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On a chilly evening, students of EF Academy Oxford gathered in front of Oxford New Theater to watch the well-known opera, Eugene Onegin. The opera was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1898 and is an example of a lyric opera. The plot of Eugene Onegin was inspired by Pushkin’s verse novel with the same name but Tchaikovsky made the opera consist only of the highlights and emotional peaks in Onegin’s life so the story was not continuous throughout. The singers sang entirely in Russian and with each scene there was a live orchestral accompaniment.
This was the first opera I had seen before and my previous expectations about what it would be liked were proven to all be wrong. At first, I thought that operas were just a singer singing pieces with an orchestra accompanying them and so I originally went only to listen to music but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the show also had its own unique story to tell and despite Eugene Onegin lacking a continuous story, the plot was still utterly captivating.
The story began by introducing Eugene’s love interest, Tatyana, and her family before continuing on to when Eugene and Tatyana would first meet. From then Tatyana would fall madly in love with Eugene only to be rejected. Eugene’s reckless and selfish character becomes more prominent throughout the plot especially when he attempts to take revenge on his best friend, Vladimir, for taking him to ball that he did not enjoy by seducing his lover. Vladimir becomes extremely upset and then challenges Eugene to a duel which he agrees to and Eugene’s pride leads him to win the duel at the expense of his best friend’s life. The story’s careless hero returns to the country after a long while of being abroad trying to recover from the fatal duel he had with his friend only to find that the Tatyana had grown up and become a beautiful and sophisticated woman who is now married to the prince. Eugene attempts to amend the mistakes of his past and seduce her but he’s too late. Even though she says she loves him she firmly decides to stay faithful to her husband and the opera ends with her saying ‘Goodbye Forever’ to Eugene as he is left to break down in despair.
Overall, Eugene Onegin was beautifully crafted and the compositions written by Tchaikovsky to accompany each emotional peak made the opera significantly more moving. The singers were also extremely talented, reaching notes I had not realized a human could reach and the orchestra was amazing as well, particularly the wind section, in my opinion.
The experience was wonderful and the show was fascinating, I’m looking forward to watching Madama Butterfly in February and many more operas in the future.
 
Written by: Mumtaza Chairannisa, A-level Year 1 student

On a chilly evening, students of EF Academy Oxford gathered in front of Oxford New Theater to watch the well-known opera, Eugene Onegin.

Going to the opera for the first time - EF Academy Blog

Going to the opera for the first time ‹ EF Academy Blog

Going to the opera for the first time

Going opera first time

The sprawling campus of Warwick greeted us as we alighted the bus, and the frigid wind blew away with it the last traces of sleepiness we had after our short nap in the bus. Warwick University is essentially an educational institution (in the UK top ten); yet the place hummed with its own energy, its own buzz. Only later did we find out Warwick University is not just an educational institute, but it is its own town of around 35,000 people. The students play citizens, shops and cafés dot the campus, and buses come and go with the regularity one can expect from a small town.
For our talk, we made our way to a massive auditorium, more than enough to seat at least a few hundred, if not a thousand and a little more. Our first speaker was Dr. Lewney, and we first saw this eccentric professor holding not a stack of papers or pen as one would usually attribute a professor to have in his hands, but an electric guitar, complete with flames printed on the body of the guitar. After being treated to a modified version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” (by the rock group Queen), with lyrics full of physics and mathematical puns, Dr. Lewney began his talk on how mathematics was not merely important for life as we know it to function, but it is silently ubiquitous, and one need only to pry into his surroundings to see how mathematics governs life.
He began with showing us how the 3G data network functions: 8 different signals of different wavelengths, translated into a series of ones and zeros grouped into threes emitted rapidly would transmit data from a network into our mobile phones. He challenged the audience to think what would happen if we had more signals, and maybe some mathematics embedded into it would change the 3G data network. A few voices guessed the 4G data network, and he then went on to explain it: 64 signals instead of 8, and instead of being a line of data, this network is plotted against a Cartesian plane, and the vectors between points would supply extra data. He shifted his lecture from data networks to a more tangible, albeit still abstract topic: bacteria growth. The Rock Doctor, as he liked to be known as, showed how a series of animated transformations of shaded and blank squares, when manipulated with certain equations would mimic how bacteria would look in a petri dish.
Science writer Simon Singh gave talk on Fermat’s Last Theorem, and the significance it carries amongst mathematicians. Simon Singh described Fermat’s habit of claiming brilliant feats in mathematics, but rather then prove them, offered excuses such as “the book has no space” and “I need to feed the cat”. One problem however stood out among the rest in a tome of mathematics problem. Question 8 states simply “For values of N above 2, there are no solutions for the equation a2 + b2 = c2 “. This deceptively simple problem went on to confuse and confound mathematicians for three hundred years until Andrew Wiles published his proof of the theorem in 1995.
These are the two most significant talks given that day. The speakers were brilliant people, each having devoted their lives to mathematics in some form. We left the auditorium that day tinged with wonder, and having gained an inkling to how mathematics really does pervade reality itself. On top of that, the visit to Warwick gave as a brief taste of what the campus was like, what its inhabitants were like and the knowledge we can gain over there.
 
Written by: Muhammad Ammar Sadid Bin Md Rashid, current student at EF Academy Oxford, IB Year 1
 
In a high-scoring heat against some of the best teams in the UK, the EF Academy Oxford Senior Mathematics Challenge Team recently came 5th out of 24 schools in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire. The team was made up of Year 2 students Tung Ho (Leon) Lau and Iulia Bock, and Year 1 students Yu-Yuan Huang and Yu-Chun Huang. In addition, Yu-Yuan, Tung Ho (Leon) and Mattia Marrazzo were awarded Gold and go on to the Senior Kangaroo round in December.

Thee EF Academy Oxford Senior Mathematics Challenge Team recently came 5th out of 24 schools in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Getting up close with Dr. Lewney “the Rock Doctor” & Simon Singh - EF Academy Blog

Getting up close with Dr. Lewney “the Rock Doctor” & Simon Singh ‹ EF Academy Blog

Getting up close with Dr. Lewney “the Rock Doctor” & Simon Singh

Getting close dr lewney rock doctor simon singh

Last weekend, a group of students and staff spent the afternoon at the Cambridge Theatre in London watching the Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi-award winning stage musical of Matilda. Considered a Modern Classic, Roald Dahl’s Matilda is an English children’s novel, yet as our students proved it has been read and loved throughout the world.
Here is an account of the trip from first year student Mar Conesa Oton:
On Sunday October 18th 2015, we went to see the musical “Matilda”.
My expectation at first, was that it was just a musical which has become famous because children were starring in the play. But when you see the quantity of prizes that this musical has won, you start asking yourself why does everyone love it so much? It seems to be a musical for kids but is it really just a musical for kids?
The musical started with a “normal” phrase; ‘My mommy says I am a miracle’. Apart from the fact that the phrase was sung by 9 year old children (who acted in an absolutely brilliant and amazing way throughout the play), the laughs came out from the mouths of adults.
The Roald Dahl book (1988) on which this staggeringly successful stage show (2010) is based, is the story of a miracle child. Matilda Wormwood, who has read since she was five but has the misfortune of being born to a mother and father who basically despise her talent.
The story is about Matilda, that special girl with a not normal intelligence for her age. Her teacher was the only person who really took care of her and who really saw that this little girl had a special talent which made her absolutely unique. On the other hand, her parents despise her talent, but she is that special that she wants the best even for the people who are bad to her, even her parents. That made us think how nice she is even to the people that are the most destructive.
In my opinion, this play makes your imagination travel to your childhood where everything was like a song, where each of us were as special as your parents told you and where there were no rules or limits and a simple girl could be more intelligent than the Russian mafia. I think the play was so helpful to us, it made us feel, as EF Academy says, like ‘there are no limits’ and that you can achieve any achievement in your life.

A group of students spent the afternoon at the Cambridge Theatre in London watching the Royal Shakespeare Company’s musical of Matilda.

EF Oxford’s West End trip to see Matilda the Musical - EF Academy Blog

EF Oxford’s West End trip to see Matilda the Musical ‹ EF Academy Blog

EF Oxford’s West End trip to see Matilda the Musical

Ef oxfords west end trip see matilda musical

Twice a week students are given the opportunity during morning assembly to take to the floor and speak to their fellow pupils and to the EF staff. This time is given to them, so that they share their thoughts: express their interests, passions and talents, inform us of their studies and research and impart the social, political, cultural and ethical issues that are important to them and which they want to raise awareness of to the wider community here at the EF Academy.
One such assembly was given by the very talented Pipa player, Rolin, who offered an inspiring performance.
Here is an interview that second year IB student Tina Shahgaldi held with her afterwards, to gain a further insight into her life as a musician.
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1. When did you start playing/how long have you played for?
I have been playing the Pipa since I was nine, but before that I had learnt to play the piano for a couple of years.
2. Why did you start playing it?
When I was in primary school we had a Chinese Orchestra and because I was interested in music, Chinese music also interested me and so after I saw the performance given by the seniors I was inspired to learn an instrument. I found the Pipa so fascinating; the shape and the sound effect are so beautiful and unique, and so I decide to learn a completely different style from western music and I therefore started playing the Pipa.
3. What kept you motivated to continue?
I think as I had some basic music knowledge, I could learn playing the Pipa faster than others. I remember when I was eleven, I won the first prize in a National Music Contest, which gave me such huge encouragement to carry on.
4. Who helped you throughout learning it?
My teacher can be seen as the most important support to me, whenever I had any kinds of problem, she always helped me thought it.
5. Would you recommend it to someone else?
I would suggest that people watch some videos of the Pipa before trying it as it is a difficult musical instrument to play. I would not necessarily recommend for people to learn it unless they were sure, as many of my friends gave up learning it.
6. What is your favorite song to play?
Torch Night Festival. This piece describes a traditional festival of minority called Yi. In this festival, people enjoy dancing and singing. Normally teenagers would tell their lovers how much they love each other. Basically, this song focuses on the love between teenagers.
7. What difficulties have you faced playing the Pipa?
Personally, the most difficult thing I have faced since I began playing the Pipa is the control of emotion and mood. Sometimes I can’t play a song well because I don’t understand what kind of emotion I need to have to interpret the feeling it expresses.
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EF Academy Oxford students got a special treat when one of their classmates gave a music performance to kick off the morning assembly.

EF Oxford student assembly: Music performance - EF Academy Blog

EF Oxford student assembly: Music performance ‹ EF Academy Blog

EF Oxford student assembly: Music performance

Ef oxford student assembly music performance

Students at EF Academy Oxford recently got to visit the campus of one of the “top 10” universities in the world and one of the best for STEM subjects: the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London – or Imperial for short.
As well as a practical visit, it was also meant to be aspirational. Over the past few years, students have gone on from EF Academy Oxford to Imperial to read subjects as diverse as Physics (with 41 IB Diploma points), Medicine (also with 41), and Mathematics & Statistics (with A-level grades of A*AA).
Imperial College is located in one of the major cultural areas of London, near to the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum; and the shops of Kensington. But it is also very close to the wide open spaces of Hyde Park.
We were divided into groups, led by a teacher each, and visited the campus while being in awe of the state-of-the art buildings. We were able to get the feel of what university life holds for us. While at the campus, we came across the ‘Food Fair’. Food stalls were organized by Imperial students where food from all around the world was available, so we filled our stomachs while exploring the busy campus. Just being on the campus gave us a clear idea of the fast-paced life of being at a university!
The visit to Imperial was a small part of EF Academy Oxford’s “Science, Technology, and Engineering” Pathway program. Each of EF Academy Oxford’s pathways is designed to encourage students, from September of Year 1, to focus sharply on their particular areas of academic and career interest. Other opportunities for those on the Science, Technology and Engineering pathway include the “mathematics applications” seminars, run by a former EF Academy Oxford student who is now at Oxford University, or the many talks at the Oxford’s Mathematical Institute, or the trips the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories or the atomic energy research establishment at Harwell. Each student who is on a particular pathway has as their Academic Tutor a member of staff who teaches them one of the main subjects for that pathway for several hours a week. I have Grahame, who also teaches me Higher Level Mathematics, and so knows how I learn. Students meet with their Academic Tutors at least once every two weeks one-to-one, for about 10 minutes, to review academic progress along the student’s pathway.
Just before the visit to Imperial, we met with representatives from 30 universities at the EF College Fair, at a hotel on St. James Street. The hall was filled with stalls –  from the University of Nottingham, HULT, to Queen Mary, London. We gathered information about course requirements and campus facilities. We had already been guided to make the most of this visit, and questions had been suggested by the school University Guidance Team. Is assessment mainly by ongoing coursework or examination? What are the employment prospects for your graduates? What’s the proportion of international students? What are the opportunities for internships/study abroad?
The response to the whole trip to London was nothing less than amazing! Students said that the visit helped them get accurate information from the university teams regarding the requirements and the facilities such as scholarships and on-campus options for them. They were also able to learn about the future prospects regarding the subject areas they are interested in.
 
Written by: Ehtisham Chaudhary, IB Year 1 student; doing the Science, Technology, Engineering Pathway

Students at EF Academy Oxford recently got to visit the campus of one of the “top 10” universities in the world Imperial for short.

EF Academy Oxford students visit Imperial College London - EF Academy Blog

EF Academy Oxford students visit Imperial College London ‹ EF Academy Blog

EF Academy Oxford students visit Imperial College London

Ef academy oxford students visit imperial college london

Last Monday, on a chilly afternoon, the psychology students from EF Academy Oxford had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Beckley Foundation, a UK-based think-tank and United Nations-accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) that specializes in scientific research into psychoactive substances. The foundation collaborates with scientists from Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), and Johns Hopkins University in the US. The Beckley Foundation also takes an evidence-based approach to national and global drug policies, and has advised the governments of Guatemala and Jamaica.
The foundation is housed in a small cottage-like building set beside a beautiful meadow. From there, we – together with our Psychology Teacher, Dr. Claudia Cipolla and Charlie Stansfield, our Activities Coordinator – met Vivian Kear, the Office Manager, who then introduced us to the foundation’s hard-working team. The introductions were very brief as we were then escorted outside to the orchard to meet Dr. Alex O’Bryan-Tear, the scientific researcher and assistant to the Director. Alex, who recently completed his Ph.D. in Psychology at Cambridge University, kindly gave us his insights into the history of the foundation as well as into one of its ongoing researches.
We learned that the Foundation was created by Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss and March, back in 1998, after she became intrigued by the effects of psychedelic drugs, like LSD, and their therapeutic abilities. The therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs- specifically psilocybin- were proven to be tremendously successful after the foundation’s trials and experiments. In comparison to the 30% success rates that anti-depressants have, the foundation proved that psilocybin is 67% successful in helping people out of long-term depression. Of course, this can only be achieved when the drug is prescribed properly and in safe doses and not abused for recreational purposes.
Following this intriguing talk, we began our short tour around the gardens. The Foundation is situated in Feilding’s ancestral home, a magnificent building that has stood since the Tudor period. But, while the house perfectly portrays a golden period of British history (roughly the 15th and 16th centuries), there were also a few statues here and there acting as pieces of Asia, from when Feilding would visit the continent.
As we ventured further into her garden, we discovered a variety of hedges cut into a range of shapes. One in particular even took the form of a bear! But, the highlight was the walk alongside the river where the leaves were all stunning shades of orange, yellow and red.
At the Beckley Foundation, we had the opportunity to wander around an incredible location, and we learnt something about scientific research into the mind and government policy. Overall, the experience was very insightful and educational.
 
 
This blog post was written by A-Level Year-1 student, Mumtaza Chairannisa.

The psychology students from EF Academy Oxford had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Beckley Foundation.

EF Academy Oxford psychology students visit the Beckley Foundation - EF Academy Blog

EF Academy Oxford psychology students visit the Beckley Foundation ‹ EF Academy Blog

EF Academy Oxford psychology students visit the Beckley Foundation

Ef academy oxford psychology students visit beckley foundation

The Natural History Museum in Oxford – or as our guide says it’s called, the dinosaur museum – holds many preserved specimens of insects, dinosaurs, ancient human bones, and many other natural items. EF Academy Oxford students and staff are very fortunate to be able to have such easy access to such interesting museums as this, as well as being able to attend various workshops just like the one attended at the Museum of Natural History recently.
It started with a very windy walk through the Oxford Brookes University Campus, leading us to the Oxford University collection of museums. Once we got into the museum, we met with our guide who brought us into a lecture room to give a presentation about evolution and how insects have adapted to their environments over hundreds of thousands and millions of years. She even brought out cockroaches as an example, having varying horn sizes and speeds to gain advantages in mating, and let any willing students hold them! She also showed us something closer to home, with human taste buds, giving us small sheets of paper with a chemical from poisonous plants. A very long time ago, before humans cultivated their own food, tasting poisons in their food was a valuable skill. If you put this paper on your tongue and immediately tasted something, you still had the trait to detect these poisons in food, and vice versa.
After we had a hands-on look at evolution during the lecture, we were able to go upstairs to see where Darwin first ever spoke about evolution – not technically Darwin though, as he sent a friend on his behalf on account of thoughts against evolution by the church. After being told about the history of the attic of the museum in a library which would have contained specimens in this time period, we got to climb another flight of stairs to see where debates about evolution would have first taken place! This was a very interesting experience, as you are able to imagine what it would have been like to watch those who were so beyond their time introduce such controversial ideas!
It is always fantastic to be able to gain new knowledge, especially when you are able to gain such inter-disciplinary knowledge as with history and science. This trip left us to wonder, what new knowledge will be gained in the future regarding evolution, and how will our descendants look different than you and I?
Here’s what other students had to say:
“What I loved the most is the part where we went to the top floor of the museum and saw the library where Darwin’s friend and this religious guy (bishop of Oxford) argued about evolution theory.”
“It was very historical and the library smelled like old wood. We also had the honour to see the collection of hundreds of examples that back up evolution which were collected from the last few centuries.”
“During this trip I learnt a lot of things but the thing I liked the most was to see the evolution of different animals because I understand now that they changed due to environmental pressure or to have an advantage. I also appreciated the presentation that helped me to understand better Darwin’s theory.”
“The museum had a lot of spectacular different objects and it was interesting to walk around and see how animals have evolved and changed throughout the years.”
“I really enjoyed the museum yesterday, from the lecture to the exhibition. I think having seen those amazing historical precious exhibits intrigues me more to be focused on the subject. Wandering around the museum I was able to enhance my knowledge, especially about the topic diversity. Now I understand that topic better. Thank you for providing us with that opportunity.”
 
Written by Kiera Martin, current student at EF Academy Oxford

EF Academy Oxford students are very fortunate to be able to have such easy access to such interesting museums as the Museum of Natural History.

Discovering dinosaurs in Oxford - EF Academy Blog

Discovering dinosaurs in Oxford ‹ EF Academy Blog

Discovering dinosaurs in Oxford

Discovering dinosaurs oxford

<div class="single-post-thumbnail clear">Hi there! Emily Torner here, IB graduate at EF Academy Oxford here to tell you about two major participants in our debate we had during our first year at EF Academy. Unlike other assembly debaters, Jakob and Alessandra didn’t argue for which is the “right” or “wrong” position in an argument. Instead, they argued in support of the best “way of knowing” what is right or wrong: “reason” or “intuition”?</div>
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For the benefit of our A-Level students, I explained that within the IB Diploma program, we have a core subject called ToK. ToK, aka Theory of Knowledge, is a subject dedicated to spending time asking questions about how we come to conclusions in particular areas of knowledge (or subjects).
Within ToK, we as students attempt to take Real Life Situations and from them create “knowledge questions”. Whether it be from a particular political leader oppressing a country, or a misinterpretation of a message which resulted in war, ToK examines the ways of knowing of which caused said results.
On Tuesday morning we looked at the controversial issue of testing of products on animals – see the blog relating to the trip to last week’s trip to the Science Museum in London. Our knowledge question was: which way of knowing, “Reason” or “Intuition”, is more reliable when examining the contentious issue of product-testing on animals?
Alessandra advocated reason as being the most reliable way of knowing and Jakob advocated intuition. Here are their reflections on this unusual approach to a debate. 
 
IB graduate Jakob Abeler reflects:
This morning was a challenge for me. Not just because I had to present in the assembly in front of my peers, but because of the topic. Usually, in debates, we are debating the matter of what is right or wrong. But in this case, Alessandra and I both agreed that animal testing is wrong!
We were debating on the matter of why we think it is wrong. I was arguing in favor of intuition against reason as the most effective way of knowing in terms of coming to the mutual conclusion.
This was tricky as I’m naturally more inclined to agree that reason is more credible. Despite this initial reservation, I took time to think about the subject more carefully and compile, through my own experiences, some examples of how intuition has prevailed.
What was also a challenge was the experience of extracting a knowledge question from a real-life situation. But upon doing this, I managed to think less superficially about the situation and more about the mechanics of thought.
I strongly recommend that you participate in the assembly, because not only can it present you with novel challenges, but also encourage you to overcome them.
IB graduate Alessandra di Nicola reflects:
When I was asked to debate for the first time I was very anxious and my first thought was to refuse. But at the end of the speech, I was thankful for the possibility that the opportunity gave me.
In the first place, preparing for an assembly debate is a way of studying deeply a topic relevant to one of your subjects or a current topic in the world; secondly, it gives you the chance of challenging yourself, so that you demonstrate to yourself that you are able to communicate in front of an audience in a language that is not your mother tongue and probably, also in a new subject!
Today’s debate was about TOK and ways of knowing, which is a new subject for me, so it was very useful in order to apply the knowledge that I learned to a real-life situation.  You should try to catch every opportunity that the school gives you. This is my personal advice.
Originally published February 23, 2018.
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IB Year 1 student at EF Academy Oxford here to tell you about two major participants in our debate we had yesterday.

Debate: Reason vs. Intuition – which side do you take? - EF Academy Blog

Debate: Reason vs. Intuition – which side do you take? ‹ EF Academy Blog

Debate: Reason vs. Intuition – which side do you take?

Reason vs intuition side take

One of the afterschool activities on offer this year is Amnesty International, a club which supports the charity of the same name, in which students can learn how “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.”
Here first year student Cassy Le explains what the group have been doing over the past few weeks:
In the Amnesty International group of EF Academy Oxford, we are currently focusing on the issue of women in El Salvador getting imprisoned for something that they have technically not done. In El Salvador, abortion is a crime, even though the women’s health is at risk or she has been raped. Many women face up to 40 years of imprisonment if they seek an abortion. The problem is that so many are accused and therefore punished of doing so, when really they suffer from miscarriages or other complications following their pregnancies. These women have to stay in bad living conditions and most can’t afford good lawyers to represent them and are likely to experience an unfair trial.
We have decided to take action and show support for all these who are evidently being violated of their human rights and demand their immediate release. To do so, we are making paper keys in which we tie ribbons with our names written on them, which will be sent to Amnesty International. The keys will be tied to a sculpture with solidarity messages that will be featured at the concert in November in San Salvador to show the international support. 
The sculpture will then be delivered to the Minister of Justice and Public Security in El Salvador as a sign to urge him to free all the women that are imprisoned after suffering complications with the pregnancies.
We have been working on this for a couple of weeks now, working together to plan and efficiently create everything we need: cut out the keys (which was much more time consuming than we expected), tie them to ribbons, prepare a presentation to spread the word, etc… It has been hard work but also a lot of fun as we can chat and talk whist doing all this.
We’re trying to get as many as possible to support the cause and sign their names on keys that we would be able to send to Amnesty.
We hope many will join to take action!

In the Amnesty International group of EF Academy Oxford, we are currently focusing on the issue of women in El Salvador getting unlawfully imprisoned.

Amnesty International: For the women of El Salvador - EF Academy Blog

Amnesty International: For the women of El Salvador ‹ EF Academy Blog

Amnesty International: For the women of El Salvador

Amnesty international women el salvador

At EF Academy Oxford, we like to embody our surroundings by exhibiting an exuberance for the academic. The spirit of the city is very much an inquisitive, exploratory one, and we participate in this by holding weekly debates at our Tuesday morning assemblies.
Every Tuesday before class, we hold an assembly for the entire school. This is the only time during the week where the entire school can gather together in the same space, and so we try to not only make important announcements, but to also engage the entire school population in a debate. These debates are short, lasting about five to ten minutes, and can cover any topic. We have had our Model United Nations Club demonstrate what a debate at one of their conferences would look like, and a debate on whether or not it’s feasible for the idea of a “new man” (with reference to Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution) to be adopted by society. The entire school pays attention, and at the end we log onto Kahoot (a popular quiz website) and vote on which side we felt has the most convincing argument. The results are almost always 50/50, showing how refined our debating skills are.
I think that this practice is a wonderful microcosm of the EF Academy Oxford spirit: academic, definitely, but with a bit of fun as well. Being in Oxford it’s impossible not to feel a connection to the scholarly; the university is so entwined in the city that academia is all around. Whether it’s going to talks at the Sheldonian Theater, or having guest speakers from the university, or even going to one of Oxford’s many museums, the town is first and foremost an intellectual city. But because it’s a young city, there is also fun here as well, with vibrant live music, festivals, and celebrations (Guy Fawkes day is always a highlight), and I think EF Academy Oxford subscribes to this way of life. We of course are focused on academics (we are a school, after all), but we have an incredible community that has fun together as well.

At EF Academy Oxford, we like to embody our surroundings by exhibiting an exuberance for the academic.

Academic spirit: EF Academy Oxford debates - EF Academy Blog

Academic spirit: EF Academy Oxford debates ‹ EF Academy Blog

Academic spirit: EF Academy Oxford debates

Academic spirit ef academy oxford debates

Oxford’s Maths Institute is as famous for its architecture as its academic influence. Featuring penrose tiling and glass mathematical art installations the interior is impressive and imposing at once.
A perfect site for Orwell’s dystopian narrative (1984).
For most of our IB Theatre students this was their first experience of site-specific theatre (meaning the performance does not take place at a traditional theatre space or proscenium arch venue).
As we waited in the foyer (complete with surround soundscape which created an atmosphere of a digital, bustling workplace). This foyer became the first site of the performance from which we were then guided to our seats in the downstairs entrance hall.
The performance was aided by many computer screens and webcams, metatheatrically screening the performance. The effect of this was that the actors could be seen twice- in the flesh and on screen reinforcing the idea that “Big Brother is watching you”.
Largely, the students enjoyed the piece because of the original and offbeat approach and immersive atmosphere (everyone was given numbered lanyards to wear in the performance so we could enter into the world of the performance). Some students had difficulties understanding the narrative as 1984 features a dystopian version of the English language which was not always clear to follow!

Oxford’s Maths Institute is as famous for its architecture as its academic influence.

A bright & cold day in April - EF Academy Blog

A bright & cold day in April ‹ EF Academy Blog

A bright & cold day in April

Bright cold day april

As a student, learning is not only through lessons in class, but also through experiencing new things. Earlier this month, Dr. Tran took the junior and senior Vietnamese students to New York City to watch the show Miss Saigon on Broadway.
At the beginning of the trip, we stopped at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). Established in 1891, the 100-hectare garden in the Bronx originated from the Lorillard family. Nathaniel and his wife Elizabeth have sold this land to the government, and in 1967, NYBG was declared a National Historic Landmark. Over fifty plants were planted here, as well as laboratories built to create the best hybrids, along with hundreds of employees working days and nights to maintain the beauty of the garden. We went through a garden of magnolia, narcissus and cherry blossoms, each bringing a different shade to celebrate spring time. The magnolia and narcissus bloomed in bright yellow and pure white, dying the atmosphere in an endless field of warmth like rays of sunlight on the green lawn. But what blew my mind was the garden of cherry blossom trees. Light pink, dark pink, magenta, etc. – all shades of pink one could think of gathered in one place to celebrate a new season. Walking in this paradise laying hidden in the busy New York, I couldn’t help but feel surprised such beauty could be harvested in one of the world’s busiest cities.
Leaving NYBG after pictures filled with memories, we made our way to a Vietnamese restaurant for the traditional dish – pho. This big bowl of noodles cured my homesickness for a while, giving me a taste of home, and a taste of my childhood. Stuffed with food and nostalgia, we moved on to the Broadway theater where Miss Saigon is shown. Directed by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil – who were famous for the hit musical Les Misérables – this play returned after ten years in retirement. With the setting in the year 1975 in Vietnam, before Saigon collapsed, Miss Saigon focused on the theme of love and war, also portraying the conflicts between communism and democracy. The story retold the life of Kim, a Vietnamese bargirl, and her romance with Chris, an American soldier serving in the war. The singing and dancing of the actors is sublime, filled with so much emotion that delivered further than words ever could and brought life onto the stage. Kim’s death at the end and her broken love with Chris was heartbreaking, leaving the audience with a hint of sorrow that lingered even after the show had ended. It criticized the cruelty of war that tore mankind apart: lovers broken up, families scattered, and children left abandoned, as well as highlights the sacrifices made by the women of Saigon, giving away her youth for her lover, as well as her life for her child. After the play, I felt more connected than ever to my homeland, my roots, and my beginning. There was a tug in my heart, crying out for the pain our people suffered for many years, bringing me back to that gun and bomb smoked atmosphere that could suffocate anyone. Now, I treasured more the peace I live in and the people who gave their lives to make this possible for us. My attachment increased for the place I grew up.
 
Written by Trang Huyen Nguyen, IBY2 student from Vietnam

Earlier this month, Dr. Tran took the junior and senior Vietnamese students to New York City to watch the show Miss Saigon on Broadway.

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