Feedback Ireland

Ireland feedback at a glance

Total number of students: female 46, male 53 (unknown 1) 100 Average age in years: 25.4 Average length of programme in weeks: 13.6 Average number of students in class: 8.1 Average number of hours' language tuition per week: 18.4 % of students who found their course through an agent: 35 % of students who booked through an agent or adviser: 37 % of students who had been on another lang. programme: 30 % of students who would recommend their school: 78

Respondents by world region of origin		Top nationalities
W Europe (45%) Asia (26%) C & E Europe (9%) Latin America (17%) Africa (1%) Unknown (2%)		1. Spanish 19% 2. Brazilian 16% 3. Korean 14% 4. Chinese 9% 4. Swiss 9% 6. Italian 7% 7. Polish 6% 8. Austrian 3% 8. French 3% 8. German 3%

In my class there are...		How will you use your Engish in the future?
Too many students (11%) Too many students of my language (22%) Too many students from one other countries (15%) None of these (49%) Unknown (3%)		Coll. study in Ireland (2%) Coll. study elsewhere (12%) College study at home (19%) Current or future work (64%) For pleasure only (3%)

How did you find your programme?		Standard of the teaching
1. II found it on the Internet (36%) 2. It was recommended by an agent (35%) 3. It was recommended by a friend/relative (24%) 4. I saw it advertised (3%) Unknown (2%)		Excellent (42%) Good (35%) Satisfactory (12%) Poor (3%) Unsatisfactory (3%) Unknown (5%)

Standard of your academic programme		What is your accomodation while in Ireland?
Excellent (17%) Good (39%) Satisfactory (19%) Poor (11%) Unsatisfactory (4%) Unknown (10%)		Host family (30%) Residential/single room (32%) Residential/dormitory (8%) Other (28%) Unknownr(2%)

Standard of your social programme?		Standard of your accommodation
Excellent (21%) Good (26%) Satisfactory (24%) Poor (14%) Unsatisfactory (1%) Unknown (14%)		Excellent (24%) Good (33%) Satisfactory (17%) Poor (8%) Unsatisfactory (3%) Unknown (15%)

Did you book your course through an agent or an educational adviser?
Yes (37%) No (53%) Unknown (10%)

Before looking for your course, did you know where you wanted to study?
Country Yes (62%) No (29%) Unknown (9%) City/town Yes (44%) No (48%) Unknown (9%)		School Yes (35%) No (58%) Unknown (7%)

Student nationality
Ireland is attracting a greater number of Latin American students as evidenced by this issue’s Feedback survey. This year, 17 per cent of students came from Latin America, compared with only one per cent last year (see Language Travel Magazine, November 2006, pages 20-21). This was largely made up of Brazilians, who accounted for 17 per cent of total respondents, propelling them into second place in the table of top nationalities. Western Europe’s share slipped from 65 per cent last year to 45 per cent this year, while Asia dropped slightly from 29 per cent to 26 per cent. Spaniards continue to make up the largest nationality group at the language schools that took part in our survey, accounting for 19 per cent of students, although this was down from 27 per cent last year. In third place were Koreans with 14 per cent, up by seven percentage points on the previous year. Interestingly, Japanese students, who were in second place last year, with 10 per cent, did not feature in the top 10 nationality table this year.

Student motivation
The reason why the majority of students (64 per cent) were learning English was for their current or future work. This was up from 45 per cent last year. Learning English for their studies was slightly less important this year: only 33 per cent of students were learning English for future studies in Ireland, at home or in another English-speaking country, compared with 51 per cent in our previous survey. This is in spite of the fact that 46 per cent of respondents gave their occupation as university student, and the average age was relatively low at just over 25 years. The average length of stay, however, has jumped from 7.3 weeks last year to 13.6 weeks, which may be owing to the fact that Ireland is attracting a greater proportion of students from long-haul destinations.

Student enrolment
While slightly more students this year 35 per cent compared with 30 per cent – first found out about their school through an agent or educational adviser, the actual proportion of students who booked through an agent dropped from 43 per cent to 37 per cent. When we asked students why they had chosen their schools, apart from personal endorsement from a friend, family member or agent, the fact that a school had small classes was one of the decisive factors, followed by the small size of the school and the relatively low cost of tuition.

Standard of the schools
Six per cent of respondents thought there were too many students in their class, all of whom were in classes of seven to 15 students. Among those who said there were too many students of one nationality, this included 56 per cent of our Brazilian respondents and 32 per cent of Spaniards. The standard of the teaching was deemed at least satisfactory by 89 per cent of students with 75 per cent saying the same about the academic programme, and 71 per cent of the standard of their social programmes.

Living in Ireland
This year, 70 per cent of of students found the cost of living to be higher in Ireland than in their home countries. This included 86 per cent of Koreans, 84 per cent of Spaniards and 69 per cent Brazilians. In addition, no students found it very easy to practise their language skills with native speakers, although 36 per cent indicated that they found it quite easy to do so.