What's it like to move to the UK?

What's it like to move to and live in London? In this video, I interview Kamila, one of my students, who moved to the UK from Poland. You will hear about Kamila's experiences of coming to the UK to live, study, and work. Kamila talks about her first impressions, the weather, the food, and the differences between her life in Poland and in London. And of course, we talk about her experience of learning English and adapting to life and work in an English-speaking country!

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TRANSCRIPT

Gill: Hello. I'm Gill at www.engvid.com and today's lesson is not really a lesson because we're doing something a little bit different. We're having an interview with someone I know who has come to the UK from another country and is living and working here. So, I'd like to introduce Camilla, and we're going to ask her some questions about her experience of coming to the UK and living here. So, let's get started. So, Camilla, thank you for coming.

Kamila: Thank you for having me.

Gill: It's lovely to see you. You're very welcome. Thank you. And so, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from, how you came to decide to come to the UK?

Kamila: Yes, so my name is Camilla. I come from Poland. So my first language is Polish. Before I arrived in the UK I have lived in Warsaw for a couple of years. And so I worked there for a bank for over seven years in corporate banking as Product Manager. And here in London I work for a fintech startup. I'm a credit analyst of small companies. I really like my job. I enjoy it. There is a lot of going on there. My company is still developing, so I also have opportunities to develop in diverse areas.

Gill: Okay.

Kamila: So yeah, I'm really happy to be part of it.

Gill: Oh, that's good. So, lovely. So, "fintech", that means financial...?

Kamila: Financial and technology.

Gill: Finance and technology.

Kamila: Yes, exactly.

Gill: Used together for...

Kamila: Yes, exactly.

Gill: Financial, for funding.

Kamila: Yeah, because... Yeah, exactly. Because we lent money for small companies, but making our credit decisions we use a lot of technology. We use some algorithms and so on, so that's why fintech.

Gill: Okay, lovely. So, have you always spoken English? When did you first start to learn English in your life?

Kamila: Yeah, so I learned English in high school and during my studies. Also after I finished my education I attended some English lessons in Poland where I was working there. And so I felt that I understood quite a lot, but I had a fear of speaking because I think that in my opinion teachers put a lot of pressure on drama, which is good of course, but there is... Because of that there is a little time for practicing speaking, so a lot of people fear of speaking. They don't feel confident enough to speak. Yeah, and that was also my case.

Gill: Yes. I think I experienced the same when I was at school. It was... A lot of it was based on written, and reading and writing.

Kamila: Yes, exactly.

Gill: And exams, writing exams and the tests.

Kamila: Yes, exactly.

Gill: So... So... So since then, do you feel that you...? Was it when you came to the UK that you started getting more practice at speaking?

Kamila: Yes, exactly. So, I feel that since I arrived here in the UK my English language skills have improved. I feel more confident. So, yeah, I decided that first couple month I would work on my English, so I read lots of newspapers, I watched some TV programs, I watched some TV series with subtitles, and I also attended private English lessons with great teacher.

Gill: Oh. [Laughter]

Kamila: Who has also helped me not only to improve my spoken English, but also to... It gave me some insight into English culture and politics sometimes, and everyday life, and things to see in London, so I really enjoyed that and I would recommend it to everyone who...

Gill: Yeah.

Kamila: Is thinking about moving to UK, for example.

Gill: Yeah, so I remember we... We've had a lot of very interesting conversations about English politics.

Kamila: Yeah.

Gill: And about the culture and different types of food.

Kamila: Yeah, yeah.

Gill: And all of that.

Kamila: Yes, exactly.

Gill: So... So, did you ever come to the UK for a holiday before you came to live here?

Kamila: Yeah, so it's a funny story because the first school trip abroad I took part in was to London, I was 11 years old, but I can still recall some memories from this trip. For example, my first impression was that there were lots of people walking along the pavement, so it was really crowded. And also I saw a lot of people very smart dressed and it was a really big surprise for me because then I lived in small city, so you know, that smart clothes were designed for some special occasions, like wedding or something, and here I saw a lot of people so smart, like dressed up, so...

Gill: Yes, being the capital city.

Kamila: Yeah.