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Executive courses in Malta
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With its sunny climate and abundance of leisure activities, Malta is the ideal destination for English language learners wanting a relaxing study break. This can include executive language learners and many schools are active in this sector, reporting good demand from North Africa and Germany.
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While not the most popular courses for language schools in Malta, executive language programmes provide the welcome function of attracting students outside the main summer season. Louiseanne Mercieca from the English Language Academy in Sliema says that they have offered executive language courses for 20 years. “We sell more executive courses during the shoulder months,” she adds. “Most of our executive clients choose to book individual courses but we do get requests for small groups from time to time. They are very popular but comparatively only 10 per cent when compared with general English courses.”
Business clients are attracted to Malta by the low cost and warm climate, just like any other language traveller, says Merceica. “Malta is definitely cheaper and the weather is wonderful. It is safe and easy to get around. Malta offers a wide range of interesting activities for all ages including adults.” And for courses that often attract a premium price tag, the lower cost of programmes in Malta, compared with other English language destinations, can be a big incentive. Lisa Darmanin Demajo from inlingua Malta in Sliema says that executive language courses have always been on the menu at their school. “They fare very well because we have group courses as well as private lessons and can tailor-make any course to the requirements of the student.”
Many schools offer language tuition in specialist areas, with Caroline Castillo from Clubclass Residential Language School saying that they offer language tuition for the law and IT industries. She adds, “If a client requests a particular specialisation, it is generally on a one-to-one basis so that the client’s teacher can structure the course according to their specific needs.”
Bell Malta Language Centre in St Julians offers executive language courses in Finance, Banking, Marketing, Human Resources, Engineering, Architecture, Medicine and Legal English and has recently added English for Aviation to the mix. “As of March 2008, the International Civil Aviation Organisation required a good intermediate level of English as a licensing requirement for international route pilots and controllers in charge of international air traffic,” says Sandra Attard-Montalto.
At inlingua, Darmanin Demarjo reports, “We have invested heavily in several books dealing with English for various fields of expertise. Where we don’t have books we obtain other learning resources from different places.” Sandra Hammett, Owner of Melita Language School in Birkirkara, says it is the added effort and expense in organising tuition that means the school does not offer executive classes for individuals. “[Students] must be in groups in order to justify the extra expenses the school has to go through,” she explains. “It stands to reason that the school must find teachers skilled in IT or law for instance and they have to be paid a lot more than general English course teachers.”
However, the rewards can be good, especially as demand for business courses is growing in some student markets. Hammett says that most of their clients for executive language courses are Arabic. “North African countries are an expanding market and this explains why students need such courses,” she says, adding that the proximity of Malta to North Africa also helps them recruit for these courses.
Other schools point to Germany as the main source market for executive students. “The largest percentage of our [business] is German,” says Castillo. “This could be because Germans require English for business and their English level is usually higher than those students coming from other European countries.” Darmanin Demajo agrees that Germans make up a large proportion of enrolments for these types of courses and adds, “We target them most in our marketing.”
Executive clients often demand higher standards when it comes to accommodation and the provision of IT facilities and Clubclass is addressing these issues. “Clubclass is in the process of setting up a separate business centre, which is equipped with facilities to create a more authentic professional environment,” relates Castillo.
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