3-6 month English course for working foreigner in Singapore

[brifusg]

Hi there,

My relative would like to come to Singapore to attend a short English course (3 to 6 months of length). He is currently working and really wants to improve his speaking & listening skills. Would anyone be able to recommend me such any course? Things I'd like to know are: fee, teaching quality.

Many thanks in advance.

[VJ]

RELC and British council provide English courses. You can check their websites. But they can be quite pricey. Alternatively, your friend can engage a private tutor to help with the English. I might be able to help your friend on this.

[Wind In My Hair]

it always amuses me that people come to singapore to learn english. i guess it's because english is more widely used here compared to other countries in the region, but the quality of the spoken language is questionable in many cases.

really wants to improve his speaking & listening skills.

if that's the case then my recommendation is to make sure the tutor is a 'native speaker' as they call it here. the british council would be a good bet. also, listening to the BBC radio channel is a cheaper and more convenient alternative! (yes yes, i obviously have a british bias when it comes to spoken english.)

as a singaporean myself i have to warn you that many singaporean english teachers mispronounce words like 'opportunity' and 'economic' and 'pronunciation', and don't always have good grammar. of course there are some excellent ones but your relative probably wouldn't know enough to differentiate. and language is one of those things where bad habits are hard to change. so make sure your relative doesn't unwittingly learn singlish and think it's english!

[earthfriendly]

Is your relative interested in learning English or Singlish ?

If he plans to eventually settle down in SG, Singlish is the way to go. However. if he plans to live in other country, English is a better choice.

[dot dot dot]

Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

EF, how could one recommend to master the singlish dialect...

Even when here in Singapore, please refrain from it, it is cute to hear and one can have a good laugh, but it is awful at the same time.

Don't teach the evil...

Eric

[Kats_]

also, listening to the BBC radio channel is a cheaper and more convenient alternative! (yes yes, i obviously have a british bias when it comes to spoken english.)

BBC! Good suggestion - you will be updated with the news as well at the same time. It is almost always in the background at mine.

Oh and same here ....I am a sucker for British accents and big gaint brains.

[Baron Greenback]

There are lots of places that teach English here, your friend needs to first decide whether they want a recognised qualification or just some help. Then I would consider budget & location.

English is a hard language to learn "by the book" as there are more exceptions to the rules than rules themselves. Listening to the BBC & watching English tv & films is a good start but won't teach you the nuts & bolts of the language - the common mistakes, the phrasal verbs and slang words.

I wish them the best of luck. (I have heard that there is a good English teacher at Informatics )

[earthfriendly]

Eric, I was doing it tongue-in-cheek and should have added the appropriate emoticons. I also forgot to about constructive information for OP.

The only institution that I am aware of that teaches English that stresses correct enunciation and pronunciation is the British Council as the staff there are British. I took their course duing secondary school. It was a good experience listening to a live native speaker. However, it did not help me acquire the proper speech pattern or pronunciation. For that, you have to immerse yourself in an environment where everyone does that on a daily basis.

[brifusg]

Thank all of you for your valuable suggestions. Well, he is not going to settle in Singapore but simply wants to improve his listening & speaking skills as much/fast as possible. His own company is having more and more foreign partners and that is his motivation to improve his English.

@ EF: He is not going to master Singlish, unfortunately

Well, it seems that British Council is a good choice according to most of you.

Hi VJ, what do you mean by "RELC"? Is it here http://www.relc.org.sg/ ?

Once again, thanks, all.

[brifusg]

There are lots of places that teach English here, your friend needs to first decide whether they want a recognised qualification or just some help. Then I would consider budget & location.

Hey BG, he doesn't need a recognised cert, but just some help...really good help. TIA