Twenty-five years in the language school business and the thrill remains

Five Kiwi teachers fresh from overseas travel decided to set up their own English language school. It was 1978, language schools were taking off overseas and the teachers thought “let’s persuade a few of those students to experience New Zealand and get an education while they’re here”.

In 2003, the private school Languages International is still going strong, with 560 students and 60 teachers on its books. In late November it celebrated its 25th birthday, making it the oldest English language school in New Zealand.

Two of the original five teachers - Frances and Chris Woolcott - are the owners and directors of the central Auckland school.

Mrs Woolcott said the pleasure she got from seeing foreign students coming together was as strong today as it was in the 1970s.

"Every time I walk around the school and see, for example, a Swede, a Korean and a Brazilian in deep conversation - in English - it still gives me such pleasure because that’s what this place is all about." 'This place' is four historic merchant houses in Princes St and another old building not far away, all close to the university and ideal for teaching, with "beautiful rooms, large windows set onto the park - it is a wonderful environment for teaching and learning"

It takes more than a good environment, though, to last 25 years. Mrs Woolcottt said that an "extraordinary amount" of travel to let people overseas know about the school, and a strong focus on quality were the two keys.

"A single-minded determination from day one to have the best mix of students, the best teachers, the best courses and the best pastoral care has been a big reason for our longevity," she said.

As well as offering general English tuition, the school also smartens some students' language skills for New Zealand university entrance, offers business English courses to others and also has a teacher training centre for people wanting to teach English to non-English speakers.

Despite the much-publicised downturn in student numbers this year, Languages International numbers were as high as ever, Mrs Woolcott said.

She said some schools had ridden the boom years by taking as many students as they could from the boom countries but Languages International had always focused on a wide range of countries - up to 30 nationalities - and during the boom was turning away as many students as it accepted.

Parliamentary Speaker Jonathan Hunt was a guest of honour at the school’s birthday. He taught Mr Woolcott and Languages International’s chairman Brian Corban as pupils at Kelston Boys' High School.

There were, though, no threats of detention after class - just a well-deserved celebration of further success in the ongoing development of New Zealand’s private tertiary education sector.

Languages International is at this web page.