Koravee Suppanaruek
Nationality: Thai
English for Academic Purposes 2
Koravee fell in love with New Zealand when he studied at a high school in Dunedin six years ago. “I was attracted to the lifestyle here. The atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed- people even say ‘hello’ to you when you are walking down the street. It is very different to Bangkok!”
Koravee returned to New Zealand last year to study at a private language school in Christchurch. “Once I returned to Thailand I knew I wanted to come back to Christchurch to undertake my bachelor’s degree in Economics. UC has a very strong College of Business and Economics which is why I chose to study here’, he says.
In order to achieve his goal, Koravee is currently studying academic English on the EAP2 course and once he completes this he will join the Business stream of the Foundation studies programme. He realises that he could not achieve this goal without the support of his teachers: “My teachers are very friendly and always make me feel welcome. They stop to chat with me outside of class and are always willing to help me out”.
Although the winter here is a lot colder than that in Thailand, Koravee enjoys it as he can indulge in his favourite sport of snowboarding. He says, “I love adventure sports so Christchurch is perfect for me as it is close to both the sea and ski fields.” Koravee’s family arrive next month for a visit so he is looking forward to taking them snowboarding too.