FAQs

Here are some of our most frequently asked questions:

1. Why don't you teach on Saturday or Sunday?
Our teachers teach Monday - Thursday, four hours per day, and they have other responsibilities Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All of our foreign teachers come to Thailand just to help you learn English. So, we want to give them some time to rest or tour around Thailand.

2. Why don't you teach one day a week or let us choose to study any one day each week?
This is perhaps our MOST frequently asked question. People who ask this question forget that if you STUDY English one day a week that means you AREN'T studying English 6 days a week. If you aren't studying English 6 days a week, you WILL NOT IMPROVE. Language is something that, if you want to learn it well, you MUST repeat it. You must use it over and over. There are many schools that will teach you one day a week. That means they do it for THEIR benefit to make money. At Santisuk we teach English for YOUR BENEFIT - we want to help YOU learn to speak and use English. So you can choose - study elsewhere (where they will charge you MUCH MORE) and only study once a week (and not improve) or study at Santisuk where you can actually see yourself improve as you use English daily.

3. Do we have to come Monday to Thursday or can we choose the day we study?
All our classes are Monday - Thursday meaning every student must study all four days. You can choose what TIME you want to study each day but in order to improve your English, you must use English or any new language daily.

4. If I can't come at my regular time, can I come at another time that offers my class?
If you have a conflict 2 - 3 days per session (a session is 15 days) to change to another time for those few days is no problem if you inform the office. If you have to study at another time more than 2 or 3 days and the time you choose to attend is more expensive than the time you paid for (see our "COSTS" menu for class prices) you may be charged the higher tuition.

5. After I study at Santisuk can I really speak English?
Suppose I ask you “After I buy your bowl of noodles will I be full”? The answer to that obviously is, it depends on how hungry you are (your background), how long it takes you to eat it (your diligence to eat), and whether you really eat it or not (your perseverance). Your background, diligence and perseverance also affect how well you’ll learn and speak English. You will definitely improve in your ability to speak, read, and write (your ability to use English) after even only 1 month at Santisuk if you are committed. Remember, we have no “pill” we can give you that will enable you to speak English instantly. No English school in the world has that. But what we DO have at Santisuk is a system that helps you make definite improvement in your ability to speak and use English that was designed in Thailand for Thai people. You will not be a passive learner at Santisuk. Learning to use English takes work, diligence, and perseverance on your part. But this we can guarantee; if you attend class every day, come on time, do all your homework, participate in class, and spend time doing some kind of English activity outside of class even once a week (doesn’t even have to be at Santisuk), you will definitely improve after only one month at Santisuk. This is because at Santisuk, we require that you participate in class and do meaningful homework daily outside of class. We have many examples of people who could not speak English at all who follow the Santisuk system and are now very capable in English and hold jobs that require a high fluency in English. The Santisuk system does really work.

6. Do you do any one-on-one tutoring?
No. Why? Based on our experience we’ve found that if you study a language in a group, the students in a class have a better experience than those who study one-on-one. In a classroom, you will gain from the interactions with fellow classmates. You hear their ideas, their questions, and benefit when they help you too. Besides, it is more FUN to study in a group!

7. How long do I have to study until I can speak English?
This question is a little bit like question #5. It depends on how good you are when you start, how much you are using English outside of class, how diligent you are to do your homework, how keen you are to find ways to improve your English on your own, and what your specific goal is for yourself. For example if you start in Pre-1 and your goal is to be an English tour guide, it will take you much longer on average than a person who starts in Level 1 and wants to work in customer service in a mall and answer foreigner’s questions. But do remember YOU are part of the answer to this question too.

One GREAT way to improve is to spend time at Santisuk with your teachers and other students outside of class. Unlike other schools where the teachers go into the teacher's lounge after class, at Santisuk, our teachers are eager to spend time with you outside of class. Perhaps you'll play ping-pong in our spacious lobby. Perhaps you'll learn a new game around a table. Maybe you'll be hungry - your teacher is hungry too!!! Invite him or her to eat with you at one of the many restaurants on our property or near our building and maybe your teacher will buy your lunch!! Many of our teachers are first-time visitors to Thailand - they WANT to see the sights in Bangkok. Offer to take your teacher to the Grand Palace, the Crocodile Farm, or Jatujak ("JJ". the weekend market) and they just might pay your way!!! You get to practice your English and they get someone to go with them who can get them there and can explain a few things to them. You just might find that you'll get to see some of the sights in Bangkok you've never seen before too!!!!!! This is a very practical way to improve your English.

8. Do you ever teach off-site or at other businesses?
We can hold classes off-site if we have teachers available. The cost for this is 28,000 baht for a class of 6 to 11 students. (It is much more cost efficient for everyone to take classes at Santisuk!!) This price includes the tuition and books and one-time registration fee for first-time students. Teacher travel costs are extra. Each additional class is also 25,000 per class plus travel costs for the teacher.

9. If I can speak English really well, can I start at an advanced level?
Our curriculum is a continuous series from Levels 1-5 and then Advanced Conversation (see "Courses” for more information). If you can’t read, write, or speak English, our Basic Reading class is a class for beginners. You can skip Pre-1 and begin in Level 1 if you already have a good foundation in English. Where you begin depends on the score you get when you first register for classes. This is because we have identified a number of English problems common to all Thai people that are specifically addressed in Level 1. This is another benefit for YOU of developing a curriculum in Thailand for Thai people. At other English language schools in Thailand, they use a curriculum that is more generic – it hasn’t been written for anyone in particular. So some topics are things you need, some are not. In schools like that, the specific needs of Thai people are not addressed at any level so it doesn’t really matter where you start. But our curriculum was developed here in Thailand to meet the specific needs of Thai speakers. To improve, you need to begin with Pre-1 or Level 1. But don’t misunderstand. Our Level 1 class is not a class for beginners. It is a class for people who already have some basic skills in reading, writing, and speaking English.

10. How are Level’s Pre-1 and Level 1 different?
Pre-1 is taught by experienced Thai teachers with excellent English who can improve your basic skills in pronunciation, reading, writing sentences, understanding, and conversing in English. Students can get explanations in Thai if they don’t understand. Pre-1 is a class to prepare students for the Level 1 experience with a foreign teacher.

Level 1 is taught by native speakers, usually Americans. They will help you begin speaking English using a variety of methods in class. The unique aspect of Santisuk is our emphasis on your speaking daily in class. We focus on improving your pronunciation of the most difficult English sounds, especially those that are hardest for Thai speakers of English and help you say those sounds correctly. You’ll also get lots of practice creating, writing, and saying sentences that will be of great benefit to you individually emphasizing the most common words in American English.

11. Do you teach religion at Santisuk English School?
We teach English and we teach it very well. Learning to speak English well is the common topic of every class at Santisuk and that is our focus. You will find that you will definitely improve in your English ability after even only one month of study at Santisuk provided you are diligent to do your homework, attend class on time, and participate in class. While the teacher leads the class and provides very specific instruction according to every student’s needs and ability, every person in the classroom determines the topics under discussion in the classroom. So, in any given month you might find topics discussed about politics, race, sports, food, religion, movies, pop-music stars, and an almost unlimited number of others as well. It would be wrong to say religion is NEVER talked about at Santisuk, but it would also be wrong to say religion is ALWAYS the topic of every class. It depends on the class.

12. What are the main reasons people choose to study English at Santisuk?
There are two - the first is the teachers. Our teachers are SUPER friendly, and love to spend time with the students. And because the students like the Santisuk teachers so well, many of them have come to Thailand to teach at Santisuk more than once! Students love our teachers, the teachers love our students! The second reason is the price. You can't beat the prices for English classes at Santisuk. Only 1,500 baht for 30 hours of English at 7 am!!!

13. Why do we have to pay a 500 baht one-time fee?
When you look at our course prices, we think you will agree that tuition at Santisuk is really very low. Tuition income barely pays our regular monthly salaries and utility bills. We need ways to cover our administrative costs and things like A/C’s breaking down, building repairs, chair replacement, computers, and things like that. Think of the 500 baht one-time fee as a one-time fee to help cover the administrative costs of running SES. SES is actually a non-profit school. All our fees enable us to get by and pay our bills – no more, no less.

14. Can older people study at Santisuk?
We have students of all ages at Santisuk. Over the years, we’ve had only a few people older than 60 who have studied at Santisuk. But we’ve had MANY students older than 40. It is NEVER too late to learn some English or improve the English you already know. You will find you fit right in at Santisuk no matter what your age is.