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About Instituto Británico
Founded over 20 years ago by British teachers, we are a private educational institution dedicated to the teaching of English and Spanish. Every term more than 1,000 students enrol in our classes, either on an individual basis or through company contracts, many of them motivated to improve their professional prospects by acquiring another language.
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| Conveniently located in Los Yoses, on the eastern side of San Jose, our main building is in a charming old house with classrooms arranged around a large walled garden, where students enjoy their free time in the open-sided cafeteria. There is also an annex of additional classrooms in the next block. |
Teachers, Teaching and Continuous Professional Development
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The style of English
teaching at Instituto Britanico is firmly based on the latest techniques
developed by experts in the UK. In order to maintain high standards there
is a commitment to recruit well-qualified native speakers, to train local
teachers who already have an excellent level of English and to run in-service
training programmes.
Native speakers recruited
from the UK, North America and Australia are selected for their professional
experience and the quality of their training. The certificate in English
Language Teaching, validated by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations
Syndicate (UCLES), is the world standard and all Instituto Britanico's
native speaker teachers have this as a minimum qualification.
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New teachers and experienced
teachers from other institutions, who are recruited locally and selected
because of their command of English and their potential as Instituto Britanico
teachers, are required to participate in a pre-service training course.
This course covers the essential aspects of the communicative teaching
techniques currently in use, together with observation of established
teachers' classes and observed daily teaching practice.
All Instituto Britanico
teachers are regularly observed in class by the staff responsible for
teacher training and language programmes. The resulting discussions form
the basis of individual development plans.
In-service training
courses and workshops on a variety of aspects of the profession are held
on a regular basis to allow teachers to share their experience, to refresh
their technique and to have the benefit of new professional input. All
teachers also participate in our scheme for Continuous Professional Development.
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Authorised Centre of Language Examinations
| For people intending to study or work abroad, Instituto Britanico is, uniquely in Central America, the official examination centre for a number of internationally recognised qualifications for adults. We soon will be offering an international qualification for young learners. Further information about this is given in International Examinations on the Home Page. |
Also, in response to
demand, the Instituto Britanico English Evaluation Examination has been
specially developed as a formal and professional evaluation of competence
in English. It is used by employers in both the public and private sectors
needing an expert and independent appraisal of a candidate's ability. It
is also used for various purposes within organisations, such as for selecting
personnel to make applications for scholarships abroad and recruitment.
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Services
Students
are encouraged to immerse themselves in their target language as much as possible
outside the classroom and reading is essential practice for seeing the language
in its context and for acquiring new vocabulary. The new Study Centre at Instituto
Britanico includes a library, a self-access centre, a quiet area for study,
and computers with Internet access. The library has a small but varied selection
of graded readers appropriate to the various levels of study, together with
reference books and current editions of magazines and newspapers.
By arrangement with Banco Nacional, we have an Instituto Britanico carnet in
the form of a 'tarjeta monedero electronica'. In our building there is a machine
for making transfers from your bank account. Besides being an accepted form
of payment in an increasing number of outlets, including here, this card also
serves as your Britanico identity card and library card.
Reception is open from 8:00am to 7:00pm, Monday to Friday and from 8:00am to
12:00md on Saturday.
Beside the garden we have a cafe selling beverages and snacks where you can
meet your friends before class and relax in the coffee break.
We have an agreement with Textos Educativos in Mall San Pedro (Local 128) to
supply all the textbooks for our English classes at a discounted price for our
students. They are open from 10:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday and from 10:00am
to 7:00pm at weekends. Their telephone numbers are 283-6093, 283-6440, and 283-9407.
Location and Contact Details
We are situated midway between central San Jose and the UCR, close to the main
road of Los Yoses with its many bus routes. There is ample street parking with
a guard and there is also a secure car park 50m to the north. The exact street
address is the fourth entrance to Los Yoses, 50 metres south, on the left-hand
side.
