Cambridge ESOL - FCE (20hrs + 10)

I liked to study english with people from all over the world and the classes were very varied. Furthermore, I liked that you don’t have the same teacher every day. If you like you could do every day activities.

It was a good experience to improve my English level. During one month of study, I felt improvements in my spoken English, confidence when talking.The study is very interesting and fun. Teachers explain the topic very clearly, use various techniques, games. There are many things that I didn't understand before, now I understand better. The school is located in the center, which is very convenient, there are many attractions nearby. You can take a walk after school. Many thanks to the teachers and the whole Discover English team.

The teachers are absolutely wonderful, kind, interested, funny and the lesson methods are very varied. The location is perfect with one of the nicest bars and restaurants around. The facility is very clean and everything is fine. There is only one negative thing in my mind: unfortunately most of the students just don’t meet the needs compared to the outstanding abilities of the teachers. 80 percent are not punctual at all, extremely lazy, not participating in discussions and they simply cannot speak English very well, even when they are sitting in a upper intermediate class. This has a huge negative impact on the learning capacity and the learning success. In the end ambitious and diligent students are disappointed, because they have to slow down a lot. Could be more pressure, more homework’s and higher expectations regarding the students’ performance. I think the excellent teachers deserve it. I would recommend this school, but only for a ,fun/relaxed’ holiday learning, not for business or academic purposes.

Was a short 3 days experience so could not really say too much. The school likes great and has multi language speakers work there. Location was convenient.

Tam was great. However, I do not think he had much time to prepare my lessons. We could not go through everything in details.
I am still bit confused with infinitive and gerund. It would be great if I could be provided with some learning materials.

Students were very noisy after their classes and were sitting outside my classroom and talking loudly.
One student even asked Tam to go out and speak with him during my class. I was not very happy with that because my lessons are all one on one.

I liked the nice people in class and I was welcomed even though I was much older. Chris was a very good teacher and crazy (in a good way) man. We had a lot of fun. The staff at the reception area were very nice and helpful. It's good to have strong rules.
About the activities I can't comment on it, because I didn't participate in any of it. The location was good as well as the housing.

First of all, if you feel that the class is too easy for you, do not hesitate to take the level-up test. You can get more opportunity to learn English. I was in the upper-intermediate class in general English. There were about 18 students in class. Use your opportunity to speak English in classes. Participate in every class. Also, there were extra classes everyday.

Teachers are competent and engaged! They gave me sincere feedback and it was stimulating. They ensured that I was assigned to the proper group that best suited my level. The location is perfect at Bourke Street!

Also, they gave me a great opportunity to practice. They organized an activity that allowed me to make a two-hour presentation. After my presentation, they offered me flowers to celebrate!

They are attentive to their students and they provide an excellent customer service.

Everything is good.
I have the best experience in classes.

I had a very good experience at Discover English.
The school location in CBD Melbourne is excellent for taking the transport or visiting Melbourne.
The atmosphere in courses is excellent for studying and the classmates are friendly.
The teachers and the teaching is good; I think it is a great idea to have two teachers in a week per class, because the teaching is different and if you don't understand a teacher you can understand the second teacher.
The activities are good because they are different.
The housing and the family are very different and it is difficult to give an answer but in general this is good.

When I arrived here, I was in expectation of how could the course be? But I was disappointed as far as how the course was developed; I found teachers without structure, not respectful and boring classes. In my experience as a teacher, I found some classes without pedagogy and lacking in didactic. Only one person provided me with feedback about mistakes I made in the language.
The course did not satisfy my expectations. I found some strict rules for students but not for workers.
One thing must be said in favor of the institute: you provide us a huge quantity of photocopies, this was good.
You need to improve the integration between all members of the institute; I think relations are cold and they do not get to know each other, even workers themselves.

Teachers were really sophisticated. When I took Cambridge classes, I felt that a lot. The staff were very helpful and supportive. They were friendly, so I could enjoy school life. I think the number of toilets were not enough.

I spent two weeks at your school for my job. I did appreciate the teachers; Claire was fantastic! I preferred the second week as the students were a bit older and it was better for me.
I will come back within 3 years as I have to take an English course for my job every three years!!
In fact, I know that for most of the students, the teacher had to use the book. But for me I really preferred when we didn't use the book - except for grammar!

The overall experience in Discover English was clearly positive! The teachers are motivated, competent, and undeniably friendly. The "on-the-side offers" like the STS tours are a clear addition to the value of the school and the help about the booking of an accommodation was really appreciated. The staff is always available and happy to help. Thanks for your hard work!

The only few minor negative points I have are:

IELTS Class. The level is sometimes too different (aiming to a 5 for some and a 7.5 for others) between classmates, making some of them unable to work at their real level of skill. Moreover, the class appears sometimes slightly simpler than the real exam, which may cause some unfortunate surprises.

EAP adv/Excel. The first weeks in the class were absolutely delightful, but recently the class become a little bit disappointing. IMO, a class with 15 to 20 people, is maybe too crowded for a proper Excel teaching which requires a lot of personal coaching by the teacher. Moreover, expecting Excel and not EAP, I was kind of sad to have to comply to EAP/pathways "requirements", focused more on academic English than really trying to reach the more native level achievable like displayed in the presentation of the lesson.
This having been said, El is definitely one of the best teachers I have ever had the chance to meet. She is clearly working hard for this class and does an outstanding job! Thanks and congratulations to her!