Location
Reading is a town of about 240,000 people just 65 km West of
London and 35 km from Heathrow airport and within easy reach of
all the other London airports. It has one of the oldest train
stations in the world (1841) which means that you can travel
almost anywhere in UK directly from Reading in fast, modern
trains. There is also a good bus service in the Reading area and
is possible to travel by long-distance coach all over the
British Isles.
The centre of Reading is for pedestrians only – a very
pleasant shopping street (Broad Street) with a recently built
shopping Mall with the river Kennet running through the middle
of it and a park where people can relax, have a picnic and
admire the ancient ruins of the abbey. The traffic is not as
heavy as in many towns as there is a special internal by-pass
which lets the heavier vehicles drive through the town without
clogging the ordinary roads.
Reading has two universities, the University of Reading which
accepts a large number of international students and one of the
campuses of Thames Valley University where you can also find
students from all over the world. It also has some of the best
schools in UK for boys and girls up to 18 years old who want to
achieve high scores in their pre-university exams. Eurospeak has
prepared many students to go on to higher education at
universities and colleges as well as accepting students who have
finished their university studies and wish to polish other
academic skills.
With its many academic centres Reading has a lively student
life. This means that there are bars, cafes, discos and
restaurants for everybody, shops with affordable goods,
especially clothes, sports clubs (Reading FC is in the Premier
football division), swimming-pools, a cultural centre with a
concert hall, a museum, a library and hotels. There is the
famous Reading outdoor Music Festival held at the end of August
each year when students flock to Reading from all over the world
to listen to live performances of their favourite groups hoping
that the weather will be fine.
Eurospeak considers itself fortunate to be located in Reading
where students can enjoy their free time to the full. There are
many houses where students can find rooms to rent within walking
distance from the school. Some of our students stay with British
families for a few weeks while they find the best place to live
for the period of their studies. |
