Dublin’s greatest secrets part II As days are getting longer and (possibly) warmer, we all tend to get a little travel fever. We’d like to explore new places, since in nice weather they tend to be much more spectacular. Plus, we don’t need to wear thick coats with several layers underneath. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about … Read More
Life hacks 101
The best cold remedies you’ve never heard of Last weekend we celebrated the International Health Day, which means it’s already April. Wau. Time flies real fast, doesn’t it? Anyhow, we still have quite a long journey till summer begins, so in the meantime, me and Simon had this wonderful idea of doing a research on “cold remedies”. I know, I … Read More
Dublin’s greatest secrets
Chapter 1 – The Storyteller If you ever meet a real Dubliner, you might end up having a whale of a time. The only thing you have to do, is to ask. Ask them to recommend you some places. Some good old places. And that’s exactly what I did. I met Liam on my first week at Alpha. At the … Read More
Not all Saints wear saffron
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all? No not the person who drank the most… St. Patrick of course! Once a year people in Ireland unite to celebrate one of the greatest man in their history – Saint Patrick. For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, Saint Patrick was a priest (formerly known … Read More
The Beast from the East
a.k.a. national bread crisis “Let’s go.” “We can’t.” “Why not?” “We’re waiting for Emma.” “I can’t go on like this.” “That’s what you think.” This is how I imagine a dialogue between people in Ireland and the government would go. Well, at least it seemed like that. Since ancient times, people have always been afraid of the unknown. Unknown … Read More
Dublin Walking Tour
Taste of Irish history Last Friday, thanks to our special tour guide Stig, the students of Alpha discovered a lot about amazing Irish history. Even though the Republic of Ireland as a country is not that old, the history of Ireland goes way back. In case you’ve missed that, Ireland was under the occupation of Great Britain for more than … Read More
Gǒu nián jíxiáng (狗年吉祥)!
a.k.a dumpling overload Some of you may know, some of you don’t, but the Year of the Dog is about to start. Curious about the meaning of it? So were we. Luckily, our students Lin and Tian Min helped me discover Chinese cultural heritage. Just keep reading. Tradition of the Chinese New Year has been here for more than (get … Read More
Valentine’s Day
International views of Valentine’s Day We asked our beloved students, how is Valentine’s Day usually celebrated in their country and here’s what they had to say. Stephanos (45) from Greece: “The Valentine’s Day in Greece is nowadays a commercial holiday. I don’t think we do anything special, apart from other European countries. We give presents to our partners, especially chocolate, … Read More
12 things you didn’t know about pancakes.
It’s Pancake Tuesday today and we are celebrating by… you guessed it…. eating lots of pancakes. On Pancake Tuesday 52 million eggs, 26.000 litres of Clark’s Maple Syrup, approx. 13 million kilos of plain flour and more than 232 million litres of milk. Greedy much? Before the rise of baking soda, cooks used to use the so-called “secret ingredient” – … Read More
Things to do during the Christmas holidays!
My name is Adnan and I am the current Marketing Intern. If you are staying in Dublin during Christmas (like me), there are lots of cool things to do over the next two weeks. Here are just a few I picked out. Explore the city – Dublin Discovery Trails: First, I advise you to download the “Dublin Discovery Trails” app. This … Read More
Eunji’s Thoughts on Halloween
Many people (before they meet an informed proud Irish person) don’t realise that Halloween is originally a 2000 year old Celtic festival called Samhain originated in Ireland. Therefore, the only way to truly experience Halloween is in Ireland! 🙂 🙂 Here is Eunji’s experience: The Real Halloween Halloween night has just finished, I couldn’t have guessed the atmosphere of Halloween since … Read More
Eunji’s Thoughts on Travelling Around Europe
Eunji recently came back from a trip to Iceland and Amsterdam so we asked her to write about her experience. Here is what she thought: Dublin is the gateway to Europe How many countries have you coloured in on your world map? How many passport stamps do you have? If you are like me, you are hoping to colour in … Read More
Happy Potato Day!
October 6th is National Potato day Potatoes are certainly popular in Ireland. We love to roast them, mash them, boil them, fry them, bake them… (anything else?) but we were sure the Irish weren’t the only ones that have a love for the potato. Eunji, our marketing intern asked some of our students to send us recipes for dishes from … Read More
7 keys to the secret doors to Irish literature tradition you must visit in Dublin
Dublin, one of the cultural capitals of Europe, is home of some of the most enduring writers of the English language. It can boast 4 nobel literature prizes (William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney), who only represent a tiny fraction of the great writers Ireland has produced. It is then worth to explore the literary … Read More
6 more ways to boost your language learning outside the classroom
Do you ever realise that you have the access to a magic portal to the whole vastity of human knowledge at your will? And you are likely to carry this wizardry in your pocket at all times. What am I talking about? The Internet, of course! What a time to be alive. Do you also realise that there’s much more … Read More
General English, the most popular course. Here’s why.
General English – The most popular course and what most courses are based on. During your first day at Alpha College, you will take an assessment test so that you are put in the appropriate class for your level. However, some people learn faster than others: for this reason, at Alpha we make sure, through regular interviews and assessment tests, … Read More
Lets get straight to the (7) point(s) – Why come to Alpha to learn English?
We have already talked about how there are many ways out there to practise your English outside the classroom, especially with all the new technologies available. However I can’t stress enough that, in order to learn a language properly, you do need to take some real classes with real teachers. Now that I’ve made this clear, you have to choose the … Read More
6 ways to boost your language learning outside the classroom
Even in today’s technologically advanced (and dependant) society, it is fundamental to participate in some language classes with real teachers that will help you improve all four of your language skills (writing, listening, speaking and reading) and help you reach your personal learning goals more quickly. In particular, in class you get the chance to practice your conversation skills in … Read More