Yuran Lin (Yuki) joined University of the Arts London in 2016, when she applied for MA Curating and Collections at Chelsea College of Arts. Before starting her course, however, she needed to improve her English language skills and therefore joined the Exam Preparation Intensive Course (EPIC).
Why did you decide to do EPIC?
I received my offer to study at University of the Arts (UAL) in May 2016, but my level of English wasn’t strong enough. Before that, I had already applied to different universities but was waiting for an answer from UAL. International students like me need to prepare the money 28 days before and have their EILTS test score. I took the test three times and used my second test to apply to university. My average was 5.5 and I needed a 6.5. I had managed to get it up to a 6 on my third try but the results didn’t come in time, and it was still too low. By the time I had everything in order it was too late to apply for pre-sessional, so I applied to EPIC. At the time I found writing in English the most difficult part as I couldn’t finish in the allocated time, so I needed more training. I actually found that that was a great thing about EPIC. We did a lot of writing but not only for the final test, it also trained me on how to write an essay. It was different from pre-sessional though, as that had more projects and presentations. It seemed to really teach its students how the British academic style works. EPIC was a more targeted course. We would still go out to exhibitions but also would do daily practice in class for the exam. Twice a week we would listen to a lecture and write down notes and that was training us on the listening part of the exam but also on what it would be like during our degree course. It was training us to really catch the important information during a lecture.
Did you join any extra-curriculars while on the course?
At the time, I was a student representative, so every couple weeks I would come to High Holborn to have meetings about any issues the class was having. That was good practice for me, because it forced me to have to speak in English to someone I wouldn’t be able to communicate any other way. As a rep I also met new people and made new friends. In class, when you have a lot of Chinese people together, they will start speaking in Chinese. However, the good thing about our class was that there were a couple Japanese students and so we had to communicate in English as to not leave them out.
Tell us about your Pre-sessional English tutors, what were they like?
My tutors were super, really nice and patient. They really knew how to support the students, they really understood that we would struggle with the difference in culture and opening up to all the new things around us. They would take us to different places in London, for example Borough Market, where we could research and learn English really inside of London and experience it fully. At least once or twice a week we would go somewhere to really experience the city as we improved our language skills.
What were you classmates like?
I really like my classmates. They were amazing and we are still in contact now. They are doing really well, some have gone on to opening their own business in China or their own brand, one of them is already the head of a design team. I know that some have gone on to be lecturers in international schools and colleges in China. Most of them are doing really well.
How did Pre-sessional English prepare you for your main course?
The pre-sessional course really helped me with my writing skills, because when I arrived here, I was really not great at writing essays, especially in English. They made me practice a lot. It’s been six years and I still have my EPIC homework at home and some of the essays I wrote during that time. I still keep all the notes and the pre-sessional book. When I go back to China, I am also a lecturer for Graphic Design. The students usually ask me for advice when they cannot get their EILTS goal in time for the application deadline. I normally tell them to try and reach at least a level of 5.5 as then they can do a language course. I sometimes let me students borrow the book as they would like to apply to university in an English-speaking country but struggle with the language. I always encourage my students to work one goal at a time, finish one section at a time and then move on to the next. I found the experience really good for me, I made new friends, I got used to the life in London, while also, improving my English. It helped me also feel better and less anxious when I joined the main course, as I was already used to British schooling. The experience also opened me up to people I might have not met any other way. I now know people that were on other courses and in other colleges and we are still friends. We still support each other.
What is your favourite memory from your time doing EPIC?
I have a lot of great memories from when I took the course at LCC. One of my favourite is the time our tutor took us all to London Bridge and we went to the pier and took the boat all the way to Greenwich. Once we got there, we went to the university of Greenwich to see an exhibition. While we were there, we had to take notes and photos so that the next day we could present what we had seen, but the whole day was just amazing. The boat journey from London Bridge to Greenwich is quite long, so it gave us the chance to see London from a whole new perspective. After the exhibition we went to the market had food, drinks and talked. We had a small discussion on the activities of the day, until we were dismissed. At the time I was mesmerised. It was so different from my past education experience.
I can think of my top three experiences while doing the pre-sessional course. The first was definitely taking the boat. The second was going to Borough Market, walking around, trying the food. From there we went to the Tate Modern. Like for the first story, we still needed to take notes and photos for the presentation the next day but that was all part of the experience. The final memory is of walking from LCC to a park, I forget which park, but it was quite big, and we sat on the grass and talked about everything and enjoyed the sunshine.
Do you have any tips for future Pre-sessional English students at UAL?
Enjoy it but don’t forget to work hard, because as much as it is a great time and you should have fun, you still have to put all your passion and hard work into it. Value your time, the end goal isn’t pre-sessional, it’s getting on your course and getting to experience London for a much longer time. Play hard and work harder.
