The Importance of Being English

06Jan11

It is no secret that English as a Second Language training is the most sought after language training in the world. For those who were privileged enough to be born in an English-speaking country remember that you are, indeed, advantaged in that you have been able to grow up speaking the “universal language”. So, I ask that for the next few moments, those who may be native speakers would simply remember not to take for granted the fact that you speak, read, and write a language that many spend thousands of dollars to learn.

In the past 10 years, the demand for ESL training has increased at shocking rates. In 2000, British Council stated that there were 750 million speakers of English as a Foreign Language with an added 375 million speakers of English as a Second Language worldwide. It is simply staggering just how many people throughout the world desire to learn English; we must ask ourselves exactly why that may be.

It is through ESL programmes that students are able to learn the universal language that will allow them to gain access to top post-secondary schools, therein allowing them to vie for high level careers within their country of origin or abroad.  Since the stakes are high for these positions, international students desire to learn English so that they may be considered as candidates for these occupations. As such, there is a high demand within English-speaking countries, such as Canada, England, and Australia to cater to the needs of these international students, who are willing to travel and spend (potentially) several thousand dollars ensuring a quality education from a trustworthy institution. The majority of international students that travel to Canada from overseas to learn ESL are from countries such as China, Korea, Germany, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, and the Middle East.

We have found that a vast number of international students wishing to take an ESL course travel to Canada for a few weeks or months at a time in order to learn English. It is usually within government-funded programmes that a larger number of immigrants are found, as it is a requirement to either live in Canada or soon be immigrating to Canada in order to gain access to these programmes. As a great number of people wish to learn English as a Second Language and yet do not reside nor have current plans to immigrate to Canada, those people often travel to Canada for a certain amount of time in order to gain ESL training. There are not only international students wishing to learn ESL, but also people within the local community (that may have lived in the community for some time) wishing to learn at an accredited school, not a community centre.

There are number of different levels of English that a person may wish to acquire, such as General English, Business/Executive English, Career Specific English, or even for English exam Preparation (such as the IELTS, TOEFL, etc.).

Upon completing a comprehensive ESL programme, one may then have doors open that may otherwise have been shut, allowing for a brighter future.

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Filed under: ESL Training   |  3 Comments
Tags: College, English, English as a Second Language, English Language, ESL, IELTS, Program, TOEFL, Training