Language Schools in the Philippines

[cmo]

There are many language schools in the Philippines! There are many Koreans, Chinese and Japanese studying English in the Philippines.

Is the Philippines a good place to study English?

:okay: :D

[juan]

There are many language schools in the Philippines! There are many Koreans, Chinese and Japanese studying English in the Philippines.

Is the Philippines a good place to study English?

:okay: :D


The Philippines is a good place and cheap but you have to really choose a good language school that is equipped with speech lab and well trained ESL teachers.

Watch out for language schools with poor trained ESL teachers around there.

[seductive_lady]

i believe that the Philippines is a good place to study...cheaper but with high quality and standard

[aiepro]

The Philippines used to be very competitive in English language education. Unfortunately, we seem to be on the decline. We can be a very good country to study English again. We just have to ensure that we are after the quality, not the money.

[ctivnan]

The Philippines used to be very competitive in English language education. Unfortunately, we seem to be on the decline. We can be a very good country to study English again. We just have to ensure that we are after the quality, not the money.

This is so true! :smilie3:

In my opinion, in the field of education, it's not all about the money; it's how much knowledge you share and how you guide your students into discovery and learning.

[aiepro]

We should not be content with just speaking English. We should go beyond that. We must learn to speak English critically and think analytically.

Right now, there are too many other centers who are in it for the money. For me, it must be a combination of social responsibility and entrepreneurial intent. I totally believe that learning to speak English intellectually will help free our people.

[ajarn_alfred]

Philippines is also a good place to study English. But a student should consider the following things before enrolling in any language center:
a. qualification of teachers
b. learning environment
c. school facilities and amenities.

[angelkrizz]

If they want to study English here in the Philippines. They should choose the schools or academies that they are going to enroll to. I recommend CELL in DLSU. They have excellent teachers and the student can choose what aspect in English do they want to study.

By they should know the teacher first because there are some people who dare to teach English and they have a little knowledge about the language. Forgive me for this...but there are some teachers who have bad pronunciation and grammar. We need quality teachers because it will be 'us' who will be at the losing end. When they go back to their country, they will surely talk about their teachers who are not competent.

Wag naman tayong magkalat at ipahiya ung bansa natin...hehehehe!

[ctivnan]

You're right, angelkrizz! There are many of these people around who dare teach English when in fact, they have not even taken a bit of time to study (or prepare for) what they are going to teach. It's a sad reality.

By the way, please translate your Tagalog in English, so people from other countries can understand.

[pinoypower]

We should not be content with just speaking English. We should go beyond that. We must learn to speak English critically and think analytically.

Right now, there are too many other centers who are in it for the money. For me, it must be a combination of social responsibility and entrepreneurial intent. I totally believe that learning to speak English intellectually will help free our people.

You're right Aiepro we should not be content with just speaking English because speaking is not the only measure of English proficiency. It also includes written and listening comprehension, writing and composition and a lot of other things. Actually very few people can claim mastery of the English language and that include Britons and Americans.

[grp39]

For the price, studying English here is good enough. Our wealthier Asian neighbors send their children to other places for the same purpose. This should open our eyes to the need of improving the language education we are offering.

[manilaenglis]

Angelkrizz, you're right about checking out a school before starting your lessons, but as learners of English this is more difficult to do than it sounds. Plenty of language schools use trained ESL teachers with experience but sadly most of their teachers aren't speaking English correctly in the classroom and/or are using books with incorrect English. As a student, you may or may not recognize it.

Have you ever heard someone say, "Would you like to avail of this or that?" If you grew up in the Philippines, you'd think it was perfectly acceptable. The correct term is 'use' or 'try' NOT 'avail of'.

Here are some other examples:

"Someone knock knock the door." vs "Someone knocked on the door."
"Hurts my stomach." vs "My stomach hurts."
"It's in the another room." vs "It's in the other room." or "It's in another room."
"Are you interested to learn?" vs "Are you interested in learning?"
"with poor trained ESL teachers" vs "with poorly trained ESL teachers"
"high quality and standard" vs "high quality standards"

I could post hundreds upon hundreds of examples but I only wanted to make the point. Also I don't mean any disrespect to seductive_lady or Juan with the last two examples. They were just readily on hand.

Another problem is that many of the language schools are operated by non-native speakers so it is difficult for the owners of these schools to know if their teachers really are qualified or not. The better foreign operated schools rely on a TESOL, TOEIC or other English score. Those test results are not an effective way to determine a person's English fluency. It may be a good test of a person's knowledge but not their fluency. One reason is that you can look for clues in a question to help you match a multiple choice answer. Real life isn't multiple choice. Another reason why a TESOL, TOEIC or other English test doesn't test your fluency is because the tapes that you listen to are far slower than normal speech, the conversations are simplistic, and the conversations are one sided. The only way to know if a person is a fluent speaker is to have a conversation with him. The non-native English speaking owner of a language school can't be certain he is hiring a fluent teacher. Worst yet, he might not even care! It has already been pointed out that too many people are in this industry for the money.

When you pick a language school or private teacher, you have to consider your goals. Not everyone's goal is native fluency. If your goal is just to be able to order food from a restaurant and make small talk with a shop keeper then picking a non-native English speaker who has scored high on the TOEIC or other English test with a teaching certificate from that organization will be just fine. If, however, you have a deep desire to sound like a native then you need an experienced native English speaking teacher from an official English speaking country such as America.

Having an American teacher isn't enough either. A small class size is essential. Usually language schools using native English speakers as their teachers have class sizes of 20 students or more. In such a large class, you are getting very little personal attention. Private lessons are an option, but private lessons with a native speaker are unheard of in the Philippines and if you find a true American with ESL teaching experience willing to teach you, you're going to pay 1,200 pesos per hour on up. You also won't sound like a native speaker after just 1 lesson.

You need to find a balance between having a small class size and economic feasibility. That's why Manila English (http://www.manilaenglish.com) is a very attractive option. There is a maximum of 5 to 8 students per class, and I am a real American born and raised in the United States. My wife, a Filipina from Sorsogon, and I are moving to the Philippines to offer the highest standards in English education at just 194 pesos per hour. I am making the schedule now so please email me before it fills up if you or your children would like to study. Remember, there is a maximum class size of just 5 to 8 students.

[oneone]

yes the Philippines is the best with regard to English proficiency

[manilaenglis]

The real question is is simple proficiency enough or should the Philippines strive to do better? After all, the way a person speaks is considered to be a reflection of his intelligence. The better a person speaks the better his image.

[ac_bry]

The Philippines used to be very competitive in English language education. Unfortunately, we seem to be on the decline. We can be a very good country to study English again. We just have to ensure that we are after the quality, not the money.

So true. The dominance of the Filipinos in English language is now in the brink of becoming a myth. Neighboring Asian countries which have willfully adopted no-nonsense measures to learn the English language are now catching up and have even overtaken the Philippines. But we can still easily redeem that almost lost glory in English proficiency if we act decisively now. The quality of education the students receive depends largely upon the skill and competence of the teachers; hence, any attempt to solve the English proficiency crisis in the Philippines must start with the teachers. :jumpingangel:

[tangkaruray]

Search the net for SEAMEO Innotech. They have these downloadable e-books regarding the profile of English teachers in case you're interested.

As for EFL or ESL teaching in the Philippines, I believe that the situation isn't as hopeless as it seems. I happen to be working in a profit-oriented hagwon myself. My ears ache everytime I hear slips from my fellow teachers. The sad thing here is that good performance is measured not by how much the students learn from you, but rather how much they like you. That's why some resort to flattering the students for the sake of keeping them. They end up learning Korean words rather than improving their knowledge of English.

Despite all this, though, most of the teachers I am working with have good and serious intentions when it comes to learning and teaching English effectively. I just hope our Korean boss would take their suggestions seriously. ^^

Meanwhile, I'm happy we're all here to help each other out. Congratulations EC! We're in our tenth month!

[johndshin]

ohhh! Gosh! :Cat Smiley 6117:hmm.. for me.. philippines is not a good place to study english.. because :ashamed1:.. u cant practice your english in public.. u know what i mean.. SPEAKING ENGLISH IN PUBLIC Has many REACTIONS :fishin:... NEGATIVE reactions... hahahha :bowling_laugh:

[bebekoh]

ohhh! Gosh! :Cat Smiley 6117:hmm.. for me.. philippines is not a good place to study english.. because :ashamed1:.. u cant practice your english in public.. u know what i mean.. SPEAKING ENGLISH IN PUBLIC Has many REACTIONS :fishin:... NEGATIVE reactions... hahahha :bowling_laugh:


Violent reactions, actually... Philippines is a good place in learning Basic English. the problem is... the Filipinos themselves don't practice English. Eventually, what you've learn will just be a theory. We all know what basically constitutes a correct English grammar but we don't use it. :)

[bebekoh]

The real question is is simple proficiency enough or should the Philippines strive to do better? After all, the way a person speaks is considered to be a reflection of his intelligence. The better a person speaks the better his image.

Absolutely true! "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'" - (Matthew 15:11)

[jleonardo]

Language Schools in the Philippines are fantastic which also gives better knowledge of the best quality. There are also Asian centre of the foreign languages school in the Philippines. A better translation service are also offered in the Philippines which is great.