Program Reviews

My daughter spent 4 weeks in Munich. Her host family was a 45 minute train ride to the class each day. I thought she would have a roommate in her age group and also assumed there would be more of a "part of the family" feel. She was in a home where the students were in and out, some staying only for days. My 14 roomed with an 18 yo for a few nights, sometimes there were male students in the home as well. No real family "feel". In fact when we came to the home to pick her up, gift in hand, we weren't even invited in! Instead we were asked to wait at the door and out came our daughter! During the evenings there was very little supervision, many of the 14 and 15 yos drank beer. In fact my daughter was given her first beer under EF's supervision! She also was "courted" by a few different boys and once again, much less supervision than I am accustomed to. Needless to say, things did not go well. One evening my daughter got on the wrong train going home from an unsupervised event, took the wrong train and was lost in the city. She lost her phone and borrowed a strangers phone to call for help. She got back at 2 am! When I needed to call the emergency number...it didn't work! They apologized but the damage was already done. Mydaughter saw a lot of Munich, not sure how much language she learned, but she speaks more easily and quicker so I suppose she learned enough. I would NEVER go back to EF, as I am not comfortable with the oversight, and I would worry for the safety of my daughter

Translation from Spanish: The great experience of spending 15 days in Paris was overshadowed by the great SCAM and incoordination of EF, which ended up sending us to a 2-star hotel with BUGS and no alternatives. I'm not exaggerating.

Next I count it step by step:

This trip to Paris to learn French was a gift from my son to my niece and to me, knowing the great illusion that would make us. During the reservation process in Spain, we were informed about the EF residence where we would stay, with kitchen, common areas and very good looks. We fly to Paris with all the illusion of the world to spend the first half of July and what is our surprise to discover once there, that the residence is saturated and they will redirect us to a hotel. The “surprise” becomes perplexed when we see the state and conditions of this 2-star “Jeff” hotel and the room they give us: a fourth floor with a narrow spiral staircase that had a ridiculous elevator with room for 1 person and highly claustrophobic. Therefore, and despite my arthritis, we did not even use it because it gave me no confidence.

But the big bomb arrives in class, when they tell us that we cannot return to the hotel all day (without prior notice to collect our things, stored in the suitcases in any way by the cleaning ladies) because there was a BUG INFECTION in the hotel and they had to spray.

At that time I lost my patience and went with my niece to the address, to ask how it is logical that please change us to the official Residence, which was what was advertised when the course was paid. They tell us that it is impossible, so we are helpless in the face of the problem. I do not want to worry my family and we endure the return to the hotel with the corresponding fear and disgust of the plague of bed bugs. This makes us sleep very uncomfortable, waking up and not being focused on the course we wanted to learn.

And this does not end there. In 3 different days this scenario was repeated in which we cannot return to the hotel all day for anti-bed bug treatments, even with the appearance of bites and a student's hospital visit.

I had the opportunity to visit the residence and verify that they do have a kitchen, a normal elevator and, above all, hygiene.

As we did not have a kitchen, we were forced to eat out all the time, with the corresponding expense of money that implies, also in a city that is not cheap. We went with the idea of ​​having the advantage they enjoyed in the Residence of being able to buy, store, and cook our own food.

I don't have anything bad to say about teaching and teaching at school.
The teachers are of excellent quality and impeccable class education, a great dedication for all their professionals.

However, the schedules were not what they said in Madrid, where they assured us that the classes would be at 8 in the morning and from noon we would be free. At the end each day we had a different schedule, and also classes until 6 in the afternoon. In addition, the excursions were not coordinated with most of the classes, so in order to go you had to miss class.

In conclusion, the teaching is of quality, but the organization of EF is a DISASTER. From the beginning there has been great false advertising. We were not even mentioned the possibility of sending us to a place other than the residence, much less Jeff, a hotel that had nothing to do with the conditions of the official Residence, in which we were in fourth-floor rooms, with a Indecent and most outrageous elevator, infected with bed bugs.

It is not fair to pay for services that are supposed to offer and we find this amount of nonsense, which when we complained we were not given any kind of solution or compensation.

On the last night of our stay, the roommate next door cried to our room, because she went to get a bag and a bed bug fell on her shoulder. He spent the night in our room with a phobia attack. By the way, she intended to stay a month, but has gone to Malaga back, because they did not seek a solution to the problem.

Regarding the hotel receptionist and the person in charge of us at the hotel, they did what they could to please, but the solution was not in their hands.

Too bad for not being able to take advantage of and enjoy the excellence of the classes for being worried about something unnecessary and that it did not correspond to us as it is everything mentioned before.

Back in Spain, I have the conviction that EF takes advantage of the young age and inexperience of most of his students to deceive them in this way. However, I was an exception because at my 58 years I was fortunate to be able to travel to Paris for 15 days, and I was able to realize everything that happened.

I am not a particularly demanding person. Some of the problems that I have mentioned such as the disorganization of schedules or the lack of cooking can be compensated with the quality of teaching and the great experience of being in a city like Paris for a few days. Even the inability to go to the residence could have been resolved by sending us to decent accommodation, or attending to our request once the situation in the hotel became embarrassing. BUT NOTHING!

The saddest thing is that the problem of this hotel, looking for information, we know that they have it since 2017, it is in the networks. And EF knows it. My complaint is to the organization and responsible for EF. It is a shame after the money paid for everyone to go crazy and keep fooling people selling an experience that is not real.

Ana María López Martín

My daughter and a friend just returned from two weeks as Junior students in Malaga. We were sold on the fact that the program was going to improve their Spanish via leveled courses, yet upon arrival, all the students were placed in a single level Spanish (many students had never spoken a word). Do not expect any significant Spanish learning. If you are true beginner, this would be a fine program. We had told EF ahead of time that our girls had completed two years of high school Spanish.

The girls were placed initially with a host mother and her 15 year old daughter. Two days before departure, we discovered upon looking at the girls' online profiles (we were not notified by anyone at EF) that for some unknown reason, that host family had backed out. Instead the girls were placed with a young single woman (early 30s perhaps), who was nice upon initial meeting, but had no interest in conversing or spending any time with them. She ate once with the girls over the two week, and otherwise, went out each evening to the beach, leaving them unsupported. One night she left them alone overnight, claiming she had an emergency. We did not expect our 14 year old to be unchaperoned in a foreign country. EF never really accepted responsibility for the situation, in our opinion.

I've spent almost half an year in EF Nice and it was a nice experience. Many things didn't go well. I was very disappointed for the first weeks. The staffs in different countries don't communicate properly. I had to wait for hours in the Airport Nice for someone to pick me up and that was horrible! They told me that they were not informed about my Transfer. The classes were very unprofessional. They put me in a completely wrong class and I didn't understand anything they were teaching. And it took them 1 week to change the class. Also the host Family was really bad! It was tooo far away from the School and on the first day after class I couldn't get home. But they immediately changed the host Family for me. After the first month, everything went really good. I loved the students and the staffs, they were sooo friendly! I was a beginner and after Ive finished the course, I could speak without any big effort. They organize many activities, especially in summer. And ofcourse the places there are soo beautiful. Also there are really good clubs, but the drinks are very expensive. OVERALL IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE. But I will not go with EF the next time, because their prices are very high and their courses are not intensive and good enough for exam preparations.

I enjoyed every waking moment at EF Seoul. It was the best trip I decided to take and I wish I could go back already. I learned so much in my time and I didn’t expect to learn as much as I did in such little time. The teachers are very patient, understanding, and hilarious. The experience as a whole was just outstanding from the food, all the way to the cultural experience and location. TAKE THIS TRIP! Don’t wait. Whether you choose a host family or stay in the residence, you will enjoy it either way. The residence has 4 convenience store and countless restraints in walking distance, not to mention a stove and fridge in your room. The bus stop and train station is no more than a 5 min walk away, so when you travel you don’t have to walk too far to get to a station!

I would have to say this was quite frankly one of the best traveling experiences I’ve had. It was my first time traveling alone and going all the way to Seoul, across the world, was a HUGE step but everything turned out great! The campus is fun, the teachers are great and very accommodating, the activities are always amazing, etc. The classes are quite interesting and always educational. I also had the honor of staying in a host family and they were super nice and friendly. I made new friends and new memories. A very great place if interested in night time photography as all the lights and streets (popular ones anyways) are bright and alive. The food is amazing! I got to try many of the foods I only ever dreamt of eating. Not only that but the teachers and advisors are so helpful when looking for good, affordable food. Never be afraid to ask for help and recommendations. Overall an A+ of a trip :D.

I had spent 5 weeks in Paris during my winter break and I had an absolute blast. Yes there was mishaps and ups & downs, but I made the most of it with the time and money I was given. I had planned and paid for this entire trip myself and it was really up to me on what i did. I made friends the very first day and we are still in touch even months later! Exploring the city every night after class and creating unforgettable moments was definitely my favorite part. My french had improved greatly and I really took away a lot with the language and culture once I came back home. Thankfully I had an amazing host family who were caring and welcomed me with opened arms. EF provided me with my first study abroad experience and I can’t wait for many more!

It was actually the best experience of my life, because i met incredible people and of course because i learned French. Also if you have any problem, there's people that will always try to help you no matter what (Activity staff). Paris it's beautiful city where you never going to find yourself bored, you can find amazing restaurants, museums, clubs, parks and monuments. One of the things i liked the most and at the beginning i wasn't expecting is that there's a powerful mix of cultures, what i mean is that you will meet people from different countries and that will open your mind and teach a lot of things.
I recommend this program to people that want to do a real change in life, not only to learn or progress in the language, but also to know yourself more and live the most beautiful experience in your life.

I studied at EF Tokyo over the summer for three weeks. Compared to other language schools in Tokyo, EF is egregiously overpriced. For the price you pay for a month at EF, you could get 2-3 months at another school of equal or better quality.

Riisa-sensei, my teacher for two weeks, was fantastic. Some other teachers seemed inexperienced, but teaching quality for the most part was good. My class moved through material at an extremely slow pace, however, so don't come to EF if your goal is to learn as much Japanese as you can.

Activities were alright. Most of them are not free. You pay for them using "activity credits" that you purchase. These activities range from museum visits to weekend trips, and are usually quite pricey.

I stayed in the "EF Residence" in Tama-plaza. Please be aware that EF does not own this building -- it's a share-house with rooms that can be rented by anyone. The quality of the accommodation was quite poor. I stayed in a bunk bed room that only had one tiny desk and one dresser for both my roommate and I. When I arrived, my bed was dirty and had food scraps on it. Thankfully, I didn't spend much time in my room.

The best part of EF was the people I met -- I made great friends with like-minded people from all over the world, some of which I still keep in contact with. With the friends I made from EF, I went on a weekend trip to Kyoto and climbed Mt. Fuji. I will forever cherish the memories I made in Tokyo last summer.

Despite its shortcomings, EF Tokyo is a good way to get your first taste of Japan. However, I would look at other programs with better value is the cost is too high.

I have always been interested in Japan, both in the language and its culture. I discovered anime in elementary school and have been hooked ever since and I was able to take Japanese classes for four years at my highschool but I wanted to become fluent so I convinced my parents to let me study abraod in Japan in the summer of my Junior year. It was honestly the best summer of my life. I met so many people from all over the world who shared the same interest as me and I became so close with my roommate and a few other guys in the program and the four of us went around Tokyo together for the time we were there. The experience of being alone in a foreign country may be a bit scary and too much but it is honestly great once you get used to it. I went with knowledge on the language but my roommate and my other friends went with absolutely no knowledge, maybe a couple of words from anime but that's all and they were able to adapt just fine. This program also set me up with an extremely nice and welcoming family just outside of the city and I had an amazing experience there. The best part about Japan is the food, it was just amazing. Where I'm from, 7-11 is a cheap snack store that's usually always empty but in Japan, it is totally different. The 7-11s there have so much variety in their foods, they have boxed lunches that taste great and onigiri in so many different flavors and so many different types of ramen. I go to a 7-11 near my host family every morning to grab breakfast which usually consists of a bottled milk tea and one or two onigiris, usually salmon. I would often go to the Family Mart (another convenience store) for lunch at the EF campus. Restaurants in Japan are also so cool, there are conveyor belt sushis and it is super delicious and affordable. Japan also have amazing places filled with trendy fashion stores and sweets like Harajuku. It was amazingly crowded I literally got pushed around the street because the crowd was moving me forward. It was a very different but fun experience. Beware though, the trains during rush hour in the morning and in the evenings are crazy, I honestly was squished from all sides every morning when I go to class and every evening when I go home. This program is definitely worth it if you want to learn a language in a country you've never been to before.