Spain win again!

The winning team from our football tournament last week.

The team from Spain beat the Italians as well as our very own inlingua team to be crowned champions for the week - can they hold on to their title for another week??

student life at the Dean Residence

2009 has been a very exciting year so far as we have spent a lot of time improving and renovating our school premises and facilities. The Dean Residence was one of our biggest projects and we worked hard all winter to make sure it would be open for our students to enjoy during the summer... and so far so good!! The pool, the restaurant, the free wifi, the pub and open spaces make the residence the ideal place to hang out, swim, relax with your friends over a drink or just sit under the stars playing cards and enjoying a laid back evening while you practise your English too...

inlingua Malta Business English Programmes

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inlingua Malta Business English Programmes

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Getting your house in order

One of the first things we look for when making the decision to travel abroad is a place to stay. Initially we think about the destination and the purpose of travel, and when that has been decided we begin to search for that place to call our ‘home away from home’.

For students coming to Malta to study English, this phrase rings particularly true as many of them opt to live with host families. While some people would not even consider sharing their house with an outsider, many others willingly open up their homes and welcome students from all over the world into their family.

Providing accommodation to students, just like owning a hotel, requires rules and regulations, and licensing has been enforced which aims to establish quality standards. Students choose to stay in a family because unlike living in a hotel, they can practice their English continuously through interaction with family members, and the whole experience provides a more intimate and personal atmosphere.

Host family accommodation in Malta has earned itself a particularly bad reputation abroad. More and more students are looking for alternatives to this type of accommodation due to bad experiences they’ve heard about from their peers, and the often exaggerated horror stories published in the media. This sort of bad publicity has a negative impact on the industry as a whole. It adds another element of struggle for language schools in Malta to overcome when competing with other EFL destinations.

A few months ago, we conducted an exercise where we asked our highest rated host families to share their experiences of hosting students so as to gain an insight into the service they provide. These families are consistently praised by our students and we asked them to share their tips and ideas about what students expect and appreciate while living in a family.

· Be a friend to your guests. Take the time to talk to your students and get to know them. They will appreciate the genuine interest and the daily interaction not only makes them feel welcome but also helps them practice their English. Do not have long conversations in Maltese in front of them.
· Make sure that the accommodation is clean, tidy and well maintained
· Offer good quality, varied meals and be generous with portions. Students often complain about the lack of variety as well as poor quality and meager portions. Discuss their dietary requirements and try to accommodate them as much as possible within reasonable limits
· Set rules for the students that apply to the rest of the family. This will help them adapt to your family life and it will make it easier for you to keep your household running smoothly. Students must be made aware of the fact that they are not living in a hotel and they should respect and fit into your family routine
· Take the time to explain things to them and offer advice and information that will be helpful and useful during their stay. Remember, you are their first point of reference and they look to you for guidance
· Their first impression of Malta is usually formed after their meeting with you and a positive first impression will generally set the tone for the rest of their stay

The financial situation facing the world today has forced many businesses to pull their socks up and work harder at providing an improved service to their clients. Diversification and catering to your clients’ needs becomes top priority.

The demand for school residences has increased dramatically. Students over 18 prefer independence during their stay and this type of accommodation is perfectly suited to a student budget. However, the comfort and intimacy of living with a host family remains a popular option with younger students as well as some older ones, providing them with a sense of belonging and security. By working on improving this aspect of the EFL industry we can only strengthen and improve the sector as a whole.

It is times like these that serve as an eye opener not only to what we are offering our clients, but more importantly as to what is being offered by others. This is an opportunity to look around us and work on the overall package being offered to students following a language course. It gives us the chance to build on our strengths and work on our weaknesses. It is important that students are happy with all aspects of their holiday and not just the quality of the teaching.

Kindness and hospitality can go a long way in making their time spent in Malta a positive and memorable experience.

1565

The Great Siege of 1565 is one of the greatest moments in Maltese history, and one of the most celebrated events of sixteenth century Europe. So much so that Voltaire once said "Nothing is more well known than the siege of Malta." It was one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles ever fought and marked a turning point in the perception of Ottoman invincibility. The battle lasted over 4 months in the scorching summer heat and the Turks never again attempted to besiege Malta. It was the first true defeat of the Ottoman Empire in a century.

A reenactment of this great event takes place at the Monte Kristo Wine Vaults every week and the whole evening is a very well organised, enjoyable affair with a 3 course meal and a live show which includes, dancers, fire jugglers, horses, canon blasts and gunfire. The story of the Great Siege is narrated and sung by the lovely Melita and the talented cast of dancers and actors bring the story to life.

See more photos of this spectacular evening here

Why we love Mondays

Monday morning is very busy at inlingua Malta. This is the day our new students come to school and we are always happy to welcome their friendly faces.

From 8:00am the school is buzzing with students sitting for the test, getting books and finding classrooms. By 10:00am everyone is more or less settled and lessons begin. During the break students gather in the cafeteria and we serve them a welcome drink. Here they have the chance to meet with other students and our inlingua reps who chat with them and tell them about the different activities and tours we have going on that week.

Monday night is welcome party night. Meeting point is 8:00pm at the LOVE sign and from here we head off to the open air garden in Paceville for some free pizza, free drinks and the chance to hang out and get to know your classmates better. Check out some photos from yesterday's welcome party here and if you have your own photos why don't you add them to our group page too?

Meet Fausto and Kristina

A few months ago the search for our student representatives for Summer 2009 began. We sent out a message to the inlingua Malta international community via Facebook asking who would like to spend 3 months living in the sun, and working with people from all over the world who come and learn English at inlingua Malta.
The response was huge and we received loads of applications from so many great people that it was very difficult to choose but we finally managed to narrow it down to two applicants - Fausto and Kristina.
These fantastic young people both have loads of experience in this type of work. They are friendly and enthusiastic and will help you get the most out of your time here while making sure that you are well taken care of while you have fun!
They share multilingual skills and are fluent in Spanish, Russian, Italian and of course English and are on hand to help with any difficulties you might have.

They arrived at inlingua yesterday and have begun their training as part of the leisure team. We are looking forward to working with them this summer and they are looking forward to meeting you!