Cambridge Exam Preparation - Power

Vancouver is really a nice city in Canada and because of the location of both campus and residence were in downtown, I did enjoy my stay in Vancouver. As far as I am concerned, you'd better choose business class instead of regular class because some friends of mine told me they feel bored in their regular class sometimes.

Senior teachers, excellent structure, follow-up through biweekly tests, electives 2x per week. The school is the maximum.

I really enjoyed having classes with my teacher Nori, he kept us alert and motivated with his games and challenging questions, my elective class (general vocabulary) could have been better, but I understand people of different levels were together, so maybe ILAC could think of a better format to make Advance learners experience more enjoyable.

The school facilities and location were good and they are well organized. The only problem I had was with my Health Insurance. ILAC and the representative who sold me my course were not aligned, so the school needed insurance document which the representative didn't send. At first, I was really stressed about that, thinking I might have not been covered by insurance, but everything was clarified after a few phone calls.

Housing- I understand homestays need their rules, but when hosting people over 30, they should consider more flexibility, specially when it comes to schedules, rules regarding dinner time, shower time, or what can or cannot be done inside the house.

I felt like a teenager again, but not in a good way.

Location: great, all ILAC buildings are in downtown within walking distance to skytrain station or bus stops.

Facilities: class rooms are very small but okay.

Teachers: The main class teacher for the first two weeks (Anna) and my elective class teacher (Amy) were excellent!

Housing: Okay, but next time I would choose to stay at another host family or at the residence.

Classes:
General English: Very good classes. You get to meet a lot of people and make friends. You learn a lot, but faster.
Business Classes: Excellent. You have to make presentations, etc.
BEST TRICK: You HAVE to find the teacher that fits you. I spent 3 weeks with a bad teacher, then, I changed and found a excellent teacher. Don't waste time with bad teachers.
Teachers: As I sad, there are some excellent teacher and a few bad teachers. You HAVE to find one that fits your personality and expectations.

Location: Could not be better. It is located in the downtown area, near everything.

Facilities: Excellent.

Activities: Great. You can do something different everyday.

Housing: Stayed in a good home stay. But the home-stay mother was traveling and the home-stay father treat me few times without respect. When she came back and everything got better. I heard a lot of friends complaining about home-stay. Most of then are from Philippines and their food is, generally, quite different from everyone else's. So, if you want privacy, do parties at home, variation in food... you should rent an apartment.
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Overall comments: Stayed in ILAC Vancouver for 2 months. I've improved my English A LOT. It's a worthwhile experience. Made a lot of friends, really. Enjoyed a lot. If you have the chance to go to ILAC Vancouver, don't hesitate. The school is excellent! I recommend it 100%.
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Important trick 1: If you don't like your teacher or home-stay family, CHANGE! Especially teacher. Talk with friends and see if they like their teacher. If positive and you don't like yours, don't waste your time.
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Important trick 2: If your English level is high, don't go to international schools. People in this place make the same mistakes and sometimes you spend 6 months studying and you don't improve as fast as you wanted. You should take a course in some university/ another school/ business school/ wherever you'll have contact with native and fluent people. This way you gonna improve your English faster. In International Schools (like ILAC) you are NOT going to have interaction with native speakers!

The classes were very good. I have met a lot of people my age around the world. I learned a lot about their cultures and I made new friends.

Teachers were also competent and graduates, to listen to our needs. The location of the school in downtown Vancouver was perfect!

The facilities were modern and clean. The meetings were good and at a reasonable price for the most part. The club'' ESL'' suggested the meetings and not ILAC. This club was composed entirely of former students who were not necessarily qualified. They would try to sell us their activities by aggressive ways sometimes.

Regarding the family, for a month, I got up in a family with an older person. This person was not bad, but the rooms are in the basement which was very cold. Sometimes it was warmer outside than inside. I asked the school to change my accommodation to which could be done in two weeks, a time far too long in my opinion!

And a few days before my departure, new students arrived in this house. ILAC has not come from the person to solve the problem, and people from home accommodation services had entrusted me having had problems in the past with this person.

Academic English is very useful. On the other hand, I think general English courses are a bit of a waste of time... I tried to make my stay in ILAC longer but the staff didn't show too much interest, so I decided to change schools. The price was also an important factor; I missed any kind of discount after 3 months. I found a school that was offering 2 months for the cost of 1.