Program Reviews

Great program! It is useful to get a hang of the basics of hiragana before coming, but not at all necessary. I recommend taking advantage of the SIM cards offered on the first day, since getting around and contacting friends is much easier that way. Don’t be shy when meeting people, they are all really friendly and patient even with very limited Japanese! Services are very nice, and it’s been a great experience so far!

I really wanted to study abroad and take the JLPT. I was told I would be placed in a class with other adults, I was not. I was told I would not be living far from the school, I was a 1hr and 20mins away. I was told I would be living with a Japanese family, I did not. I was told I would be able to take the JLPT and take prep courses for it, I wasn’t. The courses are fine I guess if you already know some japanese, don’t mind speed courses and are a college kid burning your school vacation. My teacher did not speak English well so answering her students questions was often difficult. Leaving many of us to change classes or be confused most of class. There are NO classes for adults at this location, only immature teens and young adults. So if you prefer to take classes with working professionals or atleast people 30 and older forget it. A lot of things weren’t explained to me upon signing up and I didn’t realize this until after a few weeks in so I wasn’t pleased with quite a few things. Not to mention once I was done with the program the administration and agents that signed me up seemed wash their hands of me and not respond to my questions.

I was very excited to go to Barcelona and study abroad. My friend went through a different program and enjoyed it a lot. My Spanish improved so much and I 100% think this was a valuable experience and recommend others to study abroad. (Learning Spanish was more of a result of being in Spain not at all a result of taking those un engaging classes with bad teachers)
Having said that I have come to the conclusion that, from what I experienced during my stay, the EF program in Barcelona is unorganized, the staff are rude, and the host moms, which I spoke to(I can't speak for ones I have not met or heard about), are uneducated and rude as well. I am not saying all of their locations are like this but the interactions I had with the Ef staff in Barcelona were atrocious. They would most definetly be unqualified to work in the U.S. for speaking to customers the way they do. Not only that but I was shocked because they were complete liars. They would say anything to save their behinds and made up stories when people complained. I do not believe they were qualified for their jobs one bit as they are rude, close minded, and untrustworthy.
As much as my experience with the staff was atrocious that wasn't the worst part, and it is probably unusual as most kids just pass through the program and are simply given fake smiles. The worst part was how obviously unorganized the program was. Most host parents were not even parents. Some where just men or young women who lived alone and were never home. My host mom was not a native spanish speaker and had such a thick accent I could barely understand her. She also did not know anything about the culture and therefore it was not a "cultural experience". I spoke to many people who were there with me in Barcelona(from all over the world) and many had problems with the program and their host "families". Some were left alone to do what ever they wanted sometimes as their host "parent" would go out clubbing. One of my friends was not even fed for a few days and was forced to buy her own food(the program is expensive and includes meals). Everyone I had talked to who was vegetarian arrived at the house to find out that the host family didn't even know! My host mom did not even know how to cook for my roommate and me and due to this we wasted so much money on our own food. Her boyfriend also smoked in the bathroom and the house would reek and I had an allergic reaction to the smoke.
Over all I recommend going to Spain just not through EF. My close friend loved her program and even talks to them today! There are great programs out there- this is not one of them.

I was with EF paris for around 5 months, and I had a very good time:) I made a lot of friends, learned a lot of french and had a experience which i will remember for a life time. After my stay,ive decided to study here because EF gave me such a good time! I recommend EF Paris very very much; if you like to meet new people and experience something different:D Thank you, everyone at EF for this experience!!!!!

The community that EF attracts is an eclectic bunch of curious and international students who can all relate over the shared goal of practicing French, learning about eachother's cultures, and exploring Paris and neighboring countries. I felt immediately very welcomed, and am excited to come to school everyday. The teacher's are amazing!! They're friendly, sociable, easy to joke with, and really good at making a hard language fun and easy to learn! The activity team is youthful, relatable, and very helpful for whatever your needs may be, and trust me, you're going to have some weird questions. I am so grateful I was able to come here!! I would suggest student's live in residence or their own apartement.

As long as I’ve been here I can totally say that I’ve been having the best time of my life, people in school are great, the staff is amazing there always there for you, very supportive all the time.
I also feel that I’ve learned so much French since I got here, I like the classes very much, I think they found a really creative way of teaching and by that I mean that you’re never bored in class and all that stuff.
Honestly I would say that I made the best choice by coming to this school. No doubt.

I think that EF is a really great way to be a part of an international community while immersing yourself in French culture. The staff at EF really care about your experience being enjoyable and they make you feel at home. You can really see your progress in class and when talking with your host family. With EF you will have a home base in the center of the city to conquer the language and learn all about Paris.

My stay at EF has so far been very great. I am staying in Paris in the semester 17/18. The school is located right in the center of Paris which is super nice. All the other students are very friendly and so far I've made many friends and feel very much at home in Paris. The thing that stands out for my is how fast you make friends, before i came i was very scared about not making friends, but all of my worries has definetly not been redemed. My french is also improving a lot and i can tell that I'm learning new things everyday.

EF and just Tokyo in general keep suprising me, I feel like I'm learning an extreme amount while I'm still able to keep up. the only complaint I have is ha the classes could use a break in between them cause 80 min x 2 is hard for your concentration level. Japan itself is wonderful and the people too, I would love to go again! All the friends I made are awesome and we allread have plans to meet up outside of Japan, If you want to learn japanese while having a great time. Absolutely go here!

I’m writing this review after going to ef-tokyo for 6 weeks. So far I’ve had a great time. Tokyo is such a huge city, so I’ve always had something to do. Everyday i’ve been here, I’ve gone to a different part of the city, or engaged in some kind of activity. The EF staff organize a lot of interesting and fun activities that I frequently joined, especially in the beginning. As I got more familiar with the city I started exploring more and more in my own and with friends. I’m staying with a host family, and the family lives rather far away, as it can take over an hour to get to school by train. However, the family is very friendly and talking Japanese with them is a good way to practice what we have learned in class. The classes are quiet good, with the general class covering most grammar and other classes that you can choose yourself covers more specific stuff. I currently have general classes, kanji, reading and shodo (calligraphy) classes. These classes suits me very well because one of my primary goals is to be able to read. I’m staying for 8 months total and I’m ver much looking forward to the rest of my stay here because I know that I won’t be bored and that I’ll learn a lot!