St Mary's College of Education

I didn't really improve my English in Belfast, but I'm a lot better at Irish now :) I didn't really like the Belfast accent at first, but now that I've picked it up, I think it's really cool ;) Also I've become a lot quicker in responding, I'm better at understanding slang and most of all: I have learned several sentences to keep a class under control in English ("when you don't shut up, I'll hang you out of the window head first/ you'll end up in the dustbin" etc.)

It was not easy in the beginning because of the strong accent they have in Belfast. So I needed a few weeks to find out about that. But after that it was no problem any more and I think I improved my English a lot. I had no major problems with communicating with the local students or other foreign students.

I don't think i learned a lot new words, but i'm not afraid aznymore to talk a different language than my own, and it was nice to learn new ways to express yourself. Everybody said my english was ok and they were patient and helpfull if I didn't know a word or made a mistake.

It improved very well. In the beginning it's rather hard to understand the accent, but it'll be better after a few weeks, especially after a period of teaching practice.

If you are not a student of Engelsh at your home university, you might find the Irish accent quite difficult, but you'll be ok after a short while.

At first, even for students of English, the language is really difficult, but after a little while you get used to it and you pick it up very easily.