Your health and safety is our number one concern. We offer 2 different types of learning, both online and, subject to regulations, in the classroom.
We have redesigned our classrooms to allow for social distancing and smaller groups, with each student working on their own desk with their own space. All classrooms and common areas are disinfected before and after each lesson and all students and staff are required to disinfect their hands upon entry to the building. Should regulations require the school to operate online, we have the option to move the lessons online, using the platform Zoom.
What is different about our language courses is that lessons are taught live online. This means that students will engage in real time with their teacher and not simply through a recorded lesson. Studying live and online means that your progress will be guided by our expert teachers and with a consistent pace so you will obtain your language objectives quickly. We use the communicative approach which gives emphasis to the communicative aspects of the language. During class, you will be speaking in the target language all the time to maximise exposure.
We have made online learning as easy as possible for all learners. No technical knowledge is required. Your teacher will share documents via the zoom platform and all that is required from the student is to join the classroom through a link given after registration has been completed.
First we will ask you to complete an online test with us. After you have completed the test, you will be contacted by a member of our team to arrange a 5-10 minute interview in English with our director, in order to assess your level.
After completing the placement test, you will be advised of your level of English and be given options for classes at your level. Once you have chosen a class, payment can be made through a bank transfer, or in person at our offices in Varna. You will then be given a zoom link to your class which you will use to access your lessons each week.
Our teachers are trained to teach students of all levels, ages and nationalities using English only. This method of teaching will help you progress quickly and to start thinking in English, making English come naturally.
All of our classes are small, to allow more time for the teacher to interact with the students. With our youngest students (Preparation group, Starter and Level 1), the maximum class size is 8. With older children and adults, the maximum class size is 12. During the summer of 2020, we are reducing all class sizes to allow for social distancing.
This depends on your level and age and the book that we use for the course. With the adult classes and senior young learners (11+) we use books which are designed to be taught in 96+ hours. As these courses are 48 hours, we offer an A and B courses, where A is the first half of the book and B is the second part. With younger learners, the majority of the courses complete the whole book, with the exception of our starter and Level 1 groups.
We are an official partner of the British Council’s Addvantage programme in Bulgaria and as such we are authorised to register students for these exams. Our reception team will be happy to assist you and help you complete the application form.
All of the teachers at English Academy are native speakers with English being their first language. Furthermore, all teachers have a teaching qualification, a university degree and substantial teaching experience. Details of our current teachers can be found here
Your course fee includes a textbook and all course materials. No additional fee is required.
You can take IELTS, FCE and CAE with us which are recognised throughout the world. Whilst our general certificates are accepted by various institutes in Bulgaria, they are not internationally recognised.
English Academy is pleased to offer full mock tests for the above set of exams. You will receive a full analysis of your current level using past papers, marked by one of our qualified exam specialists. Students should be familiar with the exam structure and different parts before sitting the exam as these are not taught in these tests.The process takes approximately 4 hours and can be arranged by contacting reception.
All students are required to take a placement test in order to ensure that they are placed in the right level, with students at the same level. This test is free of charge and is usually taken during one of our placement testing weeks, before the start of every term.
In the main school, our youngest learners are at least 6 years old (our preparation groups). Your child can join at any age over 6 and will be put into a group with children with the same level of English, after they have completed a test with our director.
We are planning to open a Junior Academy in the near future and will be happy to welcome your 4 or 5 year old child then. Join our mailing list to be one of the first to find out more.
While it is not always possible to allocate a certain teacher for individual lessons, due to availability, you are welcome to request a certain teacher and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
Our IELTS courses are taught at a C1 level. However, as IELTS examines students at a range of levels, we allow students at a B2 level to join the group, as long as they are aware of the level of teaching. FCE is a B2 exam and CAE is a C1 exam so students should be already at this level.
We offer short courses over 12 weeks and students take the exam shortly after this period. Therefore, we ask students to already be at a high level before taking these courses. The courses focus on exam technique and are designed to train you in each area of the exam, giving you the best opportunity to maximise your results. The teachers in these courses have many years experience in these exams.
English only is used in all of our lessons and we have students from various different countries. Our teachers have been trained to teach English using only English to all levels, from Starter through to proficiency level.
Your teacher will set regular homework, at least once a week and this will be marked and checked by the teacher, or with the group each week.
Each hour at English Academy is 60 minutes, making lessons better value for money than many of our competitors.