ESL School

Hello again,

The Internet has had a profound effect on the way English language teaching organisations operate. I thought it would be interesting to do a survey of how the Internet is being used. One of the most valuable aspects of the Internet is its accessibility. No matter how ...

Hello again,

Schools trying to attract students from all over the world in a competitive market need to train sales and marketing teams in cultural awareness. Below are some points about how culture affects...

Hello again,

Language Travel Magazine has published results of a survey...

Hello again,

Many overseas students will be preparing for their summer holidays before setting off for higher education in a western ...

Hello again,

The economics pundits are making warning noises: higher oil prices, low American dollar, banks in trouble; all these are indications that the global economy is heading...

Hello again,

English language schools need a special awareness of the underlying messsages in the language we use. Schools are not only concerned with teaching their students but in the process of influencing agents, sponsors and potential students through both the written and...

Hello again,

I was discussing marketing recently and the topic was whether ELT marketing was different from that in other kinds of business. I don’t feel qualified to answer that...

Hello again,

Motivation is crucial for successful language learning and students currently enrolled on curses have clearly found the motivation they need to make that start. But what about...

To seek accreditation or not?

Hello again,

I received the following query recently: I am in two minds whether to go for official accreditation for my school as it is a costly process and will put a lot of strain on my staff. Are there really any benefits of accreditation? My reply was ...

Are you catering for the executive learner?

Hello,

With the internationalisation of business, the ability to speak English is a basic requirement for an increasing number of employees. The corporate market is, therefore, an important one for English language schools but one that is highly competitive. To capture a slice of this action, schools need to provide truly flexible learning ...

Hello again,

A school owner was talking to me recently about the possibility of taking advantage of Internet technology to offer additional services in her school. It set me thinking. One of the unsatisfactory aspects of completing a course of study is that students have no further access to the team that ...

Work experience for students

Hello again.

Immigration figures for Eastern Europeans coming to the UK have turned out to be much higher than anyone expected they would be. The attraction is clearly the easy availability of work in some sectors, especially hotels and catering and skilled work in the building trade. But one criticism sometimes voiced is that the new migrants often have ...

It's not only teachers that need training.

Hello again,
Selling a service is arguably a more subtle process than selling a consumer product. It is easier to describe the attributes and benefits of, say, a household gadget than a language course. After all, the school cannot guarantee that a learner will achieve the results he or she desires. But you can make more sales if you have properly trained salespeople on your team.

First they need to have excellent ...

Can teachers gather students' feedback without risking adverse reactions from management?

Hello again,

It is clear from reactions to an earlier posting by Patricia that teachers have their anxieties about feedback from students. They fear that any negative responses might be used against them by management. In an ideal world, the school would offer mutual support systems with all feedback being seen as a key tool in the process of continual improvement rather than as a stick to beat the overburdened backs of teachers. But we don’t live in a perfect world and undoubtedly some teachers will be put under pressure if students are critical . . .

Greetings ESL experts,

Allow me to say thanks to Jake for his introduction of me and for giving me the honor or presenting to you the newest member of the ESLemployment team, Brenda Townsend Hall, PhD.

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with her work, Dr. Townsend Hall is a communications consultant trainer and course designer. Now, she’ll be blogging for ESL School and writing for the ESL Expert newsletter. She offers face-to-face and distance training in the fields of interpersonal communications, business English, written communications and cross-cultural awareness. She also has runs a distance-learning training course, Teach Business English, for teachers wishing to enter the field of business English . . .

Hello Loyal Readers of ESL School!

This is Jake from ESLemployment. We hope you have enjoyed the entries thus far on this very insightful and thought-provoking blog about the ESL industry.

Today, I need to make an important announcement to all subscribers. Our good friend Patricia Dean, current author of ESL Expert and this blog for ESL administrators will soon be departing . . .

Hello friends.

It seems to me that a reputable school that wishes to do the best for its students and be fair to its teachers needs to do something to prove its credentials. It is not surprising I suppose that most reactions to these blogs come from teachers rather than school owners and directors. I mean most of the gripes . . .

Readers,

Agents play a key role in the world of English language travel. For schools in native-English-speaking countries, agency representation abroad is an essential aspect of student recruiting.

And for English language schools elsewhere, agents can help place your students on follow-up courses in an English-speaking country—or you might add a string to your bow by becoming an agent yourself. Language travel agents need to be well acquainted with the schools they represent in order to offer sound advice to students . . .

In our technology-dominated world it seems likely that schools will face increased competition from the many forms of self-instruction, distance learning or self-access learning that are offered through the Internet or on CD, Video and DVD.

Today I'm looking at more of a management issue and giving you my ideas on public relations for ESL schools.

I hesistated about suggesting that schools could send out newsletters as part of a marketing campaign.

I have had an enjoyable time recently in looking at the websites ESL schools have set up.

In marketing courses, schools need to think not just about the students but the people who fund them.

As a new academic year looms on the horizon for schools in the northern hemsiphere, it's time to think of ways of attracting more students.

The Internet creates all sorts of opportunities for doing this. First create a website for your school if you haven't already done so. You will also need to make somebody responsible for maintaining it. Then create some pages that offer prospective students something useful. You can have exercises, links, even a forum for exchange of ideas.