Time to Improve Your Language: Education and Training International
Education and Training International (ETI) was established in 1995 with the purpose of providing training and consultancy services to the international oil and gas industries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The company is privately owned and its Chairman, John Eades, has been involved in English language, Business and Technical training for many years and has worked with a large number of blue chip and multinational organizations.
Since operations kicked off in 1996, the company has opened offices in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Aktau, Atyrau and has its head office in London.
ETI’s local and international instructors deliver a wide variety of training courses in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan and ETI employs over 100 people.
Training is outcome-led, in that programs are designed to meet the specific needs of the trainees.
GEORGIA TODAY met Managing Director, Pam Kemsley-Dugladze, to find out more.
Why did you decide to start a business in Georgia?
Our Chairman, John Eades, visited Baku and Tbilisi on many occasions in the mid nineties, working on the BP graduate training program. During his visits to the, region he was impressed to find talented young people who were eager to be educated to international standards. He also spotted opportunities to help other western companies who needed support to develop their local workforce and so ETI opened its first office in Tbilisi in 1996. Since then, we’ve opened offices in Azerbaijan where we have offices in Baku, Ganja and Sumgayit, and in Kazakhstan where we have offices in Aktau and Atyrau.
What sort of courses does ETI offer in Georgia?
A lot of people think that we only do English language courses but as well as offering a variety of General and Specialist English courses, we also offer other languages such as Georgian, Russian, Farsi and Azerbaijani. We also deliver Management Training and HSE courses including NEBOSH and IOSH courses.
Do you offer any other professional training courses?
We believe that training local teachers is vitally important and so we offer internationally accredited Teacher Training programs such as TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) and are only one of two centers in Georgia that offer the prestigious CELTA (Certificate of Language Teaching for Adults) course.
We can also offer a variety of accredited Project Management courses.
Are your language courses only for adults?
No not at all. We have students as young as 5 years old, and we believe one is never too old to learn- the main thing is to be motivated and to have a reason to learn.
Do you offer any exam courses?
Absolutely! We have TOEFL, IELTS and Cambridge University English preparation courses at all our centers in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi.
Do you provide international certificates?
ETI is an accredited Cambridge University English examination centre and we can conduct Cambridge exams anywhere in Georgia. We offer the widest range of Cambridge University English exams in the Caucasus.
Can you offer any courses overseas?
ETI has several partnerships with excellent schools in the UK at a variety of different locations, so depending on how long you want to study for, what your aims are, your age and the time of year you want to go, we have something for everyone and at very competitive prices. For example, at the moment we have a special offer with our partners in Liverpool with prices starting from GEL 1900 for 2 weeks, including tuition and accommodation.
What are the advantages of studying English overseas?
It’s very effective to go to the UK or another English-speaking country to do a course- you’ll be more focused as it’s why you went there. You’ll also be surrounded by people speaking the language everywhere you go. Many of the schools we work with offer a home-stay option which means that you have total immersion whilst you’re there. All the schools also offer a very varied social program, so you’ll guaranteed to have fun, too.
What if my budget won’t stretch to studying abroad?
We understand that study abroad is an expensive proposition, so ETI has a variety of things we can offer which don’t involve leaving the country, in fact, if you sign up for our new digital learning program, you don’t even have to leave home.
ETI’s new digital learning platform is a blended learning solution meaning that you have guided tuition through a personal tutor who assigns you tasks from the online learning platform according to your level. This is then supplemented by classes either at ETI or online over Skype. The system has over 5000 activities at a variety of levels and, because you have 24-hour access, you can go at your own pace.
What if I want more communication with other students?
For younger students, ETI will be holding a two-week Summer Camp for students of 7-17 from July 2 - 16. This is an excellent opportunity to learn English in a practical setting through lessons and a variety of sporting and other leisure activities. The lessons and activities are led by native speaker teachers from the UK.
For our adult students, we offer intensive summer courses as well free English courses as part of our CELTA courses at Elementary and Intermediate level throughout the summer, which is a fantastic opportunity to improve your English, experience different teaching styles and meet new people from all over the world.
How can I find out more about ETI?
You can visit our website wwww.eti.uk.com or Facebook: ETI Tbilisi. If you prefer to talk to someone, you can call us on +995 32 2250945 or email me at md@eti-georgia.ge
Katie Ruth Davies