elleelf,Feb 25 2011, 02:11 PM]
Invisible, erican centre at ss2. I ask them about the ielts preparation class but they say they don't have it.

MsPopcorn, serious? learning present tense and past tense?If it is, it will be waste. What price they give you? Mine is RM3.5k for 3 months, which I think it's overpriced some more learning with all the secondary students as I'm a uni student already. The person of the centre told me they will be teaching based on the textbooks. They will be teaching reading,speaking,listening and writing. And for listening there will be CD to be played. Is that true? Did they really teach these all 4 skills? 

imnotakid, i did went to british council, but I can't join the next intake which is april because it will be too late as I need my ielts test by june.

iamwho,Feb 25 2011, 03:30 PM]
Firstly, the aim of the Cambridge ESOL program is to provide holistic English education to speakers of other language (means English is not our first language), which includes syllabuses to develop the 4 main and basic English skills - reading, writing, listening and reading. Taking this program is not like taking an English tuition class - it is not a tuition class to begin with. It is a language skill development class where the aim is to help you build the foundational skills you need to master the language. A tuition class is merely a revision class to help students score As in that particular subject. Depending on the tuition teacher, he/she might include additional tasks to help students master the usage of the language whenever they see fit, but their overall goal is to help the students score A in that subject - that's where the leakage of exam papers come about as well (IMO).

See the difference here?

That is why you are placed in a class with people of various backgrounds - you may be in a primary school, but your English mastery level could be higher than what they have developed. That is the misconception that most students and parents have with this program. The materials provided (I believe you have a textbook and a workbook right?) may not be sufficient to cover for 2 or more hours of class and thus, the need for supplementation of other materials. Sometimes teachers may have also misconceived the overall aim/objective of this program by converting the class into a tuition class more than a language skill development class. What you learned in the ESOL program might not complement those you have learned at school and IMO as well, the standards and quality of the materials provided by cambridge ESOL is recognized worldwide that the certification obtained from this program can be used as an entry requirement for your future tertiary education.

Hope this explains.

=wwiifan1943,Feb 25 2011, 03:44 PM]
I studied in Erican for 2 years now, so far no problem.  British Council and ELS also good, studied there before, but very expensive. One thing i like about Erican is the Cambridge esol certificate and public speaking, very useful and very nice!