Searching for a Language School in Malaysia, English and Chinese

Searching for a Language School

It seems that many people who study language in Malaysia are enrolling in a branch of a foreign university in Malaysia or a British university.

It was never an option for me to go to an overseas university after graduating from high school, and it was only recently that I learned that Malaysia is the country of "nasi goreng," which was served as a special lunch in elementary school. (*Indonesia is also the country of nasi goren.)

I imagine that those people who include Malaysia in their choices must be very diligent in researching.

Also, given those circumstances, I am thinking that most of the international students will be young people around 20 years old. In addition to that, I often see stories that there are many students coming from the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen in each school because it is an Islamic country.

How to choose an English school

I am not a complete failure in English, but when it comes time to speak, I tend to use a lot of incoherent grammar and words.

Therefore, I would prefer a school where I can speak English and make friends rather than a preparatory school for the IELTS exam or a language school attached to a university.

When choosing a language school, it is recommended to look at media other than websites.

Some schools are very active on You Tube and Facebook, and if you have any questions, you can contact the school directly.

Personally, I found it easier to contact schools by other tools (Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp) than by e-mail, because I can see if the message has been read and I get a reply rather quickly. 

Some schools in East Asia or schools that accept many Japanese and Korean students can use LINE, which is convenient because it is a tool that I usually use.

How to choose a Chinese language school

I once contacted a study abroad agent at a time when I was busy spending time looking for a school while leading a working life.

But, at least as far as there was concerned, they basically did not support bilingual study (English and Chinese). So I gave up on using an agent.

They seemed to be able to introduce Chinese language schools, but they seemed to be limited to those affiliated with English language courses. It was good that they did not try to push me to sign up for English only. They are conscientious.

So I had to look for a Chinese language school on my own. In Malaysia, many people speak a language from the south of China, so when looking for a class in Mandarin, which is often studied in Japan, I had to look for a school that said "Mandarin" or "Mandarin" on the list. 

Since I want to train my instantaneous speaking ability in Chinese, I am not particular about schools where I learn Malaysian Mandarin among other Chinese languages, unless I cannot communicate at all.

Now, study abroad information websites often advertise Malaysia as a country where you can learn both English and Chinese. This must be true, and since there are Chinese speakers living in Malaysia, there are schools that teach Mandarin in the basic education age.

However, my personal impression is that it is quite difficult to find a school when you have to combine it with English classes. If a school offers full-time group lessons during the daytime, I cannot attend because of my English course, and if it is only part-time, I feel it is not much different from what I am studying in Japan today.

In my case, I would first look for a part-time class, and I would try to augment it by finding a Chinese-speaking friend or taking online lessons.

In addition, the means of communication with Chinese language schools is basically the same as with English language schools, but some of them allowed the use of Wechat (微信), which is used in China.

Unlike other applications such as LINE, WeChat does not leave a read status, so it is convenient to check messages at your own pace and translate them smoothly.

I still haven't mastered WeChat's stamp function, but I hope that this unread feature will be introduced in LINE as well.

Use of Google Maps

By the way, if you enter "Language School" in Google Map, you can see the location of the school together with its review information, which is recommended.

However, since the reviews are only from individual users, there is only one review without a comment with 1 star (mischievous?), or the photos are not relevant at all. or if the photos are completely unrelated, I felt that there was a high possibility that they were lies.

I would recommend this method to those who want to find a local language school that is not listed on a study abroad agent's website.