Philippines, the Best Place to Study English Language

Thousands of foreign nationalities from different parts of Asia come to the Philippines to study English language. Every year their number increases and will continue to grow in the next few years as more English language schools will arise in the country. Asian countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Russia and some other part of Middle East, they chose to study English language course in the Philippines because it has an English environment and the fact that Filipinos are known to be proficient English speakers hence, they are good English teachers.   

Philippines is one of the very few Asian countries that uses English as their primary language in school. Children started learning the language at a very young age, as young as 3 years old, and use the language primarily until they finish their college degree. In upper class Filipino families, wealthy Filipinos to be exact, this dialect is being used in their daily conversations. They really speak like real Americans even if their blood descendants are native Filipinos. That is also the reason why Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies are rampantly arising in the country.

The Philippines has an affordable education. The standard of living is inexpensive in general. The country is surrounded by alluring white-sand beaches and has a tropical weather. Above all, the people are very friendly and hospitable especially to foreign nationalities. These made the country as the most preferred travel destination by foreigners. Thus, taking up an English education in the Philippines is usually coupled with a breathtaking vacation.

South Korean girl taking up English language course.

In the last few years, the Philippines was the primary source of English education particularly for South Koreans. They stand out as the dominating group of foreign nationalities that comprises the majority of English as Second Language (ESL) market in the country. Based on the data by the bureau’s student desk division provided to The Korea Times newspaper last 2008, the Special Study Permits (SSP) issued to South Korean students increased by 500 percent from 2004 to 2008. 

Special Student Permits or SSP are granted to foreign nationalities who want to enrol in Philippine schools with short-term courses that last for less than a year while student visas are issued to those who want to take up long-term courses or degree that would last for more than a year. Based on the data provided, there were 102,134 South Koreans who studied in the Philippines from 2004 to 2008. The student population only started from 5,877 in 2004. 

ESL school is now an increasing business sector in the Philippines that the government integrated this as part of their tourism program. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), South Koreans are now the largest group of tourist in the Philippines, next are the Americans, and then comes the Japanese. English education is already assimilated in the curriculum of South Korean education system since 1990’s. They are more influenced to further study English as second language as part of the globalization plan administered by their government. Thus, experts predicted that ESL industry will continue to grow in the Philippines in the next few years.