Why Book A Course With A Language Travel Agency? Won’t It Save Money To Book It Directly With A School?
An agency can advise you on the best school, course and experience for YOU.
An agency can recommend a school from a range of schools that they work with, based on the particular request and profile of the student, and the experience that they have had with that type of student and that school. Sometimes a school that appears interesting on the internet may not be the best choice given the age of the student, the lack of a specific course, the type of accommodation available, or for other reasons. When you contact a school about information for a language course, unless its offerings are completely unsuitable, the school will almost always recommend themselves to you, possibly by adapting its offerings if it doesn’t have it exactly what you are looking for. While you may not necessarily have a bad experience there if you study there, an agent might have been able to tell you about a better alternative.
You DON’T save money by booking directly with a school, and sometimes you spend more.
When an agency says that it doesn’t mark up the prices of the school, you will at most pay the same price for your package as you would have paid by booking it directly with the school, so in that sense, you don’t spend any more. However, the prices that you see published on the website apply to all markets in the world. A good quality school will always balance its nationality mix, and at times there are factors like very favorable or unfavorable exchange rates on the world market that will encourage or discourage particular nationalities from enrolling. In these cases, the schools can offer discounts to some countries and not others in an effort to encourage enrolment from underserved nationalities. They can also offer discounts to agents for other reasons—sometimes to establish new relationships with them, or to reward them for productivity. Especially in the latter case, when you contact a school, the school itself may or may not make a discount available to you, whereas it is very possible that an agent will.
An agency knows the local market.
An agent in a particular country can give you much more information about traveling to a particular foreign country and attending a school there—what special considerations there may be for student visas in the home country, how best to get to that country and city from there (a good agent has often taken that route themselves to visit a school), and if you don’t want to be in classes full of your own countrymen, he or she will tell you which schools to avoid in which periods of the year. And most importantly, an agent will tell you all of these things in your own language, avoiding any chance of miscommunication with a school because of a language barrier.
Schools don’t necessarily want to deal with direct bookings, even if it offers that possibility online.
A high quality school wants to concentrate on doing what it does best, that is, teaching you the language you are there to learn in the best way possible, organizing activities out of class that you will remember for a lifetime, making sure that you are comfortable and happy in the school and in your accommodation. All of these things take up time and resources in which a school would rather invest in other ways. A local agency can do a better and more complete job of answering questions, and as a result, schools invest a lot of time and money in cultivating relationships with their agents.
Why Work With Marshall Language Services? Here’s What Sets Us Apart
We Book Only Language Travel.
As a language travel agency, we only book language courses and studies abroad. We do not also book leisure holidays and cruises, for example, so we are very familiar with language schools abroad and accommodation as it relates to students, who sometimes stay there for several weeks or months.
We Have 16 Years Of Experience In This Office.
There are many agencies on the market who boast many years or even decades of experience. If they are large and/or have several offices, this experience usually applies to the owners or founders of the company in a head office somewhere, and the long experience does not necessarily pertain to the actual consultant you are dealing with locally. At Marshall Language Services, the founder and director, Rachel Marshall, is in only one office to answer your questions and advise you on a good school. For 16 years, she has been traveling the world to personally inspect schools and accommodations, meet the owners and staff in the schools themselves and at international fairs. You will benefit from her vast, direct experience with many schools and many past clients.
Marshall Language Services Was Founded From Language Teaching.
Marshall Language Services was initially founded as a study travel service for language students in Italy who wanted to continue their studies abroad, in order to have a full immersion experience that was not possible at home. With that in mind, Rachel began to research schools which would be truly effective in allowing her students to continue their language learning, not just which would serve as a base for a vacation. As a teacher, she was familiar with language levels and teaching methodology that had worked for her students, and can advise on courses and exams for the appropriate levels and purposes. She has always been much more interested in her clients learning a language than in just moving masses of students.
For Italian Clients, Marshall Language Services Is In Italy.
There are several agencies on the internet with websites written in Italian, with Italian speaking staff on the phone. You can call them at what look like Italian phone numbers. But look carefully at the website–where are they really located? Can you speak to their staff in person if there is a problem? Which country’s authorities will you have to turn to if you run into really serious issues? Marshall Language Services was founded in Italy for Italians, and remains in Italy. We have a physical office in Rome for face-to-face contact—come and see us!
The Director Has A Genuine Love Of Language And Teaching.
Rachel Marshall majored in English at the University, and moved to Italy 20 years ago as an adult after her own full immersion language course in Europe. She taught English on a volunteer basis between the language trip and the move to Italy in order to see if she would like this profession, and the answer was absolutely yes. Since that time, her career has been dedicated to imparting the English language to her students and to her study abroad clients.
Marshall Language Services Is An Official Partner Agency Of IALC, ICEF, and Quality English.
For recognition by some student travel organizations, it is sufficient to do little more than pay a fee, and the agency will be granted permission to use their logo. For these three organizations, there is no fee involved, but the organization requires the agent to prove through a strict vetting procedure that they are serious, reputable, and experienced.
For Students Going To America, The Director Is American.
The Director of Marshall Language Services, Rachel Marshall, was born and raised in America. She attended a prestigious university in one of our most popular study abroad destinations, New York City, and worked professional jobs in America before moving to Italy. She returns there regularly and has family and friends in many of the cities in which the agency represents schools. She embraces the American work ethic, giving good service to her clients, because it’s her job. For clients wishing to study in the United States, she is a valuable and direct source of information.