Gloria English School is a large "buxiban" or "cram school". The students come to GES to further improve their English after they've completed their school day at their regular kindergarten, elementary school, middle school or high school. Students range in age from as young as 5 or 6 years old, all the way through university. The majority of students are in elementary school, middle school and high school. Classes vary in size, but average about 16 students. Each class is an hour and a half or two hours long, with a ten minute break in the middle. Students come for class twice a week (for example, on Monday from 5:00-7:00pm and on Thursday from 5:00-7:00pm.) On the first day, you teach the class with a Taiwanese co-teacher. On the second day, the Taiwanese teacher teaches the class alone. You don't need to understand any Mandarin Chinese because the Taiwanese teacher is always available in the classroom to help translate anything that needs to be translated. But in general, foreign teachers are able to do just fine conveying the material to the students on their own using simple English, gestures, pictures on the whiteboard and role-plays with the Taiwanese co-teacher.
The main focus of GES is that the kids HAVE FUN learning English. The classroom atmosphere is generally enthusiastic, laid-back, and cheerful. Taiwanese students are in general hard-working, attentive, polite, inquisitive and eager to please. Most foreigners find them to be shy at first, but after a few classes they lose their inhibitions and become very active and animated.