Phl luring foreign students through tourism classrooms

CEBU – In the Philippines, English language trips to the beach, and instructors doubling as tour guides.

English is widely spoken in the former schools have mushroomed across the country, catering to an expanding market of Asian and European students looking to combine English learning with tropical tourism.

French student Laura Samzun will soon be taking a test to enter a public college in the United Kingdom, and is under pressure to perfect her English. She chose to take classes in the Philippines due to lower costs. “It’s less expensive to go to the Philippines, to come back (to) France, and to pay school than to stay in France (for that time),” Samzun said.

Fresh from a backpacking trip in Indonesia, she kick- International Language School on the sunny central island of Cebu.

“I really wanted to see Asia, to travel. So I can travel and study (at) the same time. It’s a good thing,” the 22-year-old Toulouse native said.

white sand beaches and its laid-back provincial lifestyle are a big draw for foreign students, who mostly come from big industrial cities. The schools boast high quality education, with small student-teacher ratios that allow for more focused instruction.

ciency courses, Chinese nurse Flora Wang has progressed from near-zero comprehension to carrying a conversation with ease.

“Actually I’m really getting better. When I came here, I can’t speak and understand anything. But during the four months, I improved a lot,” said the 25-year-old Beijing native who plans to move to the US to study health care.

one of the pioneers of English language education in the Philippines.

CPILS accommodates around 450 students per course period, mostly from South Korea. The student population has ballooned from 60 students when the school opened 11 years ago, and their pool has expanded to include enrollees from Japan, China, Taiwan, and European countries like France and Russia.

Park Yoon Jae, a university student from Seoul, wants to land a job back home in a multi-national company, where English is a primary requirement.

“Especially these days, (in) Korea, we have to speak English very well. Because almost all company want very high level English skills,” Park said.

The intensive English course work in CPILS runs an average of four months, in which students can take up to seven hours of lessons each day. A one-month course can cost around $1,000 a month, including accommodation and food.