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Costa
Rica's
Language
Schools
Slow
to
Recover
While
most
business
publications
(including
our
blog)
were
focused
on
the
world
recession
and
its
mega-effects
on
the
economy,
Costa
Rica's
previously
healthy
private
language
schools
were
quietly
taking
it
in
the
neck.
Last
week,
the
English-language
newspaer
The
Tico
Times
reported
the
stunning
news
that
the
28-year-old
Instituto
Britanico
was
closing
on
June
30
after
having
graduated
15,000
students.
But
the
news
is
not
all
bad.
In a
pure
example
of
mixed
signals,
the
Brazil-based
Wizard
Language
Institute
opened
its
first
outlet
here
last
week.
The
enterprise
has
ambitious
plans
to
open
15
sites
by
2015.
It
has
1,200
sites
worldwide.
For
decades,
language
schools
here
had
been
a
good
business
and
a
satisfying
one,
fulfilling
the
needs
of
countless
students
who
had
found
that
the
English
training
in
public
high
schools
was
simply
not
good
enough
for
entry-level
language
skills
in
call
centers
and
multinational
corporations.
As
the
demand
for
English
showed
no
signs
of
peaking,
the
niche
market
continued
to
grow.
Then,
the
economic
crunch
of
2008-09
hit
them
hard.
And,
surprisingly,
the
schools
were
among
the
slowest
businesses
to
recover.
"It's
still
very
fragile
but
getting
a
little
bit
better
as
time
goes
on,"
Idioma
Internacional"s
owner
Brian
Logan
told
The
Tico
Times,
but
it
could
just
be
disrupted
by
any
little
thing.
"I
don't
feel
bullish
at
all
about
anything,"
he
added,
"but
I
feel
better
than
I
did
last
year
and
certainly
the
year
before."
Although
many
observers
attributed
Instituto
Britanico's
woes
to
having
moved
to a
new,
larger
building
the
venerable
school
could
not
fill
with
students,
its
director,
Marcy
Devine,
denied
that
plans
were
afoot
to
fill
it
the
first
year.
Britanico
saw
its
student
body
dry
up
drastically
during
2008.
In
2009,
businesses
scheduled
330
hours
of
language
classes
for
their
personnel.
Two
years
later,
demand
had
dropped
to
170
hours.
Idioma
Internacional
has
the
unique
approach
of
contracting
with
companies
to
send
instructors
directly
to
the
company,
instead
of
the
company
sending
students
to
the
school's
center.
An
agreement
signed
with
the
public
National
Learning
Institute
and
a
lucrative
contract
with
computer
component
giant
Intel
helped
tide
the
company
over
the
worst
but,
until
an
upturn
early
this
year,
company
contracts
were
few.
The
Tico
Times
noted
that
independent
schools
must
compete
against
schools
with
multiple
locations
such
as
Intensa,
Berlitz,
the
American-Costa
Rican
Cultural
Center,
Universal
and
Inlingua.
Intensa
with
four
Central
Valley
locations
went
through
a
rough
period
in
early
2010.
Marketing
manager
Andrea
Fernandez
says
the
school
benefited
from
an
aggressive
promotion
campaign
and
is
doing
better
than
ever.
But
Fernandez
thinks
it
is
all
too
easy
to
overstate
the
troubles
of
language
schools.
"The
English
market
has
always
had
institutes
opening
and
closing,"
Fernandez
told
the
paper,
"Instituto
Britanico
draws
attention
because
it
is a
big
institution
with
28
years
in
the
country,
so
it
has
had
an
impact."
Although
the
paper
reports
that
most
schools
are
showing
a
recovery,
competition
is
still
fierce.
Many
invest
in
state
of
the
art
gadgets
such
as
iPhones
and
Blackberrys
to
get
an
edge.
Schools
such
as
Berlitz,
Idioma
Internacional
and
CCCN
all
use
these
aids
in
what
is
termed
"Blended
Learning."
Who
knows?
Perhaps
this
increased
competition
will
again
cause
the
country
to
become
a
Latin
American
magnet
for
learning
English.
By
Rod
Hughes,
Fijatevos.com
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