London is an open place if you have the key. But how high is the price?

Flying from Seoul, South Korea, to London means 20 hours of flight and around £1000. To this, lets add £10,000 in overseas student fees for a master degree, £450 monthly for a flat and £100 for transport monthly. The student visa only allows you to work 25 hours weekly, on the other hand visa processing costs between £300 and £500. Is it possible to survive?

Jihee, 23, is Korean. She has been living in the UK since June, and in London since September studying Fashion Design. But on Wednesday she can´t attend her class. Instead she has to meet an immigration officer. There was a problem with her application due to the bank not stamping her bank statement.  “They can ask me to leave the country immediately. But I spent too much money to waste it because of a mistake with the application,” she said. Now she missed the deadline and has a risk of going home without finishing her course in the Istituto Marangoni, located on Brick Lane.

The Home Office assure that getting a visa depends on three elements: reason for visiting, country of nationality and current location. Eduardo, 20, disagrees. “They just want to know if you have money and if you are just staying here temporarily. Spend your savings then go away is what they seem to say,” he said. Eduardo is from Ecuador, South America. He has been working 45 hours per week during his one and a half years stay in London. His visa allows him to work just 25. “Working illegally in a relative´s factory is my only chance to survive here,” he said.

Before coming to UK, Eduardo was a medical student. Now he needs scrounge all the money he can get to eat and pay the rent which is only £250 monthly – “thanks to my aunt, who is living also here,” he said. The Home Office asks applicants to have £3,000 in their accounts for proving they can afford the costs of living. “Wake up. Nobody is going to give you the money for your visa. You have to save it all” said his aunt. Working for cash under the table is a response to a real need.

Eduardo’s motivation for coming to the UK was to study English and then medicine at university. His dream is now over. He is leaving the country in August.  “I feel disappointed and also kind of relieved… I am fed up of fighting and seeing people look at me as a cleaner but never as a doctor,” he said, “Britons say they are open-minded but I don´t know any single Latin who works in a field other than cleaning or babysitting”.

For him, there is no way to afford the undergraduate degree. He needs to study the whole day to pass the medicine exams but he needs to work full-time to pay for university. What does it mean? There are just two choices. One: don´t study and work illegally. Two: study medicine in Ecuador. What about a third option of studying here? It doesn’t exist, actually. At least, not in his case.  It is possible to obtain citizenship by marrying a Briton or by living in the UK for more than five years.

This is not without risks. “Nowadays, the marriage visa application is tightly controlled by the Home Office so it is more difficult to cheat,” said Diana Cárdenas, lawyer.  On the other hand, surviving in the UK for more than 5 years under the radar can be very tough. “There is an exception in the law that some people use. It means they can´t leave the country during the whole 5 year period, otherwise they will not be granted re-entry” said Cárdenas.

Adriana, a 24 year old Colombian, knows the difficulties some immigrants face only too well. She came to London six years ago and fell pregnant. Unfortunately, the father was a foreigner as well. “I couldn´t go home, I had no money and my family would have killed me. I came here to study English for six months and I have been here for six years. Even my mum doesn´t know her grandaugther yet,” she said.

“London is an open place” – states the tourism advert. But only if you have the key.

Photo from Flickr by gribblemonkey

• First off, ensure you have enough money to buy an excellent, not a good, dictionary. I would advise purchasing ‘the McMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners’ which will provide you with a large spectrum of clear definitions from the most informal slang to arcane jargon. As you might have guessed, the only thing you can do with your old tacky dictionary translated into your native language, is to throw it away period! Don’t look so sulky.

• Further, listen to the radio as much as possible. I would recommend to you BBC 4 Radio and LBC (London Biggest Conversation) to develop your listening skills. As a matter of fact, most of their programmes are based on debates, information and say of their listeners. Therefore, you will get used to understanding diverse accents from all over the UK which are often difficult for non-native speakers.

• Interestingly, keeping an up to date English note book turns out to be very handy. Indeed, like a witch who keeps all her spells as well as her magical tricks in a grimoire, make certain that you have a book which contains the words, the idioms, the verbs and the unusual phrasal verbs that you have come across, and that you want to use for different purposes. And as the old adage says ‘practice makes perfect’, so check it as much as you can.

• When living in a big city such as London, you might expect that you will easily find many English speakers up for helping you out with the difficulties you come up against. Au contraire, most of the people who live in London are very unlikely to spend time correcting you, especially if they don’t have any interest in doing so. Don’t wince like that! Instead, consider having some language swaps with somebody who cannot resist the prospect of speaking your native language. Go on Gumtree or Shared Talk websites for more information.

• Finally, attempt to socialise with as many groups as possible. In doing so, you will not only increase your network, you will also further your presentation skills and build up your confidence in English. However, if you are reluctant to mingle with new people, you can alternatively endeavour to take classes to overcome your fears. I recommend City Lit and Morley College. They both have courses based on personal development which hopefully will help you to sort out this problem.

So, let’s speak English more fluently now, shall we?

Photo from Flick by Blu Frog

Originally from Brussels Nabil Verdickt has been based in East London for more than one year and has gained expertise in various facets of London life such as the Non Profit Sector and Educational.Passionate about journalism and creative writing… Read more

Life is a blank sheet of paper. You can write on it or leave it but one day you´ll have to decide what to do with it. Not every sheet is written for the same reason, however.

Some people draw their attention to cash, or as we say in Spanish – ‘green’. Green-paper searchers are foreigners who come to the city to earn money as their main objective. If you are of this type, you probably don’t know where to find Camden Market or Portobello Road and haven’t been to Soho more than twice. It may sound hard but avoiding these areas is the best way to save as much money as you can. Perhaps working 12 hours per day is the best use of your time.

after one month they have learnt the whereabouts of every single pub in Brick Lane – but don’t ask them about the closest library

Flyers – multi-coloured, floating around freely – are another sort. These are the people who announce one day to their parents “Learning languages is so well-valued in the real world, so I’ve decided to move to London”. Nevertheless, after one month they have learnt the whereabouts of every single pub in Brick Lane – but don’t ask them about the closest library. They consider themselves open-minded but they don’t care in which language the music is sung.

In reference to the third kind kind of person, we talk about another need. They leave their home country to make a definite change in their life, to turn a new chapter. Or even to find a new notebook to write on. These are the people who fight against the actual virus of the human being: the boredom.

Finding yourself in the midst of a bunch of punks, emos and goths may be hard work.  Maybe you don’t belong to any of the ‘urban tribes’ but sometimes you have to lose yourself first to find what you are looking for.  Go with the flow, open your mind, let yourself experience everything around you.  No one can promise you’ll see the future reflected on the Thames. Nevertheless, if you stay true to yourself and what you want to achieve, life will give it to you.

Here begins a journey towards discovering your ambition and London is the starting point.