Any pointers of a good, economical place to study English?

February 25, 2019 4:51 AM

I'm looking for a place where my GF, a Chinese national, could study English full time without breaking the bank. Doesn't have to be the best school ever, but ideally staffed by competent enough native English speakers. All the programs I know are in America, Australia and the like and are quite expensive, relatively speaking.

FWIW I'm not interested in pointers to other ways to learn English, as I promise you I'm well aware :) I think my GF would benefit from the structure provided by classes at a language school. Also not interested in schools that arent staffed by native speakers.

Any thoughts??

posted by wooh to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Where?
posted by lokta at 5:30 AM on February 25, 2019

Response by poster: Anywhere! Ideally somewhere with lots of native English speakers, I suppose! But that's sort of the issue. Classes in major urban centers in places like America, Australia, etc seem quite expensive. Def open to suggestions if you know a place that isn't!
posted by wooh at 6:15 AM on February 25, 2019

As you might expect, there are a lot of English language schools in Mexico. They are typically staffed by native speakers. Have a look at this page.
posted by bricoleur at 6:47 AM on February 25, 2019

Depending on what level she's at, it might be worth it to look into British Council classes. They don't seem to offer direct classes in China, but they have an English-course finder in the UK - a few clicks found many courses outside the most expensive London/Oxford/Cambridge areas.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 6:56 AM on February 25, 2019

Response by poster: For clarification, the idea would be we'd go to wherever the school is for a couple months so she could study :) thanks for any and a recs!
posted by wooh at 7:03 AM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

In Western Massachusetts, USA, there are two free English language programs:
Center for New Americans English Classes
International Language Institute of Massachusetts free English Program
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:04 AM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Brighton, UK has *loads* of English-language schools, is a cool city on the coast, close to airports and only 1 hour from London on the train.
posted by atlantica at 8:53 AM on February 25, 2019

Whatever you decide on, make sure that the school has instructors who've studied second language pedagogy. (There's a reason for some of the high costs of a lot of schools.)
posted by wintersweet at 12:40 PM on February 25, 2019

Hi, I teach English in Hong Kong.

There are two questions here, I think:

- In which kind of institution can my girlfriend study English full-time?

I don’t want to say the quality of the school or teachers doesn’t matter, but...the experience of having multiple hours a day of English lessons will be such a boost to her language level if she is dedicated and only works, takes notes, reads and writes in English that having native-level teachers is irrelevant, unless her English is already better than theirs. I really think that any intensive course can be beneficial. The intensive schedule seems to point more toward a university-style program rather than a “normal” adult class that meets for a few hours twice a week. More than native teachers, I’d look for a place with multilingual students so she has to interact in English. (Apologies if this is obvious!)

- Where can a Chinese national live for a few months in an English-speaking society?

This is trickier. Without knowing the ins and outs of visa requirements, I’d suggest Malaysia if you are both in Asia already, if only to lessen the cost of travel and everyday life. Kuala Lumpur will be the most English-friendly place; British Council offers this course there, which comes with visa assistance. EF also has intensive multi-week/month English programs in Seoul, which is even closer to home.
posted by mdonley at 7:00 PM on February 25, 2019