What Is an ESL School? ESL, EFL, ESOL and TESOL Explained
Search for English courses abroad and you meet a small alphabet: ESL, EFL, ESOL, TESOL, TEFL. Agents in Korea, Japan and Taiwan say "ESL school". British websites say "EFL". Government forms say "ESOL". They all point at the same thing, a place where adults learn English, but the letters do carry small differences, and knowing them helps you read a school's website without guessing.
ESL: English as a Second Language
ESL describes learning English in a place where English is used every day around you. It is the term used across the Philippines, and for once the label is accurate: English is an official language of the country, much of schooling is taught in it, and the signs, menus and news are in English. When you leave the classroom on Boracay or in Cebu, you are still in an English environment. That is the whole point of an ESL school in the Philippines rather than an English course at home.
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
EFL describes learning English where it is not spoken outside the classroom: an evening course in Tokyo, Berlin or São Paulo. British and European publishers use EFL as the general term, so a textbook labelled EFL is simply a textbook for learners of English. There is no difference in what you learn, only in where the publisher imagines you are sitting.
ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages
ESOL is the term used by governments and exam boards, mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand, for English classes aimed at migrants and residents. If you see "ESOL" on a certificate or a visa form, it means an English qualification for non-native speakers. Cambridge and other exam boards issue ESOL certificates; you will rarely see a school in Asia describe itself as an ESOL school.
TESOL, TEFL and CELTA: teacher terms
These three belong to the teacher, not the student. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) are certificate courses a teacher takes; CELTA is the best-known TEFL certificate, issued by Cambridge. When a school says "all our teachers are TESOL certified", it is telling you about teacher training, not about what you will study. It is a useful thing to know, and we cover what to look for in our post on ESL teacher qualifications.
So what does an ESL school actually do?
An ESL school is a private language school for adults (and, at some schools, teenagers in holiday camps) that offers full-time English courses by the week. The ingredients are the same almost everywhere in the Philippines:
- A placement test on arrival that puts you in a group at your level, usually described with the CEFR bands A1 to C1.
- A weekly timetable of group classes and one-to-one lessons. At Paradise English the General course is four group classes and one one-to-one lesson a day; the Intensive course is five and two. Other schools run from fifteen to fifty lessons a week.
- Accommodation and meals arranged by the school: a dormitory, a home stay or a hotel room nearby.
- Visa paperwork: every foreign student in the Philippines needs a Special Study Permit, and the school's office files it for you.
- Start dates by the week, with courses from one week to a year.
Why Philippine schools say "ESL" and not "English course"
Partly history: the first schools in Baguio and Cebu were opened for Korean students in the early 2000s, and "ESL" was the term Korean agents used, so it stuck. Partly accuracy: in the Philippines English really is a second language, used in offices, courts and universities, which is exactly why the country became Asia's classroom for it. If you want the full picture of the market, our guide to ESL schools in the Philippines lists the schools by region and explains how to choose.
The one term that matters when you book
Ignore the acronyms and look at three numbers: how many lessons a week, how many of them are one-to-one, and how many students are in a group. Those decide what you get for your money. Whether the school calls itself ESL, EFL or an English academy changes nothing about your day.
