EF International Language Centre

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF International Language Centre
Town/city: Cape Town
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.ef.com/

Name of student: Lindsey de Graaf

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Language school
Organization’s activities: Provides English language courses, organizes activities for students, provides accommodation for students, arranges internship and volunteering programs.
Target group of the organization: Everyone older than 16 years old that wants to improve their level of English
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 20
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Activities, reception cover, accommodation, administration,
Brief description of your daily activities: – Academic department support: administration, planning, certificates, evaluations.
– Activities: welcome packs, Facebook page management, planning and promoting activities, signing students up for activities, going with to guide and accommodate the group, finance/declarations, organizing and joining welcome parties for new students.
– Administration: posters, registering students in the system.
– Accommodation: providing support and help to the accommodation coordinator.
– Reception cover: welcoming students, walk-ins, suppliers, answering the phone and students’ questions.
– Residence advisor: administration, keeping track of when new students are arriving, in which rooms they will be and when the rooms need to be cleaned, keeping track of which students will move to another room at the residence and when this will happen, keeping track of when the students will depart from the residence, organizing 2 residence activities per week.
Brief description of your company assignment: –
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Good supervision, can always walk into the office when I have questions/concerns.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, sociable, flexible, no 9 to 5 mentality
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company arranged accommodation
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, internship visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Through the embassy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 1,5 month

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Depends on your current level of English

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 750
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 50
General costs of living (monthly): € 200
Costs of visa: € 50 (and 900 deposit)
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? Accommodation, breakfast & lunch during work and most activities

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Speaking with friends/family that have been in Cape Town already.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 133068@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t walk alone at night and watch your stuff, but don’t be afraid to live here. I’ve never felt unsafe here so far.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Beach, hiking, clubbing, surfing, sight-seeing, safari tours, sand boarding, bungee jumping.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link