COURSES AT SVS
At the Samanala Valley School for English (Colombo), we design our English courses to help students at every level improve their knowledge of everyday English. Every English course gives students the opportunity to develop their spoken and written English skills, as well as improve reading and listening skills. Each English course consists of several modules, with a written test administered at the end of each module to enable students to consolidate and assess their knowledge. At the end of each course, a final examination consisting of a written and speaking test is conducted to assess students’ overall knowledge and comprehension of the English course content. Students who successfully pass their end of term exams will receive an official certificate stating their level and grading as follows:
- • Simple pass (a generally good understanding of the course content)
- • Merit pass (strong understanding in most areas)
- • Distinction pass (very good understanding of all the grammar covered).
SVS School for English runs English courses throughout the year. Dates of every semester vary, but generally run as follows: January to March, April to June, July to September, October to December. Classes for each English course run every day from Monday to Friday. Each English class is two hours long for a total of ten hours of teaching per week.
THE SCHOOL
The Samanala Valley School for English (Colombo) is lucky to have a wonderfully multi-cultural student body. In addition to Sri Lankans, we also have students from Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, the Maldives, Japan and South America joining us to create a unique and exciting environment for students and teachers alike.
Our diversity serves to enhance students’ learning experience, as they have the chance to interact, converse and make friends with people from across the world, using English as the common language of communication.
We also host fun events throughout the year, to which all students – past, present and future – are welcome. In the past, we’ve held football tournaments and celebrated international day, with both teachers and students coming together in the spirit of friendship and fun.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Students who wish to register for a course will first need to sit a placement exam, to determine which course is most suitable for them. There is no charge for sitting the placement exam. Once students have completed the placement exam and their course level is determined, they can register for their course by either paying the full fee of Rs. 12,000, or paying an advance of Rs. 6,000 and then paying the remaining Rs. 6,000 on or before the first day of the course. Current students at SVS School for English do not need to sit a placement exam, and can simply register for their next course at any time during the school term. If you have any concerns or would like to register for a class, contact us using the form below.
SCHOOL FACILITIES
Our airy and cheerful classrooms come equipped with whiteboards, visual and audio equipment. Teachers use a range of tools, including posters, games and multimedia aids to help students understand and practice various concepts.
Students at SVS School for English are given a free exercise book to take notes in class and practice written English. Additionally, students are given worksheets for each lesson to complete in class and take home. The school also has a well-stocked library and a DVD lending facility. Students are encouraged to check out books and DVDs, to further develop their comprehension of English.
An outdoor seating area for students offers a friendly, informal atmosphere to sit and chat with other students and complete any last minute homework! The school also has separate restroom facilities for ladies and gentlemen, as well as a small car park.
SVS School for English is a small, family-run charitable organisation. We receive no external funding of any kind, using only the income from course fees to operate the school. We are also committed to maintain affordable course fees for students and as such, this means we don’t feature fancy amenities, such as air-conditioned classrooms! However, our students come first and we do everything we can to provide the best learning experience for all our students.
STUDENT REVIEWS
I enjoy studying at SVS because I meet many people from other countries and because of the fact that we only speak English with each other. I think the greatest advantage of studying at SVS is, unlike in Korea, they teach English grammar in English. In my opinion, it requires a lot of practice in speaking and listening when listening. This is the reason why I go to SVS five times a week. Another advantage of going to SVS is that the teachers are very helpful. They make the lesson easy to follow in a pleasant and joyful way. When I have a question the teachers make it easy for me to ask by making the atmosphere comfortable. Last but not least, the teachers are very attractive.
This school has many advantages. Firstly, the curriculum is organized. In each module, a lot of useful information is included and arranged so you can study step by step. Secondly, the teachers use many different kinds of educational methods: they use a CD player, TV and have many kinds of games. These are helpful for improving my listening, reading, speaking and writing. I was very afraid to speak English. But, now I can speak everywhere with everybody and my English improves every day. I can feel that. Thirdly, the teachers are very passionate and energetic. I'm also a teacher. Nevertheless, they are truly an inspiration to me. They always try to encourage all the students and lead them to the right answers. I have two classes at this school so in total I'm studying four hours a day. Finally I think this school is the best school for English in Sri Lanka and I can assure you that my choice was the best
Firstly, I’d like to highly recommend SVS School for English. I’m really enjoying learning English at this school because I’m learning perfect English. I did my first English course at SVS in 2007 and I joined again on 16/04/2013 as I couldn’t find any kind of course like this. Other institutions offer courses with fewer hours and higher fees, but at SVS we learn a lot about the English language in a short period of time. Only this institute has 2-hour classes held 5 days a week for almost 3 months and still charge reasonable fees. The teachers teach extremely well. They are totally committed and often give students extra support after the class has finished. Their teaching methods are very professional so that makes it easy to learn. Thank you!
Just a quick email to say thank you so much for teaching English. I have been attending your classes since Elementary. Before I attended your classes I was not good at grammar and I could not speak English well. First, Miss Mathilde developed my confidence in the English language and built the foundation of my knowledge. After that, the other teachers including Mr. Siddharth, Mrs. Danielle and Mr. Mark all helped me a lot to improve my English. Currently, Mr.Mark is teaching me and is very kind towards me. I like his teaching methods very much. I would like to say the teachers at SVS are all very intelligent and really terrific people. It is because of their good teaching that I have been able to write this e-mail. Thank you.
I’m lucky to learn English from this marvelous school. There are a lot of different ways to learn English. In my experience one of the best ways to learn a foreign language is living with that language. So SVS School shows that way to me perfectly and SVS School teachers also use very interesting and funny ways with expressing our thinking and writing etc. Also their recordings helped me to listen and understand English easily. Studying English at the SVS School has helped me to find a good way to learn and practise English with enthusiasm. I would like to recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn more English. Thanks to all the teachers at the SVS School. I’m very proud of the SVS School and will be forever and ever.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No, there is no admission fee; only the course fee, which is Rs. 12,000.
No, there is no placement test fee.
No, you can pay an advance of Rs. 6,000 and then pay the balance Rs. 6,000 on or before the first day of class.
No, there is no deadline to register for courses. However, we encourage students to register for classes as soon as possible as this increases the likelihood of getting your first choice of class times.
You must pay for your course in cash. Cheques and credit/debit card payments are not accepted.
We run classes four times a day, and try as much as possible to accommodate students’ preferred class times. However, your first choice may not always be available and in these cases, we ask that you choose an alternative class time that suits you.
We prefer that students stick to the class time that they have selected because we try to keep our class sizes small. If students change their class time after they have registered, or in the middle of the term, it is hard for us to maintain small class sizes. However, exceptional circumstances may be considered in discussion with the Principal or Vice-Principal.
Classes can be anywhere from 12 to 24 students depending on the level and time. We have a lot of group exercises so we don’t want the classes to be too small but we try not to make them too big either, so students can receive individual attention from teachers.
The speed that you learn English depends on how hard you work. You must come to class every day, review your class notes at home and practice as much as you can. Have conversations with other students, and make use of the books and DVD library. Coming to class alone is not enough…you have to work hard on your own!
We teach learning-intensive courses, which means that we try to teach our students to speak English as fast as possible. This requires students to practice speaking English every day. It would take a longer time to learn English with weekend courses, although there is a possibility we will have weekend courses in the future.
Our teachers are all native speakers of English and come from around the world, including the UK, USA and Australia. Teachers either have a degree and/or a Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification.
All our teachers are excellent. They love to teach and they are passionate about helping students. They all teach from the same curriculum. As a result, it shouldn’t matter which teacher’s class you take, as you will receive the same level of quality.
IELTS is not a course but a test of English language that is run by the British Council. Anyone can sit for it at any time and we suggest that students sit for exams like IELTS or CPE (Cambridge Proficiency Exam) AFTER completing the Intermediate course, which should improve students’ proficiency to the level that they can complete such exams.
Once you pass each course, you will receive a certificate from SVS School for English stating whether you passed the course with merit or with distinction. Each time you pass a course (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate) you will receive a certificate which you can add to your C.V. and portfolio and share with educators and employers.
Our course fees are already very low. We only charge enough to pay our bills to keep the school open so it’s very difficult for us to give more of a discount. You can compare our fees with other language programmes and schools. We charge only Rs. 12,000 whereas some places charge over 1 lakh for similar courses.
Scholarships are available, although students must fulfil certain criteria and must meet with either the Principal or Vice-Principal who will decide if a student can receive a scholarship.
We are happy to accept students who are sponsored by their employers or a third party. Payment and registration rules are the same for such students.