!

This month we are keeping busy, with new TESOL, FCE, and CAE courses starting soon, and our 6-week IELTS course is still going strong. Well done to those students who have taken on the challenges of these courses.

We were also lucky enough to welcome 34 new students at the end of February and most of them will stay with us until the end of March or longer.

Make sure you head out and enjoy the last few weeks of summer, go to the beach or maybe take a weekend away with Zane and some friends on one of our weekend trips adventures! It’s the perfect way to see a little more of our beautiful country.

We hope you’ve had a great start to 2012 and are looking forward to the rest of it (we sure are!).

The Dominion Team

TESOL / TKT March course update

 TESOL / TKT course is fully booked!!! (started 5th March)

Next course: 28th May

4 weeks: Full-time

 Course Information:
* This course is designed to introduce ESL teaching techniques,
methodology and theory to help students become English language
teachers in their home country. It also supports students in the
Cambridge TKT exam.
*Minimum 4 students – maximum 12 students
* Entry level of IELTS 5.0 – 5.5 or current English level of
intermediate or above. Entrance test applies!
*Closed course for 4 weeks
*TKT exam Saturday 14 April 2012
*Next 2012 course date: 8 October

If you have any questions or would like to book a pre-test please contact us marketing@dominion.school.nz

TESOL / TKT course

4 weeks: Full-time

at Dominion English Schools

8th floor 155 Queen St – Auckland

Next course: 5 March 2012: Now booking!!

Course Information:
* This course is designed to introduce ESL teaching techniques,
methodology and theory to help students become English language
teachers in their home country. It also supports students in the
Cambridge TKT exam.
*Minimum 4 students – maximum 12 students
* Entry level of IELTS 5.0 – 5.5 or current English level of
intermediate or above. Entrance test applies!
*Closed course for 4 weeks
*TKT exam Saturday 14 April 2012
* 2012 course dates: 5 March, 28 May and 8 October

If you have any questions or would like to book a pre-test please
contact us marketing(at)dominion.school.nz

IELTS starting 20th February

Academic IELTS Preparation course
6 weeks: Full-time
at Dominion English Schools
8th floor 155 Queen St – Auckland

Next course: 20 February 2012: Now booking!!

Course Information:

*This course is designed to extend the skills of reading, writing,
listening and speaking to help students perform well in the IELTS
exam

*Text/materials fee: $75

*Minimum 8 students – maximum 14 students

*Entry level of IELTS 5.0 – 5.5 or current English level of intermediate or above. Entrance test applies!

*Closed course for 6 weeks

2012 course dates: 20 Feb, 2 Apr, 21 May, 2 July, 13 Aug, 24 Sept, 5 Nov.

Please contact us if you want more information about this course marketing(at)dominion.school.nz

TOEIC Exam Offer!

Are you studying English hard every day?

Do you want to see how much you have improved?

Why don’t you check your level by taking the TOEIC exam?

Now you can take the exam at Dominion!

You also can use our TOEIC exam resources for free.

Send us an email if you want to know more about this course 

marketing(at)dominion. school.nz.