Education | UM’s English summer course attracts over 100 secondary students

The University of Macau’s English Language Centre has organized a program to help secondary school students improve their English proficiency. According to a statement issued by the university, the event has attracted more than 100 local and international secondary school students.
The five-day camp encouraged the use of English in day-to-day interactions through a series of creative activities both inside and outside the classroom. Cecilia Chio from the Sacred Heart Canossian College (English Section), described the camp as a ‘very special’ experience: “We were exposed to an English-friendly living environment and we learnt something new each day,” she said. “I’ve improved my English a lot through participating in the various activities both inside and outside the classroom. We practiced English through drawing, painting, performing drama, singing, and dancing. It was fun.”
Another student from Malaysia, Goh Jia Shen, noted that the way of teaching and learning he had experienced during the summer course differed to most Malaysian high schools. “The instructors arranged many interactive and fun activities for us to practice speaking English. The course provided a very good opportunity for us to learn how to communicate with people from different cultures,” he said.
There were 100 local participants from 14 Chinese and English secondary schools in Macau. This number was selected out of more than 250 applicants. “I would say that the students all came with different levels of English language proficiency,” said Miranda Ma, one of the program’s coordinators. “My goal for this program was to help students strengthen their confidence in using English so that they could better express themselves and work with each other in the target language.”
The summer camp coordinators lived in the residential college with the students to help them practice English and review what they had learned during the day. Some UM students also served as camp leaders and encouraged the participants to use English in everyday interactions. According to the statement, the UM plans to expand the English summer course in order to “benefit more local students.”