Evdoxos Koulouras | 19 | student of Merchant Marine Academy of Syros | 2017

I started studying English and German at the age of 9 at the EDUC@TIONAL DYNAMICS School and I was amazed by the warm and friendly learning environment there. The lessons were enjoyable and made me love foreign languages and learning in general. During my studies, we participated in various activities which helped us develop a more vivid imagination and become better people by socializing and helping others.

What I enjoyed the most was the variety of the lessons and how exciting the lesson could become; using books, interactive boards, PCs at the computer lab where we tested our knowledge using streamlined software to suit our needs.

I studied German for 4 years and I was fortunate enough to have a great teacher who made German a much easier language to learn. At the age of 13, I took exams for my B1 certificate at the Goethe Institut in Athens. I was successful and blissfully happy when my teacher herself called me to congratulate me on my success.

I studied English for 9 years and was taught by many efficient teachers who believed in me, and had great advice for the future while helping me handle my weaknesses as a student. At the age of 14, I obtained the FCE (B2), at the age of 15 the CAE (C1) and at the age of 16 the ECPE (C2). I was successful in all my exams, passing all with very high scores and I owe a big part of my success to my teachers and the school.

In 2016, I passed my entry exams in the Merchant Marine Academy of Macedonia and 1 month later, I was transferred to the Merchant Marine Academy of Syros which is in my hometown. After completing my first semester and passing all lessons, I passed a job interview and was interned by a shipping company to travel in one of their vessels as a Trainee Navigating Officer. Due to the nature of the profession of a seafarer, we were required to have good knowledge of the English language and do most of the paperwork and communication in English, which I efficiently managed due to my command of English.

I spent over 5 months working at sea travelling to 4 continents and speaking to hundreds of people with different levels of English. I had no issues communicating and there were times when my knowledge of the English language obliged other crew members. I strongly feel that all that knowledge will be a powerful tool for my future career and it will facilitate me in pursuing a career as an Officer of the Merchant Navy.