Program Reviews

Spent almost 2 months in Paris with EF and it was a time well spent during my Gap Year! Made friends from all over the globe that taught me their countries traditions and such. The staff were so friendly and after the first day I felt so comfortable with the school. Everyone there was so nice and we all became close very quickly. My French prior to arriving was so basic and I knew almost nothing. At the end, I left Paris being able to have a full convo with any French local. Its a great opportunity to go if you have the chance! I came back with more knowledge than just the French language.

I had a great week in Costa Rica! Due to travel restrictions, I had to change my original plan and only stayed for a week. While it was hard to get support from the staff at first, Alexis from the EF team reached out and was a huge help! And, everything at the school was excellent. I had a wonderful homestay and Miquel was an awesome Spanish teacher. The city was beautiful and it was great to meet people from all wound the world. Plus, for those with more time to stay, the school arranges many fun activities in Tamarindo and around Costa Rica.

Sent our daughter with EF to Seoul, South Korea for a 3 month program. She traveled when she was 16 and turned 17 while there. Excellent language instruction, excellent home stay, great pre and during information and contact. Even during COVID the program felt extremely safe and well supported. Any concerns or questions we had were answered to our satisfaction in a timely manner. We would 100% recommend EF to everyone and will use them in the future for another trip or with our other children. Thank you EF staff!!!

I went with EF for 6 months to Tokyo in Japan and I had a great time. Japan is an interesting country with many beautiful sites to see with a beautiful language and culture to learn about. Since I was there when Corona broke out, I did not go to all the places I wanted and many things did change/happen, but the school can't be blamed for that.
Overall, even with Corona, I had a very smooth trip.

School:
The teachers at the school are very good at what they do. The classes are immersion style classes so the class is conducted fully in Japanese which can take some time getting used to if you are an absolute beginner, but the teachers, staff and the other students are extremely helpful and friendly if you need help. The teachers also make an effort to plan activities that are more interactive so you do not just have to sit and listen for an extended amount of time (but there are some days where that is the case). The other school staff also are very friendly and can all speak English so if you are having a hard time or something is bothering you, you are able to speak to them comfortably.

Accommodation:
I personally decided to live at the Residence instead of a host family. The residence is not owned by EF instead EF works with the residence to reserve rooms for EF students. Due to this, you get to meet many different people if you live there as other foreigners live there as well as native Japanese. I found the residence to be a lot of fun as you are surrounded by your friends and you have as much freedom as you want. The RAs are very helpful if you have any issues regarding residency. The downside, however, is that you do everything by yourself like buy or cook your own meals, buy your own bath products, clean up after yourself, etc so I would recommend the residence for those that are able to take care of themselves. Another thing to note is that it is sometimes to connect with the native Japanese that live there due to language and culture barrier, but eventually they warm up to you if you keep trying.

Activities:
Tokyo is a busy and exciting city so there was always somewhere to go, something new to see, or something new to try. The school also has activities planned everyday and those range from TeamLabs museum to visiting the shrine from "Your Name" so I would recommend trying to go to those if you are interested. Outside of those, the upper class men usually can recommend places to go to or you can just grab your friends and go spontaneously.

People:
All the students and school staff are so open and friendly. It is very easy to make friends with others even if you are more introverted. Also most students are from different countries around the world so you are able to learn a lot about different cultures along with Japanese culture. Japanese people can be a bit cold and standoffish which is just how their culture is sometimes, but mostly they will be nice to you.

My time in EF was very unique, as I stayed there in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that hit Spain pretty hard at the beginning. My first month and a half was the normal EF experience, and it was wonderful. The classes were of great quality, and EF was always very helpful with anything I needed. Then the pandemic arrived and most of the students left, however I stayed and was able to still have a good experience first in the Residence, and then later in a host family. We had online classes the rest of my time, and they worked very well. I ended up graduating from EF with a C1 in Spanish!

I went to Malaga for a month through EF, and it was an incredible time! The teachers were all amazing, and very kind! EF definitely is a lot about making money, but that didn’t effect my trip as much as others. Overall it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I had a host family, and they were incredibly sweet and accommodating. I am very happy I chose the host family because it definitely helped me learn much faster since I was much more immersed in the culture and language.

This was definitely something I’ll never forget! Everything from the school to the Seoul experiences was absolutely amazing . When I first arrived to Incheon airport the driver was waiting for me so patiently. (My flight was delay 7 hours) Getting around is so simple due to the amazing transportation system. I made it to the school my first day with no problems. The teachers were all really great ! They all took the time to make sure each student understood what was going on in the class . If your of age the night life is so awesome!

I studies abroad for a short term in Seoul, and I changed the way I look at my world. I feel like I havent left the city there and I will forever look back on that trip as one of the best times of my life. My host family was amazing, they really do care about who they pick to house students and it shows. The classes were amazing, the only thing I'd change would be making it a more set schedule and maybe more outside activities, but aside from that there is nothing else I would have changed. I do plan to travel again with EF and highly recommend you do as well!

The EF program was very informative and from the beginning, the staff was extremely helpful. I immediately felt at home with my host family and even though communication was a challenge at first, my classes taught me useful grammatical skills that I could practice at home and in daily conversations outside of school. I made lasting friendships with people from all around the world. The city was gorgeous and there are so many opportunities of travel. It is a place that honestly suits any person; whether you’re into partying or touring castles. Even if you get bored with the Nice itself, the train is extremely accessible, so you could easily take yourself to somewhere like Monaco or Cannes with only a 30 minute train ride.

The scores I posted are based on our sons response. EF was very helpful in the pre trip arrangements from registration to numerous questions we had and making sure he was met at the Liberia airport. The host family was very nice and the food was good. The content of the actual class was good as he had minimum knowledge of Spanish and he came away with more vocabulary and was able to make himself understood in conversation with his Mother. Overall we are are happy with his experience and we think he had fun while there.