Intensive General English group 30 lessons per week - 8 to 23 weeks

Gateway School of English GSE

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5% discount for some courses and accommodations from 1-52 weeks until 31 Dec 2025 Show details »

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Course description

This is a combination course of General English (as above) and Conversational English (see course details below). This course is designed for students who wish to dedicate more time to develop an increased proficiency in English in a relatively short period of time and the students who wish to maximise their available time to practise the spoken language after the General English course. Students will be placed in the appropriate level of the General English group according to the results of their placement test. The small group (only 6 students per class) Conversational English classes specifically concentrate on speaking, listening and pronunciation and typically involve debates, discussion, pair work (with other students) and presentations. The functional focus is on expressing opinions and preferences, disagreeing and negotiation skills.

Conversational English

Students are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of speaking practice in achieving greater levels of fluency. Studying grammar is pointless without having sufficient opportunity to use it in spoken language. Conversation is a central aspect of language acquisition and the activities of this course help to sustain an intelligible flow of language as well as encourage listening comprehension. Our conversational programme is aimed at increasing the student’s confidence and active memory through rich and varied discussion around topic areas. These lessons specifically concentrate on speaking. The lessons typically involve debates, discussion, pair work (with other students) and presentations. The functional focus is on expressing opinions and preferences, disagreeing and negotiation skills.

Note: This programme should be taken as a supplement to any of the other courses

Course topics

Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and Activities

Class schedule

Course duration
8-23 weeks
Start dates
Every Monday
Classes per week
30 lessons per week (each lesson lasts 45 min)
Class days
Monday - Friday
School holidays
13 Dec 2024 and 25 Dec 2024

GSE does not hold classes on the holiday dates above. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.

Class times

Morning session
09:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Morning session
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Afternoon session
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Afternoon session
03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Afternoon session
04:45 PM - 06:15 PM
Afternoon session
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM

Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.

Class level

All levels, beginner to advanced
You will take a placement test on your first day to determine your class level.

Class size

Average 13 students
Maximum 15 students

Student age

Age range 16 years old and older
Average 25 years old

Certificate

A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the course.
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reviews

Reviews

44% recommend

based on 9 reviews
5 stars
1
4 stars
3
3 stars
2
2 stars
1
1 star
2
Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing

"It was amazing learning experience ."

Veronika Horváthová, student from Slovakia

It was great. The teachers were extremly nice. The classes were great help with understanding how The IELTS test work and how to prepare for them. We were also given a lot of materials to work with. I lived in the residance near school. It had gratulujem location because there was supermarket near and you could easily get to the center of the city. The housing was nice. I was nicely suprised by the kitchen. What I didnt like was that I had no idea that you need coins for the AC and money for key deposit. It would be good to know beforehand.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Date of study
5 Aug 2024 - 9 Aug 2024
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"School of English for young people"

Irina Selenius, student from UK

Friendly staff and teachers. Location is hard to reach by foot. The school building is a little outdated. The school is more suitable for young people and beginners.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
School location
Date of study
9 Oct 2023 - 13 Oct 2023
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Karl Sammut, Sales and Marketing Director at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
19 October 2023

Thanks for taking the time to review our school. We are located within 12 minutes' walk from Spinola Bay - the main tourist area in St Julian's and a very busy area. Our school's location offers a combination of close proximity to the hustle and bustle of Spinola Bay (nearest beach) but at the same time it's a quiet and peaceful location with large open spaces around ideal for studying.

We do not understand what you mean by the school's building is outdated. The school building is a traditional Maltese building with limestone and it also has modern architectural features and all our classrooms are equipped with the latest classroom technology. We have just installed the latest Interactive Hitachi StarBoard technology in ALL our classrooms so we definitely do not agree with your statement.

We have high level students who choose to study with us at higher levels such as Advanced and Business English students as well as English for Professional purposes mainly medical English, legal English, English for Engineering, Aviation English and other ESP courses.

Thanks again for reviewing our school.

"It was a nice experience."

MALEK OUAKAOUI, student from France

it is a school which is well located: not very far from saint Julien. the general atmosphere of the courses is pleasant, we study in class by doing rather playful group work. the teachers are friendly and professional.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Date of study
10 Apr 2023 - 14 Apr 2023
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"One to one courses"

Fanny Rubi, student from Switzerland

I spent two weeks in Malta for intensive private courses. I was a little bit disapointed; the school don't have enough classrooms. We had to go in a bar ! Finally, I proposed to the teacher to come in my hotel and it was a good option. When I started, my teacher was sick and I had two differents teachers for the two first day. Unfortunately, they didn't know what I would improve and the courses weren't ready. We found a solution but I lost time... It wasn't really what I've expected. Althought, teachers are good and friendly !

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
5 Sep 2022 - 15 Sep 2022
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Disappointing"

Crescencio Alberto Molina Corona, student from Spain

The only good about Gateway was my teacher.
I didn't like at all the accomodation.



.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
7 weeks
Date of study
4 Jul 2022 - 26 Aug 2022
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Karl Sammut, Director at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
12 September 2022

That's very surprising as we used to see you enjoying your time at the GSE residence with other students on the patio and you used to thank the GSE staff for the cleanliness. This is a very decieiving review!

"Awful"

Cléo LEGEAIS, student from France

The teachers were nice, but the classes were not adapted to my level and to my age. I'm fifteen years old, and was in classes with adults (one of the student was around 70 years old...)
It wasn't fun at all and my English didn't improve.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
School location
Date of study
18 Apr 2022 - 22 Apr 2022
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Karl Sammut, Director at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
29 April 2022

Dear Cleo, thanks for submitting the review. We had initially placed you in Pre-Intermediate based on your placement test result but you found the level too difficult and your mother asked us to move you to a lower level which we did. Our Director of Studies then spoke to you after classes to make sure that you are comfortable in that level and your answer was positive. As you know you only spent a week at our school, 5 days. We had other teenagers in April especially during Easter but we placed you in the adult class to guarantee your level as the other teenagers were of a higher level. We also encouraged you to join activities as we had a lot of activities during that week and this was a great opportunity for you to improve your English with other teens outside the classroom. You never attended the activities for some reason and I think this would have been an opportunity for you to practise English outside the classroom with other teenagers.

"Not reliable"

Maria Grazia Sumerano

Have you ever heard of an English Summer school that places in the same hotel room all guys of the same nationality? (in our case Italians). GSE did it, despite I specifically asked to place my son in a multi-nationality room (and they answered "Of course, we always do it") and despite it's common sense to mix nationalities, in order to push the guys to speak English during their free time as well. They pretended to be surprised in front of my request to move my son in another room (and they pretended not to remember my request and they didn't do it.
Good teachers, but very bad organization with impacts on the quality of the English learning experience.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
2 weeks
Date of study
30 Jun 2021 - 14 Jul 2021
Would you recommend this school?
No
Karl Sammut, Sales and Marketing Director at GSE at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
07 August 2021

Dear Maria Grazia, thanks for the review. You failed to mention that your son was booked on a summer junior programme and staying at the Topaz Hotel where some of our junior students were staying. It happened to be the case that this year we had a lot of Italian students, unlike the previous years, so the majority of students in the hotel were Italians. The allocation is not entirely the responsibility of the school but the hotel. We can advise the hotel to mix nationalities as much as possible however this is always at the discretion of the hotel (third party accommodation) as this is not the property of the school unlike the GSE residence for adults. As I mentioned previously the majority of the students staying at Topaz were Italians which made it difficult for us to mix nationalities. Then came the sudden closure of schools by the Maltese government which also made it it difficult for other groups to come to Malta and had to cancel their trip. So it was impossible for us to mix your son with other nationalities in a different room.

"Magic, amazing !"

Paloma Geoffroy, student from France

My personal experience at Gateway School was very, very good! I improved my English a lot because the teachers were very patient and kind. the atmosphere in the classroom was very pleasant. For the accommodation I loved sharing my room in the school residence I met a lot of people from different countries! I recommend this school for the French because there are really very few which allow you to speak English every day. it is a wonderful experience to learn English of course but also a magical human experience. Thank you !

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
11 weeks
Date of study
15 Feb 2021 - 7 May 2021
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Karl Sammut, GSE Sales and Marketing Director at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
07 August 2021

Many thanks for the review Paolma. Much appreciated, the GSE team

"I recommend"

Hênio Delfino, student from Brazil

I liked the experience, great teachers. I was not at the student residence because I thought it limited my contact with the locals and I was right, that is, if you want to stay away from the school it is quiet, as the city is very accessible and safe.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
3 weeks
Date of study
6 Jan 2020 - 31 Jan 2020
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Karl Sammut, GSE Team at Gateway School of English GSE responded to this review.
02 April 2020

thanks a lot for this review, the GSE team. Much appreciated

visa

Visa support

We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. However, the school can supply you with all the documentation you need to support your visa application.

Your letter of acceptance will be sent to your home address by regular mail at no charge to you.

Flights and airport transfer

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to St Julian's based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Travel insurance

Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.

Learn more about our insurance plan »

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