General English

Avenue English

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Course description

The General English course is for all levels. The Avenue English guarantee ensures that if all classes are attended, homework completed on a daily basis and weekly tests submitted the student will improve their English language capabilities in the time that they are with us.

The General English course focuses on building confidence with the language and inspires the learner to keep on improving in order to achieve their English language goals.

The classes stress the use of language in everyday situations. In 2 lessons each day, students will work on grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, while in the other 2 lessons, they will focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening. Textbooks and a variety of other materials are used in instruction, including role-playing, mobile phones, magazines and other materials.

Course topics

Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and Activities

Class schedule

Course duration
1-52 weeks
Start dates
Every Monday
Classes per week
20 lessons per week (each lesson lasts 55 min)
Class days
Monday - Friday
School holidays
13 Dec 2024 - 06 Jan 2025

AE does not hold classes on the holiday dates above. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.

Class times

You can choose from the following class times:

Morning session
09:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.

Class level

All levels, beginner to advanced
You will take a placement test on your first day to determine your class level.

Class size

Average 8 students
Maximum 12 students

Student age

Age range 16 - 70 years old
Average 28 years old
(25 in the summer)

Certificate

A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the course.
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Photos

  • City of Johannesburg 1/12
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  • Students of Avenue English 3/12
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  • City of Johannesburg 5/12
  • Teachers and Staff at Avenue English 6/12
  • Students of Avenue English 7/12
  • Classes at Avenue English 8/12
  • Avenue English 9/12
  • Avenue English 10/12
  • Avenue English 11/12
  • Avenue English 12/12
reviews

Reviews

100% recommend

based on 11 reviews
5 stars
6
4 stars
5
3 stars
0
2 stars
0
1 star
0
Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing

"A very good experience, with very competent and available teachers."

Christophe Legrier, student from South Africa

I attended private classes. The facilities are well. The access by car is quite easy, since the location is close to the highway. I didn't need accomodation since i had a private one. The teaching is interesting: teachers get their students talking, and it was what i needed.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
8 Jan 2024 - 19 Jan 2024
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Very friendly, communicative and helpful staff."

Reto Vögeli, student from Switzerland

Very friendly, communicative and helpful staff. Very friendly, communicative and helpful staff.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
13 Jan 2020 - 24 Jan 2020
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi van Ketel, Head of School at Avenue English responded to this review.
22 October 2021

Thank you - we love good comments and we always aim to make each person feel welcome xx

"Great!"

Fernanda Carrera, student from Brazil

The classes, teachers and facilities of the school are excellent. I recommend for everyone.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
7 weeks
Date of study
25 Nov 2019 - 17 Jan 2020
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi van Ketel, Head of School at Avenue English responded to this review.
06 February 2020

Hi Fernanda and Daniel, thank you for having been with us - it was such a pleasure meeting you both.
Thank you too for a great review - and hopefully we'll see you again some time in the future.
Regards from all of us xx

"It was a great time!"

Dolores Waser Balmer, student from Switzerland

Nice and really good teachers and a good atmosphere.
An interesting class and classmates.
We were 4 adults (35+) and only one youth. That was super for me, but young person have to know that.
I would every time recommend the school adults, but not youth.
We had a braii, really cool.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
29 Jul 2019 - 9 Aug 2019
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi van Ketel, Head of School at Avenue English responded to this review.
01 November 2019

Thank you for your lovely review. In terms of adults / teens it seems that there are different age groups that come together at specific times.

"Excellent course, customized as your need. Teachers are professiona"

Rija Minoarijaona Andriamihantanirina, student from Congo

Excellent course, customized as your need. Teachers are professional

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
2 Jul 2018 - 6 Jul 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi van Ketel, Managing member at Avenue English responded to this review.
24 October 2018

Thank you - hope that you visit again this year. We love having a good review!

"It was pure happyness for me!"

Dolores Waser Balmer, student from Switzerland

It was really a very good experience in all part. We had three teachers an all were extremely friendly, helpful, every time prepared and made good an lively lessons.
We had a lot of homework and that was perfect.
In that school are more or less only adults (we all were between 30 an 50 years old) and all the people were interested to learn.
They helped me to improve and gave me extra stuff per learning at home.
The atmosphere at school was very good, all the staffs are helpful and friendly.
I have enjoyed every day!
They were no school activities.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
15 Jan 2018 - 26 Jan 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi, Head of School at Avenue English responded to this review.
16 March 2018

Hi Dolores

We only checked the reviews today! Thank you so much for being with us and for such a lovely review. I have taken into account the social activities and we have a lunch organised with teachers at a South African fastfood outlet next week!

We have also partnered with some tourguides around Braamfontein and Maboneng....watch this space!

We hope to have you back again with us in the future.

Thank you again for your appreciation of all the teachers and staff effort.

"Very good"

Ute Maier, student from Germany

I had a very good stay at Avenue English. The teachers were South African with a very good "British Accent". The students were international from over the world and we had a lot of fun. The school is located in a safe area with secured parking. It is near the highway and good to find by car or Uber.
There are cats in the rooms, so you should like cats or shouldn't have allergies.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
3 weeks
Date of study
23 Jan 2017 - 17 Feb 2017
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Vivi van Ketel, Head of School at Avenue English responded to this review.
16 September 2017

Hi

Thank you for your review! And for mentioning our cats - they are sisters and belong to the landlord to make sure that we don't have mice running around the school - haha!
We do try to keep the school as cat hair clean as possible and in summer they are mostly outside.
We are very proud of our nationality mix at our school - everyone HAS to speak English!
We hope that you will visit us again in the future.

"Avenue English can actually help you improve and feel more confident in English"

Supaporn Gee

The school location is very convenient. It is locate in Corlett Drive, Johannesburg. The atmosphere is very nice and the teachers are friendly. There are a lot of classes for selection. Moreover, the school also arranges fun activity outside the class. Overall I enjoyed studying at Avenue English.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
96 weeks
Date of study
21 Jan 2013 - 30 Nov 2014
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
Vivi van Ketel, Managing member at Avenue English responded to this review.
30 January 2015

Thank you so much for your lovely review! I love your use of linkers - moreover and overall - well done! We always try to make each student feel welcome and personalise their course so that they feel that they achieved all their English goals.

We also want to make sure that in 2015 we have many more cultural opportunities for our students to participate in.

"Great experiences"

Barbara Palma Allendes

My trip to Sudáfrica was amazing, I loved almost everything at the school. I really improved my English skills, now I can talk, understand and write English more easily than before.
In my first weeks, I improved a lot, the teachers are very important in the evolution, best teachers made best students. The quality of teaching was good, I remembered Sally, she is the best teacher that I ever had. Vivi made me one class, she is also a good teacher. Alison was a really bad teacher and the others like Alan, I don't know, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
I enjoyed the school and the friends that I made there, specially my friends from Sudamérica. I also met people from Africa that was very interesting. I made friends outside of the school, I have very good memories about them.

The social activities were the best.

Before arrived to Sudáfrica, I thought this will be a great experience but the real situation is that this trip exceeded my expectation.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
6 weeks
Date of study
2 Jun 2014 - 18 Jul 2014
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
Vivi van Ketel, Managing member at Avenue English responded to this review.
30 January 2015

Thank you for such a detailed review of the school and we are so happy that the trip exceeded your initial expectations.

We apologise that you were not happy with all your teachers - some of them that you didn't enjoy have left the school and we are so proud of the complement of teachers that we have with us now. They all have extensive experience outside of South Africa, which is so important for our international school.

We are proud that we attract so many students from so many different parts of the world and that is what makes the learning experience enjoyable.

Thank you again for your compliments.

"Surely one of the best things that I chose to do in Johannesburg."

Florent Moignard

As I said in my title, attending the Avenue English classes was one the best things I did in Johannesburg. In just a couple of weeks, I was able to upgrade my English skills from intermediate to upper intermediate / advanced.

The teachers were all dynamic and highly motivated all the time, and they were obviously very good and often funny. Most importantly though, I believe they cared about the people. They wanted not only to develop the students' English skills, but also for their students to enjoy their trip in JHB or get a better life in South Africa or abroad.

I met a lot of good people there. Two years after, some of them are still my friends.

The facilities were pretty good (congrats on the covered parking), except for one room (Vivi and Bev know which one).

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
6 weeks
Date of study
14 Apr 2013 - 31 May 2013
Would you recommend this school?
Yes

"Very good teachers, friendly atmosphere"

Aurelie HUBER-MALFAIT

What I like:

- Very good teachers (they gave clear explanations, and were open-minded)
- Good balance between grammar and vocabulary
- Different ways of learning (audio, newspaper, grammar references etc.)
- Interactive lessons
- Flexibility of the whole team
- Nice garden for the break, with a great and friendly atmosphere

What I like less:
- Rooms (the plastic chairs are not very comfortable when you have to sit for 4 hours...)
- Because the house is quite old, some improvements could make it really great!

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
19 weeks
Date of study
16 Nov 2014 - 31 Mar 2015
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
Vivi van Ketel, Managing member at Avenue English responded to this review.
30 January 2015

Thank you for your review and we are so happy that you enjoyed the interaction with your peers and teachers.

Unfortunately due to space constraint the one classroom has plastic chairs although all the other rooms have leather, comfortable chairs.

The house is old and we are seeking new premises that wil belong to the school instead of a landlord - watch this space 2016 ;-)

visa

Visa support

We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. However, the school can supply you with all the documentation you need to support your visa application.

Your letter of acceptance will be sent to your home address by regular mail at no charge to you. If you wish to receive your paperwork by express mail, you will be charged R 200 when you register.

Flights and airport transfer

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Johannesburg based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Travel insurance

Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.

Learn more about our insurance plan »

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questions

Questions and answers

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