Trick or Treat
October 28-November 3, 2019

On 31st October and for all that week, we celebrated Halloween by decorating our reception, student lounge, classes with carved pumpkins, spider web, witches and monsters. All our campus was covered by spooky items and students definitely love this festival for Halloween as they are able to wear scary costumes/make-up of their choice and attend Halloween parties. Also, for all those who don’t celebrate Halloween in their country, it is a great experience of a new culture.
This year SMEAG English held the first-class costume competition and our students were asked to dress up as scary as they could. Spooky creatures, Yoda, a lobster, Jocker, witches and a traditional Mexican hombre took part in the competition. And the Mexican hombre won this competition and got heaps of jellies, cheers, and posts on Facebook and our Instagram page.
Apart from the popular costume competition, SMEAG English also organized another class competition this month. Students gave space to their creativity and wrote a spooky story with 3 sentences. Despite the English proficiency, the elementary class smashed it!

Academic Feedback
October 14-20, 2019

Here at SMEAG English, we try to be as customized and tailor-made as possible. So how do we establish and grow the rapport between teachers and students? Simple. We make sure that we give them constant and regular feedback on their in-class performances and practices.
We created a three-step procedure so that students are monitored from their Week 1 until their last week. In fact, on their first Friday at SMEAG English, teachers take about 10 minutes to discuss the student weaker skills and gives the student a Personalised Study Plan (PSP) with practical tips of activities and exercises to do to improve on the weak points.
After that, teachers keep monitoring students and when they get to the middle of their course of study, teachers prepare a Mid-Course Report. This is a teacher comment on the student’s progress through the months. The feedback is written on a document that summarises the PSP given to the student in Week 1 so that the student always has a clear picture of his learning progress.
At the end of the course, teachers prepare a Final Report where they comment on the student’s overall progress at SMEAG English with some important suggestions on how to keep up the good work. The Final Report is a recap of the previous two reports (PSP and Mid-Course Report) plus the final teacher feedback and it looks like this.

After Class Activities
September 30-October 6, 2019

Short courses are the most popular option for students, as not only are the classes active and interesting, but also practical. Students can further practice and improve specific English skills from the class. Take ‘Movie Attack’ class, for example, students will enjoy a classic movie excerpt first and increase vocabulary, grammar and authentic English expressions from the movie lines. It is common to see some students get together to discuss the topics learned in class and to do homework in the student lounge.
On the other hand, for some students, mingling with other nationalities is the best way to relax and learn about different cultures and practice speaking skills. SMEAG English has students from 17 different countries who all get along with each other. Also, SMEAG offers free table tennis for students. There are always some ‘frequent visitors’ playing it for several hours after class.
Accent Diversity
September 19, 2019

We live in an era where English is spoken by millions of people all around the world, making what researchers call the World Englishes. That is why it is important that our students are aware of the many accents that they can find in our society, especially in such a diverse country like Australia.
Here at SMEAG English, we are very aware of the multiculturalism of our world today and we are therefore happy to hire teachers from different countries and with global work experience. All our teachers have usually taught in other countries before and have gained a high level of cultural sensitivity together with solid language expertise that has made SMEAG English academic reputation quite strong on the market in Melbourne.
We celebrated accent diversity on a fun video that we shared as one of our Happy Friday Clips. Check it out and listen up!

August Competition
August 26, 2019

Our students have become actors and actresses by representing one of the most famous children’s stories, Little Red Riding Hood, for our monthly competition. Students talked in class how they would like to represent it, for example, they lip-sync it, draw it, act it out or sing it.
They discussed what they were going to do with their teachers, decided the roles and edited the film. Then, they went to the Flagstaff garden across the road from SMEAG English and prepare for it. On Thursday, we gathered students in the student lounge and showed them all the videos one by one and couldn’t stop laughing. Although the theme was the same for everyone, the stories were twisted. Look how talented they are!
All our students, teachers and staff members voted and the Pre-intermediate class won! They got heaps of chocolates, lollies and crisps as a prize.
Well done to everyone, they all clearly enjoyed acting and we couldn’t wait to see what our students have in their sleeve for the next competition!

New PTE Course in SMEAG Australia
April 15, 2019

The interest towards PTE is getting bigger and bigger. PTE is an official test of English and it is the direct competitor of IELTS. It’s a computer-based test and results are available to test-takers within five business days. PTE is accepted by thousands of universities worldwide, including prestigious institutions such as Harvard Business School, INSEAD and Yale. PTE is also accepted for visa purposes by the Australian and New Zealand governments.
SMEAG English will launch an intensive PTE course on the 6th of May to celebrate our first anniversary. Our PTE course will guide students through the format of this new test that is becoming more and more popular among students. Our teachers are PTE experts and will focus on strategies and skills to help students achieve their score.
Before launching our PTE course, we invited our partner agents for a demo class to show them how we are going to deliver the lessons and strategies in order to encourage their students. Also, we will invite students for a PTE demo class this coming Tuesday, 16th of April. It will be a nice opportunity to experience the PTE test conditions, test exercises and ask any questions they would like.

Achievements of SMEAG Melbourne
April 15, 2019

Today, We are going to show you what we’ve achieved over our 1st year at SMEAG English. To date, we have reached over 100 students counting a variety of international students from Italy, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, Chile, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc. Also, our teachers are from all over the world: New Zealand, the United States, Poland, Colombia, Scotland and, of course, Australia.
It is literally a great opportunity to be exposed to diverse accents from different countries in order to improve students’ English listening skills. Our teachers are fantastic! They’re always mingling with our students, playing board games, drinking coffee or tea during the break time and even make it a point to help them learn more by engaging in educational conversations. Some of our teachers sometimes keep delivering lessons before and after class. Recently, we have planned to launch a 2-week intensive PTE course in May. We hope that we can help our students achieve their goals even more while having fun at SMEAG English!

Have a laugh in Melbourne
April 01, 2019

The Melbourne Town Hall is where you can buy tickets and see the night’s schedule, and you can even meet comedians outside inviting you to see their shows. Some of the numerous acts this year include musical tributes and performances, such as the Noughty Girls and Taco Knight. There is puppetry and crime with the Bunk Puppets and a mixture of philosophy and comedy in The Return of Grazie Fibonacci.
If you’re looking for something a little cheaper, why not try out some sketch comedy performances? For under $15, there are one man acts, such as William Richards, or midnight sessions like Conspiracy Up Late.

And for free shows, why not check out Cho Kairin, King of the Chinese Acrobats, perform in the Melbourne Museum Plaza? Winner of the World Championship of Daidogei (Performers), he’ll be bringing a dangerous balancing show on a tower of chairs. Or, you can head on down to Highlander Bar, which presents an array of local acts every night, including Aaron Aardvark, who broke attendance levels last year. Sit back with friends and enjoy a beer and some interesting takes on Scottish cuisine while having a laugh.

And, if you have a great time at the comedy festival, there are plenty of other places in Melbourne where you can watch comedians perform every week. There’s free entry to the Lido Cinemas every Tuesday to see a number of comedians perform in the Jazz Room. There are comedy clubs like Quick Bites, which offer free Monday sessions. You can see both seasoned and amateur comedians take the stage to try make you laugh. At Voltaire you can be entertained by a variety of performers. And, if you fancy yourself a comedian, why not try out performing at the Open Mic on Fridays?
So, come on down for a laugh in the city of Melbourne!

Soccer Activity in SMEAG Melbourne
April 01, 2019

Last Sunday, SMEAG English soccer team made its first appearance on the pitch! It was an incredibly sunny day and our students and teachers had a lot of fun together. The soccer tournament involved 8 teams made of 7 players each. The teams competed against each other and went through semi-finals and finals, like how professionals play the game. There were sweat and heavy panting but there was a lot of laughter and fun as well! We took a lot of pictures before, during and after the match. In fact, we posted the pictures on our Instagram and Facebook page! Check them out and like them so that our players will feel your support from afar.
Unfortunately, our SMEAG English soccer team didn’t make it through the finals, but our players came back to school on Monday with great enthusiasm and tanned skin after a great day spent together outdoors! Well, this was just the beginning; we are definitely ready for our next chance to play and win in July!

English for Academic Purposes
March 25, 2019

EAP1/EAP2 aims to assist students of intermediate to advanced levels who want to enter higher education such as TAFE, undergraduate or postgraduate courses. It is quite an intensive course that focuses on raising English at an academic level. These are 10-week courses, for a total duration of 20 weeks if taken together so that learners can develop autonomy, consult their teacher and seek academic support. Furthermore, anyone who graduates from those courses and/or from General English (Upper-Intermediate) is eligible to enter our higher education partnership providers.
