Matias Vijande is a 25-year Argentinian who came to New Zealand to improve his academic English.

“I came to New Zealand to travel around and visit my sister who lives in New Zealand. I worked on a beef and lamb farm in the North Island for a bit however I wanted to visit the South Island. My agent Cristobal back home in Mendoza had told me about Otago Polytechnic's English language programme so I just took the opportunity.

“Back home I study Engineering so English is very advantageous to my career. Engineering job interviews are always held in English so I know that if I want to get a good job when I complete my degree I need to speak really good English.”

Matias is really enjoying the English language programme so far and is liking meeting people from a variety of cultures.

“Dunedin is the perfect city for students – there’s really friendly people, heaps of overseas students and because it is a student city most shops offer student discounts.

“I would recommend Otago Polytechnic to other overseas students because it is a great place to meet people and you can definitely improve your English here.”