International House Dublin

This is the last letter sent to the heads of IH Dublin. It clearly expresses my opinion on the company. There is no need to go so far to learn English. Furthermore, sorry to say, there are growing numbers of SPANISH SPEAKING PERSONS IN DUBLIN, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of the language learning. You can easily just SPEAK SPANISH. To date I have not had any news of IH Dublin. For me it was a big disappointment. Dear [name removed by administrator], Thank you very much for your prompt response. As I rightly say, I spent a lot of money (3092 euros to pay flight, course and accommodation, and 2000 euros to live there) and time (40 days) on a course and I should have gotten what I paid for ([name removed by administrator] and me had to paid 10000 euros). I have read carefully your response and I would like to clarify some aspects. Academic Complaint: It is true that I did not go and spoke to your academic manager about the issues that we were having, but the first day when I did my interview with the the teacher in charge I explained clearly what were my goals in IH. I remember perfectly one phrase that I said “I want to improve my speaking skills and I would like to feel confident when I have to speak in English." I think that this phrase leaves no doubt about what I expected to contract the course in IH. About my feedback forms and the language course, I would like to say that I did it on 16-06-2015 (second day) and I started classes in IH on 15-06-2015. When I filled it, I took into consideration my previous experience two years ago (2013) which it was satisfactory and only four classes in 2015. I hoped that the development would change. As you can read at the end of this questionnaire, I wrote, “I have been talking about my problems with reception staff. I have to wait for solutions.” And this is what I did “wait”. After one week, [name removed by administrator] was speaking with our teacher about our classes and he asked if we could change our group and again, [name removed by administrator], explained which were our goals in IH (improve oral skills). The answer was that the methodology was not different in each group. Every Monday, when new students arrived and when we had to introduce ourselves, I told my name, my profession and “I have to be here for.....”. I used “have to” to emphasise and show my disappointment with IH. I have to tell you that your teachers noticed this and they asked me in class why I used “have to”. I explained very clearly why I used ”have to” and not other modal verb. As you can see, we explained several times and in a different ways our complains when we were there. I am sure that your staff had enough information: a.- To inform your academic manager about these issues and maybe she would make made some arrangement to better tailor the course to my needs. b.- To talk with me after class just to try to find a solution. c.- The kind of people who were making these complaints (teachers, not teenagers). d.- One of them was an alumnus in IH (2013). Social programme: I agree with you on this point. I should have shown someone my disappointment about this program. In 2013 the social program was an integral part of your teaching but nowadays is overrated. I am very happy to hear that you are going to take my points on board and the social program will be reviewed shortly. Accommodation: I accept yours sincerest apologies. As you say the standard of the apartments was not acceptable and neither was the service I received when I made complaints in this field. To sum up I would like to say that a lot of my issues could have been resolved immediately if your staff would have taken care about them when we made our complains. I would love to give IH another chance to show me how good the student experience can be, but for me it is absolutely impossible, because I have exhausted my training time abroad for several years, and also I cannot ask my family (wife and three children) more economic sacrifices nor in time.

The teachers, the location, the activities: everything was amazing! It makes me love Dublin even more! I would totally go back to IH and I totally recommend to my friends!