The Boston Language Institute

I took their TEFL class as an experienced ESL teacher. I was told that I passed the last lesson I taught. We filled their evaluations and somehow I was given a written notification telling I failed it and I had to repeat it which I refused to.
Normally evaluations should be given at The very end but it was given us early. I believe they didnt like what they read and refused to give my certificate. This is very unprofessional. Beware folks!!! They wasted my $ 2500 for nothing…

This review is on my experience more so than the actual classes being taken.
I was interested in learning to speak Swedish and had called about signing up for a class. Since, Swedish isnt a very popular or widely spoken language they told me that it would have to be private sessions. Which is fine. I waited for weeks and weeks and even followed up with the person– Again, was told it isnt a popular language and that they needed to «find» a teacher. I did not understand and still do not understand why they advertise languages and then cannot provide? If you dont have a Swedish instructor then dont advertise it. Overall, disapointing– They could not even point me in the right direction for one– Luckily for me I went through a local swedish women’s club and they found me a private tutor. I guess this institution is probably great for languages that are popular like Spanish, Chinese, French etc but not so much for ones like Swedish, Icelandic, Danish, Finnish.

This review is an update, and I’ll spoil the suspense right now: it’s also an upgrade. BLI has earned its fifth star.
I’m now back from my TEFL adventure in South Korea, and living in New York City (official hometown of all repatriated expats). And I am proud to say that I continue to use the methodologies and lessons I learned every day in my life as a writer, marketer, business coach and volunteer teacher.
In fact, BLI has provided me with such a strong foundation in teaching, and such a love for the profession, that I recently applied to a handful of grad schools to get my Master’s in education. Siri Karm, the president of BLI, was on my shortlist of recommenders. He took this responsibility very seriously, talking on the phone at length with me about my experiences, reviewing my records, and conferring with the teachers I had when I attended the school in 2010.
I haven’t heard back from my schools yet, but I feel confident that no matter what happens, I will take the lessons I learned from BLI with me into any job I have in the future. And based on the durability of my education, combined with the dedication BLI’s staff have showed in continuing to help me make the most of it, I think they’ve earned their stripes (and fifth star).

This has been an incredibly unprofessional experience from start to finish. I enrolled in beginner’s Swahili for my upcoming work at the orphanage in Tanzania that I support. I wanted to improve my rudimentary language skills.
I received a call about 5 days before the start of the scheduled class that not enough students had enrolled. I was offered 10 hours of one on one tutoring rather than the original 18 hours of class time. Fair enough, I readily agreed to this arrangement. I was ensured I would be hearing from the instructor, Wilson, over the weekend. I did not receive a call from the tutor or Boston Language Institute. I had to call them after the weekend and the response was, «we should probably just start the refund process as I’m not sure I can get in contact with Wilson» I had rearranged my busy schedule to make time for the 2 ½ hr drive (one way) to Boston. I made a serious commitment to this program as it was extremely important to me to become more proficient at Swahili considering the number of months I will be working Tanzania. My question was, why bother offering a course that you can’t accomodate and seem to have little interest in supporting? Their lackadaisical approach is really galling. The response was «thanks for your input»

I just wrapped up a 10 week Chinese (Mandarin) I course here, and I was very pleased with the quality of instruction and my level of Chinese after 20 class hours.
Big plus: BLI offers 2x/​week classes. The other Chinese classes I looked into around the city were typically only 1x/​week. Having class twice a week, and being 1 out of 3 students in my class really allowed my speaking skills to improve.
We ran through the basics as expected in a level I class. Grammar, pronunciation, writing characters — all of it! The teacher was very supportive and quick to correct our pronunciation before it had time to incorrectly seep into our memories.
I can only really speak to the quality of the Chinese course I took, although I’m docking a star for:
a) the price. Although cheaper than courses at the local universities, BLI charges nearly twice as much as other options, like at the CCAE or Chinese Language Institute, for only a ~5 more hours of instruction.
b) I started taking a portuguese I class here once, and found it non-​beneficial, a bit disorganized, and left unimpressed.

The Boston Language Institute is a good school and their approach to foreign languages is commendable. Haven studied a foreign language in school prior to enrolling at BLI, I’m familiar with the unnatural methodologies of universities; hence my applaud in BLI’s practicality. Instead of drilling structure and grammar before you can even speak, BLI teaches the language and allows you to learn the underpinning as you go… which is exactly how you learn your native language. While is this is enough in and of itself, unfortunately it’s devoid of many positives encompassed in an academic language setting.
For starters, the classes move incredibly fast for a session of 6 weeks with 3 hours of lesson each week. The rate of speed however, does not make it difficult to consume the information, instead it makes the information more of a synopsis of the lesson as opposed to a teaching of the lesson.
Secondly, because there’s so much information to cover in such a short period of time, you get the feeling of «assembly.» Also, there is no homework, quizzes, or test so feedback is limited to whatever you get from the instructor while in class. Oral and written examinations are a major factor in language proficiency so not having them throughout the process of learning speaks serious volumes to the quality of education.
All in all, BLI can be range from 0 to 10 depending upon your end goal. My goal is fluency and because of this, the most I could get from a course here is familiarity because I would likely need to take about four sessions to parallel that of a university semester. If however, the goal were something like introductory to intermediate conversational proficiency, BLI would be a better fit

I have mixed feelings about this place. I took their 30 day TEFL program about a year and a half ago. Overall, I found the teachers helpful, but their multiple step program which they use for everything unnecessary and impractical in a classroom where all of the ESL students speak the same language. (i.e., foreign countries.) It works great in their environment where the students are forced to communicate in English as that’s their only common language. (America, England etc.) However, when I moved abroad and spent 16 months teaching in China, their curriculum simply doesn’t work well. The activities range from boring to impossible, and there should be MUCH more emphasis on speaking lessons. I found their FP activities/​questions the only really useful part of their program.
Overall, for people intending to teach TEFL in America, this program is great. For those intending to teach abroad, much of their curriculum is a waste of time. Oral English teachers are pretty much the only kind of teachers hired abroad, and the BLI program doesn’t prepare enough for these kinds of positions.

I am a recent college graduate who was looking to get TEFL (teaching english as a fogeign language) certified. The certification is the most recognized certification in the English as a Second Language field and is accepted all over the world. The Boston Language Institute was one of the first schools in the country to offer this certification and today is one of the best known schools to get the certification through.
I finished the full-​time TEFL course last week and I am already getting job offers! Boston Language Institute is the only school I found that offers both full time (4 weeks, mon-​fri) and a part time (3 months, Saturday only) classes all through the year. The school really does it’s best to accomodate everyone.
The Instructors there were great. It is an intenesive program, but TEFL students recieve tons of support throughout (There can only be 4 – 12 students in a class). On our last day the TEFL instructors helped us spruce up our resumes, gave us job listenings, and inside tips on where to apply.
I want to find work here in Boston teaching english first but I would love to teach in France. The Boston Language Institute also offers one free foreign language class after completion of the program. I will definitly be taking advantage of a French class! (They have like every langauge imaginable)
Whether you are a college grad, mid career, or looking to retire overseas, I recomend getting TEFL certified to anyone looking to do something life changing.

I signed up for a level 3 Portuguese class here. A few days before the class was supposed to start, I got a call from someone at BLI telling me that I was the only person enrolled in the class, so it would automatically become a weekly private lesson. My tutor and I met weekly for eight weeks, and she was really sweet. We steadily marched through the Travessia textbook, and she pushed me to converse in Portuguese, refusing to accept anything in English. I definitely felt my Portuguese skills improving (though my verbal skills improved a lot more than my writing skills).
I do wish that she had taken more of an interest in my homework (she would assign it, but never really look at it), and that we could have had more formal learning experiences (like quizzes or even dictations, which would have really pushed me to memorize the vocabulary and to improve my writing). Overall, I would recommend BLI — the staff and faculty are really nice, the office is conveniently located in Kenmore, and the courses are reasonably priced.

i tried to sign up for group lessons in german here, but they didn’t have enough interest — so i signed up for weekly private lessons. my tutor was great — she had obviously tutored many people before and was great in giving me assignments that were doable with a full time job and responded well to any random questions that I might have.
they have nice small rooms where the lessons are held with whiteboards so you can learn to write and talk.
i got pretty far with my 8 lessons. i wish that i made more time to continue the lessons, but it made it so much easier to understand people speaking german.
the only drawback to this place is parking. the kenmore square location made it challenging to drive and park for someone who works in the suburbs. i was usually able to find parking on beacon street around the meters as long as a red sox game wasn’t going on. if there is a red sox game, then be prepared to spend $ 20 on parking at a local BU lot. ouch.

Zai Lai Yi Bai… One more time, one more cup! OK not the most important thing to learn in Chinese, but hey if I’m at a bar and I’d like another cold refeshing Bacardi and Coke I need to be able to ask right? My fine drink ordering capabilites are a great party trick. Heh heh!
If you’ve had some interest in learning another language, may I recommend Boston Language Institute. Their programs are very thorough and guarentee (ofcourse with discipline from you) to read, write and speak the language that you choose. In addition they make sure to teach you about cultural differences so if you do choose to visit you can know what to expect and how to properly respect the culture. I’ve been studying Mandarin here and I think the program is great. Other than drink ordering, I’ve managed the ever so important skill of negotiating when I’m shopping. The curriculum includes over 140 languages. Prices are reasonable and if your company offers tuition reimburesement you are golden.
What I like about this school is that they offer both group and private classes, cross cultural seminars, and if your schedule allows immersion programs. All instructors are from the country of which you choose to learn and all speak fantastic English. In addition the schedules are very reasonable with day/​early eve/​late eve and weekend classes.
My only gripe and no fault of the school is that parking can be a bitch if you don’t live in the city. There is one lot that is a 5 minute walk, or anything else around Fenway. Otherwise I’d suggest taking the Green Line to Kenmore Square. If time allows hit to Uburger before your class and woof down a yummy greasy burger — it’s never fun learning on an empty tummy and their burgers rock!