Student Profile

Hello, I am Seine Furukawa and I have been studying ESLA as my supporting subject here at Waikato for approximately one year.

I have taken two ESLA papers last semester and I am taking one further paper this semester at the moment. These papers can provide a great opportunity to improve English skills as a non English speaker. They also help students to practice speaking, listening, reading and writing English in a variety of academic situations. Through the courses, I particularly enjoyed working with other students in a group. While talking to my classmates, I could share the ideas with students coming from different countries. I was pleased that I could find new ideas and different points of view from other students. In addition, I could improve communication skills in English by arguing and debating with group members. So, I am pleased to take one more paper next year as I believe ESLA papers can improve not only English language skills but also communication skills.

One huge advantage that we can gain from these ESLA courses is that they focus on important aspects of learning at university. Before taking ESLA papers, I had no idea about studying at university. Through the courses, however, I could learn a lot of things that are necessary in university life such as how to write essays, how to speak in public, how to research and how to reference different kinds of resources, focusing on academic situations. Now these things that I have learnt in the ESLA courses have a great help with completing other papers I am taking at the moment.

After graduating from university, I would like to choose to be an English teacher as my future career. I think that this ESLA papers will benefit me in that career as I can learn from lecturers about how to teach English to second language speakers. Therefore, I would say that these courses give me an advantage in terms of promoting communication skills as well as leading to my future career.

All in all, I would recommend you take ESLA courses if you want to develop confidence and competence in English. I am sure you will enjoy these courses and they will be useful for your future career as well.