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South Africa
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A greater proportion of students from other African countries took part in our South Africa Feedback survey this year, and agent usage was down on previous years.
South Africa feedback at a glance
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Total number of students: female 58, male 30, (unknown 2) 90
Average age in years: 28
Average length of programme in weeks: 9.3
Average number of students in class: 7.5
Average number of hours of language tuition per week: 23
% of students who found their course through an agent: 34
% of students who booked through an agent or adviser: 42
% of students who had been on another lang. programme: 26
% of students who would recommend their school: 90
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| Respondents by world region of origin |
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Top nationalities |
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W Europe (46%)
Africa (21%)
Middle East (15%)
Asia (14%)
C & L America (11%)
C & E Europe (6%)
Other/Unknown (2%)
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1. German 16%
1. Swiss 16%
3. Gabonese 10%
4. Brazilian 9%
5. Korean 7%
6. Czech 6%
7. Congolese 4%
7. Dutch 4%
9. Japanese 3%
9. Turkish 3%
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| In my class there are... |
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How will you use your English in the future? |
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Too many students (13%)
Too many students of my language (14%)
Too many students from one other countries (6%)
None of these (61%)
Unknown (6%)
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Coll. study in South Africa (16%)
Coll. study in another country (7%)
College study at home (14%)
Current or future work (54)
For pleasure only (9%)
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| How did you find your programme? |
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Standard of the teaching |
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1. It was recommended by an agent (34%)
2. II found it on the Internet (30%)
2. It was recommended by a friend/relative (30%)
4. I saw it advertised (3%)
Unknown (3%)
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Excellent (50%)
Good (41%)
Satisfactory (6%)
Poor (1%)
Unsatisfactory (1%)
Unknown (1%)
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| Standard of your academic programme |
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What is your accomodation while in South Africa? |
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Excellent (21%)
Good (54%)
Satisfactory (13%)
Poor (2%)
Unknown (10%)
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Host family (48%)
Residential/single room (8%)
Residential/dormitory (9%)
Other (34%)
No reply (1%)
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| Standard of your social programme? |
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Standard of your accommodation |
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Excellent (18%)
Good (34%)
Satisfactory (30%)
Poor (13%)
Unknown(10%)
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Excellent (27%)
Good (33%)
Satisfactory (24%)
Poor (4%)
Unsatisfactory (1%)
Unknown (11%)
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Did you book your course through an agent or an educational adviser?
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Yes (42%)
No (53%)
No reply (5%)
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Before looking for your course, did you know where you wanted to study?
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Country
Yes (76%)
No (16%)
Unknown (8%)
City/town
Yes (64%)
No (24%)
Unknown (12%)
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School
Yes (29%)
No (58%)
Unknown (13%)
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Student nationality
South Africa is continuing to attract students from a wider range of countries, and, while Western Europe still accounts for the single largest group of students studying English in South Africa, its share has slipped by three percentage points in the past year to 46 per cent. Similarly, Asia dropped by four points to 14 per cent. In contrast, there was a six-point hike in numbers from Africa, and Gabonese students came third, with a 10 per cent share in the league table of top student nationalities. Other significant African nationalities were Congolese and Equatorial Guinean. Despite the strong growth of the African language travel market, German and Swiss students still made up the joint largest nationality groups respectively. Interestingly, Japanese students were less numerous this year, accounting for only three per cent of our student respondents compared with eight per cent last year (see Language Travel Magazine, July 2006, pages 16-17).
Student motivation
Half of all respondents indicated that they currently used English for work purposes, while 28 per cent said they used it for their studies (21 per cent did not reply to this question). Furthermore, 54 per cent of students said they would use English for their current or future work - the same percentage that was recorded last year. However, the number of students intending to continue their studies at a university in South Africa increased from 12 per cent to 16 per cent owing perhaps to a greater ratio of students from other African countries. Closer analysis of the survey results revealed that 71 per cent of students who gave this answer were indeed African.
Student enrolment
Agent enrolments were lower this year; in 2006, 42 per cent of students first heard about their programme through an agent, and 49 per cent actually booked using one, while this year the figures were 34 and 42 per cent respectively. The high proportion of African students at South African language schools may have contributed to this as agent usage amongst this group was relatively low (11 per cent) compared with, for example, Latin Americans where 70 per cent booked through an agent.
Standard of the schools
This year, 91 per cent of students polled indicated that their teachers were excellent or good, and 75 per cent said the same of their academic programmes. Class sizes ranged from two to 13 students, averaging out at just under eight students per class. When asked what they thought of their class size, just 13 per cent indicated that there were too many students in their class. A further six per cent of students, mainly Swiss and Germans, said there were too many students who spoke their own language. When asked if they would recommend their school to others, 90 per cent said that they would and seven per cent said they would not (three per cent, however, did not answer).
Living in South Africa
A warm climate and an attractive culture appealed greatly to students, as did countryside, which rated the number-one draw, followed by language, then people and culture. A low cost of living also appealed to many. In fact, 14 per cent of students said they had chosen South Africa because of price. Overall, 44 per cent of students found the cost of living to be lower than in their own countries of origin, 83 per cent of which were Western Europeans.
Thank you to the following schools for participating in our survey:
Cape Communication Centre, Cape Town; Cape Studies Language School, Cape Town; Cape Town School of English, Cape Town; Eurocentres, Cape Town; Geos, Cape Town; Good Hope Studies; Cape Town; Interlink School of Languages, Cape Town; Language Lab, Johannesburg; South African School of English, Cape Town; The International English School, Somerset West; Wits Language School, Johannesburg
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Contact any advertiser in the this issue now
The following language schools, associations and accommodation providers advertised in the latest edition of Language Travel Magazine. If you would like more information on any of these advertisers, tick the relevant boxes, fill out your details and send.
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