Being a student in New Zealand

Alvaro Gonzalez-Aller is a Madrid-based journalist who is currently studying English in Auckland, New Zealand. Alvaro studied English at high school, and then attended classes at a private English language school in Madrid before going to New Zealand.

Why did you choose New Zealand as opposed to going to a country closer to Spain?
I was familiar with England and the United States as a tourist, and one of my dreams since I was a child has been to get to know New Zealand because of the nature, the landscape and the people. And also it is really far away from Spain. That was the main reason for me – not necessarily for the way of teaching English. It was the country that attracted me.

What have been your impressions of New Zealand? Has it lived up to your expectations?
I think it’s an incredible – an amazing country. Last weekend I went to Tongariro National Park and did the Tongariro Crossing – a one-day walk. There were volcanoes there and you can see some of the places where they shot The Lord of the Rings. You can also see Lake Taupo at the bottom of the Crossing. New Zealand is an amazing country – the mountains, the islands and everything. I’ve been to lots of places in the central North Island and around Auckland. But you know, here in New Zealand you have so many beautiful things to visit and there’s not so much time. It is even better than I imagined. I’d like to come back and see the South Island in two or three years time, but now I don’t have time.

How have you found learning in New Zealand? Has it been a useful experience?
Yes, of course. You have the opportunity of practising language with many students from a lot of different countries. Maybe in your job or when you are travelling you’re going to meet Korean people, Swiss people, French people, Russian people – people from everywhere and you have to speak English with them, so it’s very useful. The people here are very nice, so it’s also useful for speaking to native speakers.

What advice about studying in New Zealand would you give to another student coming from Spain?
First of all, I’d say they should get really involved with people here because it’s very easy to do that. If you come here wanting to learn English then you really will learn English because it’s not easy to find other Spanish speakers here. And the people are nice and this is important because sometimes we are afraid to speak English and it’s very easy to communicate. This means it’s easy to get involved with people and get good speaking practice. And it’s easy to live here – you don’t have to worry all the time as you do in other large cities.

Since you’ve been here, you’ve been going to see films at the film festival, is that right?
Yes. It’s very interesting because it’s a festival that isn’t a competition between movies. The main goal of the festival is to show the people of New Zealand films that are really difficult to see – even in Europe. There are a lot of different movies from many different countries. It’s a very good festival. The programme of the festival has really surprised me – to be able to see movies like that in New Zealand.