Who's
behind Bi-Lingo.com?
Bi-Lingo.com
is the brainchild of Samantha Dunham, an experienced EFL (English as a
Foreign Language) teacher who realised how difficult it was for EFL students
to find the right course. In 1997, she went to an Internet exhibition
at the Science Museum in London and realised that a well designed interactive
website could make the process a lot easier and cheaper.
Students would be able to search for courses and schools that met their criteria. They could see pictures of the locations, check prices, and book. The choice would be wider than that offered by language agents, and there would be no fee. With independent reviews and comments by previous students, people could trust the information more than the sales brochures provided by the schools.
Sam took a course in e-commerce at University College London and a simple version of Bi-Lingo.com went online in 1998. The site has been developing ever since.
What
does Bi-Lingo.com allow me to do?
You can search for English Language courses and schools in your 'Mother
tongue' 9 languages are currently available. All important
criteria such as location, course type and cost can be viewed in the Schoolsearch
Results. You can read independently written reviews of the schools as
well as view pictures of their locations: see Read & See section for each
school.
How
can Bi-Lingo.com be free and offer me a 5% discount
Agents often charge fees for finding schools and mark up school brochure
prices. Bi-Lingo.com is entirely free and saves you 5% off the schools
cheapest brochure prices. How can we do this?
We deliver 5% savings and do not charge agents' fees because we are a multi-language Internet service and this delivers economies and benefits over a typical agent that we can pass on to you the student.
We don't have expensive offices in different countries to maintain. And we have a worldwide reach, so that we have access to a far larger market than agents based in a particular town or country. With more students using our service, we don't need to make so much on each course booking.
We use our buying power to secure a special rate for all the courses that appear on our site. This means we do not need to charge an agents fee and we can afford to give you a 5% discount on the cheapest brochure prices offered by schools - even the cheapest rate sometimes offered to students booking in the selected country. You get this reduced price and all the services on the Bi-Lingo.com site because we make it possible for you and schools to find out about each other in the most efficient way - through one website.
Can
you help me decide where to study?
If you are thinking about developing your English or Irish accent
our online Guide to the UK and Ireland
gives you all the information you need to compare locations and decide
which would suit you most. There are descriptions of the regions, cities
and towns where most schools are found.
What
about learning resources?
To help you learn about the English language Bi-Lingo.com has prepared
free worksheets. Each sheet has a description of a different aspect of
English life and a list of relevant vocabulary. They are available for
free in the Learning Page section
of the site.
What
about help with my entertainment and social life if I am overseas?
Even when you are studying in the UK or Ireland, Bi-Lingo.com continues
to help. You can meet other people through our Social Programme that offers
trips to entertainment attractions. Tickets offer good value as we have
negotiated special prices with Applause part of the First Call Group,
one of the UK’s largest ticket agencies.
Member
of the European Virtual Enterprise Network (EVENT)
Member
of the EVENT Network for Collaborative Opportunities in a Remote Environment
(ENCORE)