In September 2016, EC English Language Centres hosted Dream Big Malta, a conference which gathered visionaries in their fields to pass their message on to the 18-30 year olds of Malta. One lucky attendee was selected to win a two-month internship at any EC school around the world, plus 5 personalised professional coaching sessions with Baton Baton! To apply to win, attendees were asked to upload a video of themselves or writing a newspaper headline discussing their future success stories. Our winner, Andrew Borg, chose to do his 8-week internship at EC San Francisco. Let’s hear what he has to say about his experience… Andrew Borg’s Experience with EC San Francisco ‘Last September, I was given the opportunity to intern at any EC school across the globe by Dream Big Malta. Initially, I was overwhelmed with the luxury of choices I had available to me at the time. ‘Eventually, I ended up deciding on interning at EC San Francisco. This was down to two main reasons: ‘Firstly, the diversity the city has to offer as I felt being exposed to this type of environment will help me develop as an individual. Secondly, it being the innovation hub of the world, there were several conferences/meet-ups on tech and marketing that I was eager to attend. ‘This choice ended up being an inspired one, as these 8 weeks proved to be a great learning experience for me. During my 8-week internship acting as a marketing intern, I attended 10 meet-ups on topics such as Machine-Learning, Cryptocurrencies and Marketing after work hours. ‘It was an excellent opportunity to meet the very best of the respective industries and be exposed to their insights. I have learnt a lot from them and look forward to applying their knowledge in the future. ‘On another note, my accommodation … Read more

Every member of the EC family around the globe is happy and proud to be working hand in hand with United World Schools, a fantastic international charity committed to creating opportunities for children in some of the world’s poorest regions to get the education they need and deserve: UWS has a very strong sense of social purpose combined with a balanced sustainable model that focuses on educating children in post-conflict developing countries whilst stimulating global cultural exchange and understanding. […] We work with communities to build schools and develop local teachers, providing a low cost and sustainable way to teach the unreached. – United World Schools This incredible organisation doesn’t just provide education where it’s needed the most. UWS also: Works in complete partnership with local community leaders with support from district authorities and authorisation from national governments to ensure the smooth running of the school Ensures that educational programmes are locally anchored and protect indigenous languages, cultures, and customs Trains teachers from within the community with a focus on continual education and mentoring of local UWS teachers, and ensures long term sustainability by pairing schools in developed countries All of this – and more – allows UWS to empower children in the community while instilling a sense of global responsibility and appreciation for the circumstances of marginalised children elsewhere in the world.     This time around, UWS and EC are partnering up to build a school in Ban Houy village in Cambodia, home to 165 local children who will be able to learn music, art, sport, numeracy, and fluency in Khmer, the national language. That means vastly improving the prospects of each and every one of these young minds so eager to learn. A well will also be built to provide fresh, clean drinking water for the whole community! EC will have its own presence on the ground in Cambodia, with a … Read more

Here at EC we care about giving back to the communities in all 20 of the cities we call ‘home’. Social responsibility is part of everyday life at EC, with our centres making a special effort to stay green, volunteer, and organise fundraisers throughout the year. We are very aware of just how important it is to participate in global initiatives like World Environment Day, World Ocean Day, and Environmental Clean-Up projects to name just a few examples. On World Environment Day (the United Nations’ main platform for global awareness of environmental issues) everyone at EC helped to promote a more eco-friendly workplace while raising awareness of current environmental problems. We participated in a number of awareness activities such as avoiding the use of paper with a ‘No-Paper Day, teaching environment-themed lessons in class, and wearing green to work. EC San Diego went one step further and organised a fantastic fundraising activity for World Ocean Day! Past Corporate Social Responsibility projects at EC include: Fundraising for the 3 Peaks challenge Bake sale, treasure hunt, and car-boot sale with all sale proceeds going towards Hospice Malta Planting fruit trees for the Racehill Community Orchard in East Brighton Charity treasure hunt with the €5 entry fee going to Hospice Malta Supporting The Liberated Feast, with proceeds going to an education and feeding project for a school in Kenya     Selling arts and crafts at a car boot sale, with all proceeds going towards Hospice Malta Bringing in food for the food bank and an international food competition with all proceeds going to a local homeless shelter Helping out at The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, a celebration of literature Sorting books at The Bookerie to be delivered to Cape Town schools without a library Helping the Children’s Society by supporting their runners for the London Marathon Arranging cultural exchange and communication among local community … Read more