Business English courses

I’ve been waiting for this moment – to write about how I’m attending the very best English course! Right now!
At @hopnscotch, I’ve learnt to love English, to love my homework, and to love giving up a quarter of my weekends and one Wednesday evening! For some reason, I’ve ended up with brilliant classmates and, it seems, the best teacher on the planet 🙈
And yesterday we had a Christmas party, and for the first time in ages I got into the New Year spirit not at 10 pm on 31 December, but a whole five days beforehand!!! Perhaps the turmoil I’ve been going through since September is slowly coming to an end, and I’ll be able to love everything again and find joy in all the little things!
Hurrah, mates!

‘What, are you going to be studying in the summer too?’ Haha, if you’d seen my new class at @hopnscotch 🔥 – you’d be rushing over there in a flash😂!
I’m joking, of course, but yes, I will.
How can I explain this more simply…
I enjoy the process.
I physically enjoy being part of it – it’s simply a way of organising my life and making it interesting.
When I started my English course, I thought: well, at least I’ll get a bit more fluent, brush up on my grammar, speak more freely, and as for the rest, God only knows. God only knows, but ‘Advanced’ is already looming on the horizon, and, to be honest, even ‘Proficiency’ doesn’t seem like a trip to Mars to me😂. Appetite, yes, it really does grow as you eat.
You see, it’s really cool to let new things into your life, not to be afraid of spending time on things that ‘might not come in handy’.
If it’s here, it’s already up and running; it’s already with you, and the changes are already underway. You just need to dive right in and… do your homework every now and then 😂. Looking at the figures, you can see I’m a bit of a slacker when it comes to homework 😂. But to be honest, all that paperwork doesn’t matter to me at all. I love the feeling of my brain cells firing, the way I suddenly speak with confidence (though sometimes, of course, not at all confidently), the topics we discuss (who else am I going to talk to about nightmares or cloning?), the people I meet, and how it all adds up to something greater for me.
It’s brilliant that there are so many people like this around me. So, what are you studying? What gets your brain working?

I’m watching the TV series *Brooklyn 99* about a police station in New York.
It’s not particularly deep, but it reminds me of *Parks and Recreation*, which I used to watch while preparing for my first trip to the States.
In class, my teacher Yana and I break down each episode phrase by phrase; I learn new, unusual expressions and do my homework, coming up with sentences and dialogues using them. We also put together a list of ‘boring’ topics – you know, the sort where you’re just doing the opposite. Usually, the most interesting things catch our attention all by themselves, so you learn a language brilliantly when you read articles and watch videos on topics that interest you. And the ‘boring’ topics are left out 🙃
And while in Russian I can chat about chemistry, mechanics, politics, investments, IT and physiology at a basic, everyday level, I’ve got some gaps in my English vocabulary. We’re actually working on those right now ☝
So that I can hold a conversation even on topics I don’t know much about 😇😂”

⭐️⭐️ Nastya — she’s been studying with us since 2016 and will soon be able to teach ;)

💬 “It’s been half a year since I started learning English at @hopnscotch, and it’s been the most enjoyable language-learning experience I’ve ever had.
We eat pizza, drink wine, and chat about films and life)
Thanks to the team for the interesting conversations, the games in class and, of course, the new words 💕”
Yana, thank you for these past six months and for such meaningful and heart-warming words

😃 Look at this lovely review Tatyana has written about her teacher and her six months with us:
💬 «Today was the last lesson with Masha, one of the best teachers in my life.
In the last six months:
I stopped being afraid to speak English.
I started to write thoughtfully in English.
I felt free to be in two languages.
But that's not all that matters.
I'm lucky to meet and communicate with Masha, not only a great teacher, but also an amazing person. She is a person you trust. And this is one of the most important things in my life. Trust is an integral part of a good relationship.
So... There's gonna be something new ahead. But I will always remember these incredible six months."
☺️ We don’t pester our students for reviews, which is why we’re doubly delighted – or even more so!!! – by every spontaneous and heartfelt one like this.
Tatyana, thank you so much, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

"On one-to-one and group English lessons. I’ve tried both approaches and am sharing my observations in the #UlyaninEnglish section☄️
I started with group lessons and, having completed that level, returned to the school just six months later for one-to-one lessons, because I’d set myself the goal of sitting an international exam.
So. No comparisons here, just a look at the differences between the approaches and the desired outcome:
👨👨👧👦💬Group lessons.
- You have a variety of conversation partners, because you need to be able to communicate with all sorts of people.
- The group motivates you to learn. After all, you don’t want to be the odd one out, do you?
- You can vary the formats of communication: monologues, dialogues, questions, presentations with questions from the audience, and discussions.
- You can simulate different situations, such as arguments, disagreements or conflicts — in these situations, it’s useful to be able to keep your cool and use the language effectively.
- Every lesson involves games – board games, card games and verbal games. This is a brilliant way to help you express yourself and develop your language skills.
- During breaks, you can chat in English and practise, shall we say, everyday conversation.
💬 One-to-one.
The most important thing here, in my view, is that the programme is ‘tailored’ to you:
- it fills in the gaps,
- it adjusts the pace of learning depending on how well you’re taking in a particular topic,
- they include in the programme what you need and enjoy: professional vocabulary, your interests, books, films, etc.
I currently have a wonderful teacher, Yana. We don’t just study, but also share with one another what’s happening in our lives: what we see, try and learn.
Being able to bombard them with questions is a real bonus, as I usually have loads of them.
Tip: work out for yourself what you want to get out of learning English, and then the path will become clear😌
And there’s always a free trial lesson where you can get a bit of a feel for whether it’s right for you or not."

💬 “I always thought I was pretty good at speaking and understanding English. Thanks to my first teacher, who instilled that confidence in me for many years to come.
But that was just what I thought.
Until, yet again, when I went to the cinema to watch a film in the original language, I caught myself realising that I’d actually spent the whole film just reading the subtitles and had somehow missed the actual film itself.
That was last summer.
In St Petersburg, where not knowing English is simply an unaffordable luxury.”
Given that not a day goes by without someone asking me for ‘directions to the library’ – and not always in Russian – that’s when I realised there was an urgent need to do something about it. ⠀
And so I’ve now been a Hop&Scotch resident for almost half a year.
I don’t know how these guys managed it, but I got hooked very quickly.
At the start, they assess you very gently to find out your skills and goals.
After all, everyone needs a different level.
Some people want to pass an international exam to get a job abroad or enrol at an international university, while others simply want to chat freely while travelling; as for me, I wanted to listen to and understand world culture 🎞🎶 without any limitations.
They then select a learning method for you (group or one-to-one) depending on your abilities and needs, and provide constant feedback.
I’ve been really lucky with my teacher, although from reading the reviews I can see that there simply aren’t any bad teachers there.
The lessons are always interesting, and they don’t just take place in the classroom – having a lesson in a café near my home or on the grass in the park is absolutely no problem.
After every lesson, I spend at least another hour thinking in English.
And I reckon that’s a good sign.
And although they say that ‘every bird likes its own nest’, I just want to share this.
Perhaps this review will be useful to someone.
After all, it’s never too late to learn something new; the main thing is to dare to dream.

‘Watching every little drop☕️
That’s Yana, by the way; she’s teaching me English.
And here I am making her a bit of coffee – the things you come up with when you’ve got an early morning lesson😁
I look at her and remember my own first steps.
She’s so amazed by everything I show and tell her, and she’s so delighted by a delicious cup of coffee – it’s mad!
Every lesson, I forget that I’ve come to learn.
It feels like I’m travelling✨ because everything’s in the language, because there’s a sea of new things, because it’s fun, interesting and liberating🌊”

‘In the carousel, there’s a photo from a class at school.
It’s break time; my classmate Alina has brought a cake from Volchek, and I’m reading the lads’ suggestions for a title – which I just can’t seem to come up with – and smiling.
One of the biggest perks of group sessions for me is getting to know completely new people in this way. You talk about your favourite films, your habits, your secret—or not-so-secret—guilty pleasures, your work and your plans for the future. ‘You talk a lot about all sorts of things. Getting to know the people around you better, while being united with them by a common goal – that’s a real buzz.’

💬 I’ve finally started going to English classes.
I chose @hopnscotch ❤️ Oh, it’s all so interesting! 😸 You come out feeling smarter and happier; you can have a chat and a laugh in class. And everyone’s sooo nice)
In short, I’m really happy 😸🎓💬

“The Spanish don’t speak English very well, but that doesn’t stop us from practising the communication skills we learnt at school 😎 The special ‘NO RUSSIAN’ #redcard comes with us on all our trips abroad.”
⠀
P.S. Ivan is the creator of the professional ‘No Russian!’ red cards, made especially for HOP&SCOTCH.

‘Is there anything in the world that could make me get up early on a Saturday morning (apart from helping others or other unforeseen circumstances)?’ I wondered, and the answer was obvious – NO!
But that’s just what I used to think. Now I know for certain that there is. And that’s @hopnscotch! I can say with confidence that the very best people study and work at this school!" I grew to love everyone in my group and, of course, my teacher – I was lucky enough to have two of them, as I went away on a two-month trip in the winter and had to carry on with a new group that had already been studying for a couple of months by then. To be honest, I was really worried that I’d be joining an established group and would stick out like a sore thumb, but it immediately became clear that this was probably the silliest thought that could have crossed my mind. We had brilliant lessons and the most delicious biscuits with fragrant coffee.

Guys, thank you for making it such a pleasure to learn with you and for inspiring me to travel and achieve new things!! I love you all so much:heart:!!! I remember how scared I was that I’d have to speak only English, when I only knew a couple of words – and could barely pronounce them at that – but luckily, you forget all about that after the second lesson, and a pattern starts to form in your head of how to replace ‘that very’ unknown word.I’ve literally fallen in love with the English language, and I’m more than happy to come to classes on Saturdays and after work on Wednesdays, as well as to practise at home. All in all, these eight months have flown by! Thank you, guys!!! See you!! P.S. And I’m so grateful for the end-of-course party – it was brilliant!!!!!"