Program Reviews

What can I say? Costa Rica is a beautiful country, Tamarindo a gorgeous village with a marvelous beach. The people are very friendly and humorous and Pura Vida is a lifestyle. My family treated me like a member from the first day, and even though rize was daily served, the dishes were still varied and so delicious. The teachers at school are very keen and professional, they could be a little bit stricter in my opinion. The facilities at school are modern, there's a swimming pool on the school area which is pretty cool. As there are numerous things to do, you won't run out of adventurous activities. For me it felt like holidays, I met innumerable new people from all around the world, learned for life, became more mature and learned spanish. To conclude, EF Tamarindo is a life time experience which can easily turn out to be your best time ever!

It was one of the best time I ever had in my life, really ! I met great friends from all over the world and I had so much fun during this experience ! My host family was perfect, no joke ! They were super nice, their house and my room were great and the meals the host mother cooked were awesome ! If you wanna learn Spanish with a great surrounding then you should definitely go there ! All the people are really nice.

Costa Rica is an amazing and beautiful country! Made so many new friends i will carry in my heart forever, learned a lot of spanish and grew personally.

I stayed in a host family close to Tamarindo and they're so nice and caring. The school is beautiful, the teachers and staff are such nice people. Tamarindo is a small beach town but there is lots to do and from here you can go anywhere you want to go so you can visit all the beautiful places and beaches.

I had an amazing experience here and i will never forget my time here and i know i will return one day!

I have had an amazing time during my study at EF Rome. I went to Italy for 6 months hoping I would come back speaking fluently Italian. After my course I can say that I am satisfied with the progress I made.

The school is located in the centre of Rome which makes it easier visiting several places nearby the school. The building is not that big and the quantity of students is around 60, which makes you able to make friends quickly. As well the classrooms are small divided groups and the lessons are often given in an interactive way. They barely give you any homework but still you will make progress quickly because you live the language by listening and speaking. The teachers are really sympathetic and helpful. There is also an activity office, which organizes trips to all different kind of cities in Italy. To give an example, I have been to Venice, Florence, Orvieto, Assisi and many more. Local stores (for example: bars, hairdressers, restaurants) offer discount when you show your EF Student card. In my opinion that has also its benefits.
You can choose living in a residence or in a Hostfamily. I highly recommend living in a host family if you want gain more knowledge about the language and the Italian culture. As well you build up a strong friendship with you roommate from a foreign country. My two roommates were from Japan and Costa Rica and at the end of our course we saw each other as brothers.

Overall, it is a unforgettable experience to learn a new language and make friends who come from all around the world

One day, there was an activity in school to Ventimille. I decided to go, but didn't know we went there by train. Once we arrived in the station, we found the platform, so we went to the platform and for some odd reason the train arrived early. Alex saw it was our train on the screen, so we took it. After 30 min we arrived in the station of Menton. Over there we stopped like a normal stop, but we stayed there a very long time. After 10 minutes Alex assured us it was normal to stay in the station for that long. But then the unthinkable happened, we drove backwards, back in the direction of Nice. Eventually we had to wait for 45 minutes for another train. After all the problems, we finally arrived in Ventimille. Because of the delay, our time in the town was shortened quite a bit. Anyway, we decided to make the most of it and two hours afterwards our return train was scheduled. So all said and done, at 12 pm, when the train was scheduled was still on the big screen without any platform. After another 5 minutes the train just disappeared, so we asked somebody what had happened. Lovely France had decided to go on a strike, so we didn't have a train at that hour. In the end we arrived 1h30 too late and missed our class. So now I decided to never take a French train again.

Before going to Malaga I was in New York and Tokyo so at first I wasn´t really expecting much from the city of Cervantes to be honest. But as soon as I arrived, I realized that this was going to be a lot of fun. The EF school is much smaller than in New York and Tokyo but it´s actually a great point because everybody get together and it´s like we´re a familly. Of course the whole staff is just incredible if you put the effort your spanish skills will increase fast.
Also, the beach is only at 5 minutes by walk from the school and the region of Malaga have so many breathtaking places, natural landscape and iconic places.
Malaga was the perfect place to end this crazy adventure and La Costa Del Sol has nothing to envy to the other places in the world.

I recently just got back from spending 3 amazing weeks at EF Beijing. When i arrived in China i didn't know any Chinese and i was unsure of how much Chinese i could hope to learn in three weeks. The first week of class was a bit overwhelming since we jumped right into reading, writing and speaking in Chinese, but i stuck with it and studied on my own everyday after class. After a week i was caught up to the level of students in the beginner class who had been studying longer than me and at the end of my 3 weeks i'm proud to say that my Chinese language ability has improved enough for me to feel comfortable taking the HSK 2. Aside from the wonderful language program i would also like to say that the residence i stayed in was really great. My roommates were all extremely sweet and helpful and the location was perfect since it was only a 10 minute walk to school and about a 6 minute walk to the beautiful olympic stadium. On the way to school there were various restaurants and i was able to try a different food everyday. The trips were also incredible, ranging from the summer palace to the great wall and even when activities weren't planned, all the students would get together and go somewhere fun. In conclusion i would definitely recommend this program to anyone who is interested in learning Chinese, the school and the students are fantastic and living in Beijing was truly an experience of a lifetime :)

When I arrived in Berlin, I had no idea what to expect. I knew zero German besides "Guten Tag" and had never traveled by myself before. At eighteen years old, I had just graduated high school from a very small town where I knew everyone. The idea of meeting hundreds of new people in the span of six months all coming from different cultures was mind boggling to me but I am so thankful I decided to come here. Coming to Berlin with EF was the best decision of my life. I have met some of the most amazing people and have made lifelong friends with people all over the world. I have learned more about myself in six months than I knew my whole life. In the US, gap years are not very common. Many people questioned why I didn't just do the typical thing and go straight to college. However, every American here has the same feeling I do and knows they made the right choice. Now I'll get to the specifics. I live in the EF residence which means I live with other EF students. There are other students who live in host families. Those who live in host families do have a more genuine cultural "immersion" since they must speak German to their families at home and get to learn about German culture from actual Germans. However, students living in host families can live up to one hour from the school so it can be slightly restricting when going out with friends (however most of my friends are from host families and still go out plenty). The school is full immersion meaning German is the only language spoken in school which is pretty intimidating if you come in knowing zero German like me. However, this forces you to pick up the language basics very quickly. The residence and school are really in the center of Berlin. The residence is right beside the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and only a minute's walk from the Brandenburg Gate and Tiergarten. Since it is in the center it is also easy to get anywhere in Berlin with the Ubahn system. Ef really gives you a lot of independence and freedom. They also bring you on occasional trips. For example, I got to go to Barcelona my second month with the school. There is a huge variety of people that come to EF Berlin and there are always waves of new people coming into the school which is always really exciting. Overall, I am very happy with my decision to come to Berlin with Education First.

I was already living in France before I went to Paris with EF. I was spending five months in Bretagne, and had a two week vacation from school. I decided I wanted to see Paris, so I did so with EF. I was familiar with EF because my mother used to work in the AuPair program, and knew someone who worked at the school in Paris.

I had been to Paris before, but being there with people from all over the world was amazing. My only piece of advice would be, LIVE WITH A FAMILY. If you really want to learn a new language, the only way to do it is living with a family and completely immersing yourself. That's not saying that the residential accomodations were bad, it's just, everyone speaks english, or whatever native language they speak. Since I was already pretty satisfied with my proficiancy in french, I was fine, and it was amazing living with so many different people.

The school is very new and modern, and I thought all the profs were awesome! The structures of the classes were also very nice, interactive and interesting.

Thank you EF!

I think the titlle sums up my review pretty well. I went to EF Playa Tamarindo in Costa Rica for 6 months and so far these are the best 6 months of my life. I learnt so much from the staff, the locals and the other students of course. I don t know if it is due to to sun but everyone here is cheerful and always wears a smile alongside their bikini ! I came with a low level of Spanish (A1) and after half a year thanks to the amazing teachers with whom I spoke outside of classroom too and the incredible family I lived with, I graduated in B2 which is almost fluent. I am very greatful and I totally recommend taking a few months to escape reality and routine to come and discover a new culture ; it was amazing.