Julien is one of 13 students that took their FCE examination last Tuesday after 12 weeks of dedicated hard work and study. We asked Julien to tell us about his time in Byron Bay.

For my first month in Australia I stayed with a host family. I think that being in a homestay is a good thing because you can speak with the family and have dinner together. At first I found the Australian accent so hard to understand! I remember the first two sentences I heard; I understood nothing but it soon got better. Then, after one month I moved from my homestay into the Lexis student house.

The student house was so cool! It is next door to the school and really close to town. This makes it easy to take a bike and go surfing, or go out at night time.  Another thing that makes it really good is that there is a mix of people from different places around the world living there.

Life in Byron is so cool. Every day you can wear a singlet, no shoes and shorts. Classes finish quire early in the afternoon so you can take your bike and go surfing, or do other things in town. And Aussie people are so friendly! They drink a lot of beer here – I like that. And there are live music shows every night and it is usually free. You can trust Australian people to tell the truth – it’s safe.

My English has improved too. I was so bad at the beginning but now I am really good at listening and understanding, and my speaking has definitely improved too.

The First Certificate Cambridge Course was difficult at the start as it had been a long time since I studied English. But as time went on, it was so good. We all stayed in the same class together for three months and all my classmates were at the same level of English, so we worked together.

What do I think of Byron Bay?

Byron Bay is the best place in the world to learn English. It’s not a big city. There are no high apartments and city buildings. But there are so many things to do.

It is a touristic place so you can meet people from around the world here. I have met people I will always stay in contact with. And now if I travel to visit other countries, I have places to stay.

My final words? cheer up, enjoy life. Enjoy Byron Bay