BHLingual.com

 

Message from the Director

 

Dear Students and Potential Students,

The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute wants you to know that we are dedicated to helping you learn a new language and have implemented policies that support this effort. We strive to provide the best teaching, the best service, and the best program, at the best location in Los Angeles. Following are some of my thoughts on what we do and why we do it.

Teachers – We hire and retain the best teachers and compensate them better then any other language school. We look for teachers that…

• are native-speakers but can explain the grammar in English and speak a lot of the target language in class.
• have excellent English skills so they can explain the language to our clients.
• have teaching credentials and/or advanced degrees and college teaching experience.
• are fun and organized so that students learn and enjoy themselves at the same time.

Students – Our students want to learn or improve another language. They are committed but are busy with their lives and must juggle many different commitments. We want clients to be successful and will make sure we do everything we can to help you accomplish this.

• Commitment - We ask for commitment one term (two months) at a time but try to keep students for many terms because learning a language is a long term project and if they stop after a few terms they have not accomplished fluency.
• Flexible - If something isn’t going as well in class as you would like, we encourage you to please talk to your teacher and/or come talk to any of the administrators. We urge you to talk to us right away – don’t suffer silently, because we can make changes.
• Goal - Our goal for our students is to teach them to read, write, and speak the target language; grammar and culture are always included.
• Participate - The school allows only 10 students per class with the very rare exception of 11 per class. We encourage a lot of interaction in class. We do not want our students just to passively listen and not participate.

Learning Support – The administrative staff is dedicated to not only sign up students, but also to address your unique challenges and help you maintain momentum in your language learning as you progress through each term.

• We try to greet each student in their target language and especially in the evenings we offer a friendly face to people who might have had a long day.
• We call students with homework for the classes they miss.
• We also allow students two emergency make-ups at no cost, we just ask that they read and follow the make up policy that is attached to their receipts.
• We provide cookies, pretzels, coffee, tea, and Sparkletts water for consumption at the school. We find that students learn better if they are not hungry and thirsty!

Books - Books are the best study source and long-term reference available. We want students to use the best books on the market (usually college texts) and while is it unfortunate that they are so expensive, it is important for your learning. In order to get the best books in the classrooms at the least cost to you…

• Books are sold here at cost. BHLI sells them at no profit because we want students to use the best available. You will not find a new book anywhere else for less money
• After each student enrolls we can give the names of the texts so they can check on-line for a used one.
• Because we do not make any money on the book sales we are somewhat indifferent to whether you buy from us or somewhere else. However, while online used books are available for less money:
• they are used,
• they take some time to arrive
• with the size of the school if many people go on line for used books even their price goes up, and
• while people wait for their texts to arrive they can get behind in class.
• Therefore we advise those who can afford it to buy a new one from us at cost, leaving the used ones for others who have a greater financial need.

Costs - We have not raised tuition rates in 10 years. During this time our rent has quintupled, we have raised our teacher salaries, and inflation has raised the cost of most expenses. We have managed this because of increasing enrollment and, in part, because sign up procedures are in place to keep administrative costs down. These procedures are designed to even out the flow of sign-up related work so that we can survive without having to hire additional staff. Our goal is that:

• 1/3 of our current students sign up on week 4 when we hand out the new schedules,
• 1/3 sign up on week 5 (Sign-up Day),
• the last 1/3 sign up on Week 6 (D-Day), and
• the last two weeks of the term are dedicated to signing up new students.
• We appreciate your assistance in this process with your timely sign-ups.

Please feel free to call and ask me any questions you may have (310) 858-0717. I prefer telephone calls because I like to get things accomplished right away. However if you prefer to email your questions the direct email is Karin@bhlingual.com.

I am at your service.

Sincerely,

Karin Fallon, Ph.D. Education Administration