How valid are the Spanish language schools reviews that you read online?
Once you have decided that you want to study in Spain, the next step is to choose a reliable school that will offer you good value and a first rate educational and cultural experience.
While it is great to use the internet to get some independent reviews about Spanish schools and courses, you really have to consider how valid these reviews and opinions are before acting on the information that you have read to make a decision to enrol in a school. Towards the end of this article an alternative way of choosing a school is put forward for you to consider.
The best way that you can find out if a school is good or not is to talk to students who have studied there recently. If you don't have friends there and are not in Spain to check it out for yourself it seems that you will be left to look online.
French language schools always put testimonials from satisfied students on their website but it is never clear how valid and truthful these testimonials are and how these positive statements have been extracted from students. When every website you check has glowing student reviews it doesn't offer you much help separating the good from the bad. Some schools offer lists of former students that you can email for their opinions and recommendations and while this system could also be biased it does give the school a few more 'credibility points' in my opinion.
Reviews and opinions found on forums, blogs or other interactive sites should also be viewed skeptically as school staff can pose as students both to promote their own school or to criticize other schools.
As it is so tough to get an honest 'third party' review regarding the school that you are interested in let me suggest another method that you may use to make sure that you have chosen a truly great school.
Consider one of the five Spanish course providers nominated for a 2008 'Star Spanish School Award' by Language Travel Magazine. Every September, language travel agents from around the world nominate five schools for the star award based on professionalism, student satisfaction and the level of service offered. The 2008 'Star Spanish School' award was presented to Babylon Idiomas (with schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville) at the 'Star Awards' ceremony held in London in September. The other nominated Spanish schools were Malaca Instituto, Spain Clic - IH, Escuela de Idiomas Nerja and Pamplona Spanish Learning Institute.
These language travel agents advise and send thousands of students abroad to study every year so they are constantly in touch with language school staff and are always getting feedback from their students in the schools (who they want to keep happy so that they refer friends to the agent). They therefore have an excellent knowledge of which schools are offering the highest standard of service and which schools are not living up to their promises.
Due to the difficulty of getting honest Spanish language schools reviews smart students researching schools and courses have to be a little creative and think out of the box if they want to find the best Spanish schools and avoid the unprofessional ones.
You can click here to visit the Babylon idiomas website, the school that won the 2008 'Star Spanish School' award. For more details on the Language Travel Magazine Star Awards and to see a complete list of the winners and nominees in all categories click here Steve Sutherland runs a language travel agency in Taiwan that has placed Taiwanese students into language school programs around the world. |
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