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ELC Los Angeles
ELC - English Language Center Los Angeles
Student Spotlight: Allan Terranova August 27th, 2015

Allan drums

Allan Terranova, from Switzerland, first studied at ELC in 2013. It was his first time in LA. “I felt strangely comfortable here…I felt like LA was a good city for me to live.” Allan is a musician; he has played the drums for several years. One of the draws of Los Angeles for him was the music scene.

Two years later, Allan is back in Los Angeles and studying at ELC for a second time! This time, however, his time here was cut short because he was offered a unique opportunity across the country. A few weeks ago, a professional in the music industry offered Allan a gig to stay in New York for a few weeks and record several songs for three bands! Allan happily accepted the offer, and is enthusiastic about getting to know a different part of America. After New York, he plans to move to Nashville, Tennessee, which also has a great music scene.

Allan learned to speak English in primary school, but once he stopped studying in a formal setting, he felt like he was losing his ability to speak well. In 2013, Allan made the decision to move to Los Angeles and “re-learn English” for four months. While at ELC Los Angeles, Allan made many life-long friends. He fell in love with the city, and greatly improved his English.

When Allan came back to study for a second time, his reasons for coming were a little different. Allan wanted to benefit from the English courses so he could continue to use and improve his English, but he also wanted to take advantage of the music opportunities in the U.S.

Allan began playing the drums in his early teen years. At seventeen years old, he earned the nickname “Wet Dog” after the animal in the Muppet show while playing in his first band “Casserolband.” The name comes from the nature of their shows, in which they blended several types of entertainment acts — comedy, improv, music, skits, etc. Over the years, Allan’s musical style has evolved. His band sticks to “simply music” of the pop-rock genre. Allan is musically influenced by bands like Radiohead, Archive, Portishead, and genres like jazz.

We are very proud to have had Allan at ELC and are excited for what the future holds for him! Bravo!

Allan - LA student spotlight

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