Quality Control

Have you ever wondered why AELS requires you to sign up for quarters instead of months? We found through research and observation of our program that students who only stay for a month spend half the time feeling shy and hesitant to speak. They are getting comfortable with their classmates, which means they are only making real progress for 2 weeks before they are off to a new class group with whom to repeat the process. We wanted to make this getting-to-know-you process more meaningful and have students feeling comfortable with their classmates faster.

There are two ways in which we achieved this goal. First, we decreased the number of students in class to make connections quicker. With only 2-5 new names and personalities to know, everyone will feel comfortable in their class sooner than later. Second, we decided to extend the courses to take place over 12 weeks (about 3 months), instead of breaking them down into three 4-week courses. While students in month-long classes may take 2 weeks acclimating and 2 weeks making real progress each month, students in our quarterly courses will take only about 1 week acclimating and will make 11 weeks (about 2 and a half months) of real progress.

Rolling enrollment is the process of enrolling students at any time during the year, regardless of when the current quarter began. It is our policy to have NO rolling enrollment. There are two main reasons why we do not allow rolling enrollment. First, beginning your studies part of the way through the quarter means these students will have missed the information taught from previous weeks. It is difficult to continue without going over that information, but it is not fair to repeat it all in class when other classmates have already learned it. Second, we want our students to feel comfortable speaking in class, which can be hard if classmates keep changing or a new person comes in after everyone else has become comfortable conversing with each other.

Many language schools have rolling enrollment, meaning that you can begin taking class at any point. American English Language School sets itself apart by not allowing students to enter a class after the start of a quarter. We created this policy because we believe it benefits ALL students, those already enrolled and those who wish to enroll.

Imagine how this can affect students who were there from the first day of class and have already completed these introductory activities. To get one new student caught up would not be fair for the present students. It can also be extremely tiresome and cause unnecessary delays in learning new material.

Teachers suffer from rolling enrollment, too. The teacher always feels a certain amount of responsibility for “filling in the gaps,” or re-teaching skills and concepts to the new student so they will not fall further behind or feel left out. For all these reasons, AELS does not allow rolling enrollment.

Through the years, we have received many inquiries as to why we do not offer night classes here at American English Language School. The reasons are simple:

1. You will be done early and have time for more activities during the day! You will not waste your morning by spending more time in bed. You will get up, take class, and have the rest of the day to spend how you want.

2. A peaceful environment. Mornings are often quieter than evenings. There will be less distractions because you would have already finished one of your most important tasks for the day.

3. It prepares you and keeps you in rhythm with the typical adult schedule. Unless you work night shifts, morning classes keep with your normal work routine back home. Most careers start in the morning and so if you are looking to change careers or start one, this will help prepare you. If you are working, having classes before work will leave you less tired for your job. However, having work before class will leave you more tired for educational learning.

4. Better grades! The early bird does, in fact, get the worm. A study in 2008 by Texas University proved that the students who took classes later in the evening had slightly worse grades than the students who took classes earlier on.