This morning at Sabaragamuwa we joined in with the weekend English classes, which the University makes available for external students. The first class was made up of fifty certificate-level students. We divided the class into five groups so that we could each lead discussions. The task involved students reading a number of dating profiles written in English and then debating who would make the most successful matches. For the second class of diploma-level students we used the same group structure and engaged in debates on religion, education, the marriage institution, moving away from home and political corruption. Each group gave a short presentation explaining our conclusions at the close of the lesson. We found we were able to encourage the students to engage in stimulating discussions and the feedback from both students and staff was very positive.This afternoon we joined the students resident to the campus, playing tennis, badminton and swimming. In the evening we were invited to join the Professors leading the External Student Programme. It was very interesting to further compare and contrast British and Sri Lankan culture and to gain a greater understanding of the institutional structure of the university. The Professors’ enthusiasm for forging academic links with Durham was indeed encouraging.