General English: There are no specific terms or semesters. The classes work on a 12-13 week cycle in conjunction with our course books which have 12-13 units.

• Elementary
• Pre-Intermediate
• Intermediate
• Upper-Intermediate
[12-13 week “cycles”: open entry and leaving dates]

• Advanced (short-term, when required)
• Beginners (short-term, when required)

AM focus: language systems, with weekly grammar points and core topic-based lexis
PM focus: skills development, 2 x12 week topic cycles

Cambridge Exam Course learners
Most of the European learners (particularly Swiss & German) in the Cambridge Exam courses have instrumental motivation for learning English – they need to pass the exam in order to meet job requirements or improve their prospects in the future. In addition, many want to travel and experience as much of NZ life as possible, and so they are also intrinsically motivated. Most Asian learners, however, choose these courses after an extended period of study in General English, as they want a change of focus and new motivation. Only some of these learners actually stay for the complete course and take the exam. The same is true for most of our IELTS students, although a growing number do actually want to attain high enough scores to gain entry into further education courses in NZ/overseas or for immigration purposes.

General English learners
While NEC learners vary greatly in terms of length of stay and cultural background, they generally share the same intrinsic motivation in that they want to experience New Zealand life as fully as possible and interact socially with different nationality students, host families and other native speakers. Their English learning goals are therefore focused on real-world communication for travel or socio-linguistic purposes. Leisure purposes, such as understanding English magazines, movies and internet sites, are also seen as important by many. A few of our learners (particularly Czech or Japanese students on working holiday visas) are also externally motivated as they hope to get casual work in NZ (e.g. at Sealord’s or a local restaurant, orchard or vineyard).

Cambridge Exam Course learners
Most of the European learners (particularly Swiss & German) in the Cambridge Exam courses have instrumental motivation for learning English – they need to pass the exam in order to meet job requirements or improve their prospects in the future. In addition, many want to travel and experience as much of NZ life as possible, and so they are also intrinsically motivated. Most Asian learners, however, choose these courses after an extended period of study in General English, as they want a change of focus and new motivation. Only some of these learners actually stay for the complete course and take the exam. The same is true for most of our IELTS students, although a growing number do actually want to attain high enough scores to gain entry into further education courses in NZ/overseas or for immigration purposes.