Learn English Online with EC Virtual

We have always celebrated innovation, so we are proud to bring the classroom into your home with our new online English classes! Our focus is on better learning outcomes for online classes through our experienced teachers who are all qualified English speakers as well as through a combination of:

i) virtual learning
ii) online collaboration with other students and
iii) self-study

When you learn English online with EC, lessons will be delivered through Microsoft Teams, a great platform for remote learning that works from any desktop, tablet or phone.

Microsoft Teams has everything teachers need to create engaging learning environments, from content and assignments to collaborative classrooms and chats.

We will email you with instructions of how to log into the Teams website. You will then have free access to the full suite of Microsoft Office products for one year!

If you have any issues logging in, or you do not receive the email mentioned above, please contact us at ecvacademic@ecenglish.com

When downloading Microsoft Teams, you will also get FREE access to Microsoft Office for the duration of your course, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and much more!

Please see the minimum technical requirements for MS Teams here

We have designed a programme that covers all the effective methods for language study – face-to-face online lessons, collaborative work with classmates, and self-study.

Online English classes have a different dynamic from regular lessons, so we have;

1. Reduced the number of students in these lessons
2. Reduced the time spent in larger group calls.

This reduces the 'zoom fatigue' that people experience from spending too much time on long calls with larger groups of people – but don’t worry we have added Structured Collaboration. This is time you spend working on a task with a fellow student. This form of interaction is less exhausting and because it is carefully structured with really clear goals – and excellent learning event.

Yes! Online English classes will follow the same EC curriculum and use the same National Geographic Learning books as in regular classes. This curriculum is supplemented by our online learning platform EC Online.

Premium / IELTS programmes start every Monday.

Standard programmes starts every Tuesday

All courses are on weekdays, from Monday to Friday based on the London times. Please note if you are studying at 00:00 (London time) in South America you will be studying Sunday – Thursday.

Bookings and payments should be completed by Wednesday, to join the induction on Friday, and start classes Monday. Bookings received after the Wednesday cut-off, will need to start with the Induction the following week on Friday.

The minimum age to attend our online courses is 16.

Attending your induction is very important. At your induction we

1. Check your level to make sure you are going to the right class
2. Give you your ebook and explain how to use it
3. Help you become familiar with MS Teams so you can get the best out of it
4. Introduce you to EC English for your online study
5. Explain how the online course works, so you can make the best progress
6. Review online safety to make sure your learning environment is safe.

If you have not attended your induction and do not take your test, your course start will be delayed.

Yes! For General English there is a recorded lesson for you to see, on demand.

For exam students, every Tuesday there are trial lessons

Students please visit pages.ecenglish.com/en/ec-virtual-students to book your Tuesday session FREE of charge!

Yes. In order to send you the booking confirmation with your credentials and access, you will be asked to pay in full. Please note that this process will take a minimum of 48 hours when paying by card and up to 7 days when paying by bank transfer. We kindly ask you to consider this when choosing the start date of your online course.

We accept payment by credit/debit card (VISA, MasterCard) using an online payment link we will send you, or by international bank transfer. The full payment must be made within 24 hours after receiving the invoice. Please note that you will only be able to start your course when we send you the credentials and access after receiving the full payment, and this process will take a minimum of 48 hours when paying by card and up to 7 days when paying by bank transfer. We kindly ask you to consider this when choosing the start date of your online course.

Once we have received full payment, we will send you the booking confirmation, log in instructions, username, and password. This process will take a minimum of 48 hours when paying by card and up to 7 days when paying by bank transfer. We kindly ask you to consider this when choosing the start date of your online course.

Yes, you can, but your course will stop week by week as well and you will break the flow of your learning experience. We highly recommend booking a minimum of 4 weeks at a time. If you are not sure if our online English course will fit your needs, kindly contact us and request a trial lesson!

Please contact your Student Advisor or reply to the last email you received from us. In order to place your booking, we would need the following details:

Name -
Surname -
Date of birth -
Nationality
Email address -
Starting date -
Starting lesson time (please choose from the following schedule depending on where you are currently based here) -
How many weeks? -
Would you like to add individual lessons to your course? If yes, how many (45mins each)?
If you want to add individual lessons the price is as follows:
1 lessons EUR 65.00
3 lessons: EUR 59.00 per lesson
5 lessons: EUR 55.00 per lesson
10+ lessons:  EUR 49:00 per lesson

Live online classes in a time zone that works best for you, 24 hours a day! A variety of times are available depending on your course.

Course eBooks powered by National Geographic Learning
• Access to our qualified English teachers
• 90 minutes a day of face-to-face live online English teaching (2 x 45-minute sessions with a 5-minute break in-between)
• 30 minutes a day of structured collaboration with your classmates
• Full access to our student portal with many self-study resources (over 1,500 grammar exercises and 200 Flashpoints – up-to-date articles or videos on a current news topic with a set of exercises around them)
• Regular assessment, designed to help you progress.

FREE access to Microsoft Office for the duration of your course, including Word, PowerPoint, and much more!
• Ability to upgrade and add private one-to-one lessons

Your time will be spent like:

Pre-Class Assignment (15 minutes)

• Pre-class assignment for students to prepare for their lesson– this could be reading a book or article, watching a video, etc
• Students study materials at their own pace, allowing them to come to the classroom discussions feeling confident and prepared to participate fully in the lesson.

Online Session (90 minutes)

Students collaborate via video with small groups of 4-8 students and the teacher where you outline your objectives and goals, discuss the questions and task from the pre-class assignment, review any questions, and set up the post-class collaborative activity as well as the pre-class assignment for the next day. Students should be prepared for a much more intensive class than a normal face-to-face session!

10 mins: introduction and catch up
5 mins: objectives and goals
20 mins: discussing the questions & text
20 mins: reviewing any grammar or vocabulary questions
20 mins: practising the language in context
15 mins: setting up a post-lesson task and assigning pre-task for next day

Post-Session Activity (30 minutes)

After the online lesson the teacher will assign a collaboration task to be uploaded on Teams

This activity allows students to process and consolidate what they learned in the teacher-led session.

It also helps the student to understand and assess their own learning and to become a more effective learner.

Students will discuss virtually in pairs or a small group and teacher will monitor the chat.

EC Online Course Work

Assignments, playlists, and study plans will provide the student with assigned work to complete on EC Online. This will be monitored by their teacher.

Lessons have a maximum of 10 students (8 for IELTS) and will be much more intensive than a regular face-to-face class.

You will have a variety of lesson times depending on the programme.

Yes! If the schedule you chose for your course is not ideal for you, you will be able to change it, but only after the end of a full week. You will begin with the new time the following Monday. It's not possible to change in the middle of a week.

All of our academic team are experienced and qualified English teachers.

All our teachers meet the qualification requirements of the British Council accreditation – CELTA or equivalent is the minimum qualification.

We will ask you to complete your placement test through EC Online a few days before your starting date, and we will assign you to the according level depending on your results.

All of them! Your attendance will be monitored. If you are below 80% attendance the Director of Studies will speak to you. This includes your pre- and post-session tasks – your teacher will check these have been completed and if they have not been, you will be marked absent for half the lesson.

You will receive an email from EC with your username and password to use for Teams. Simply follow the instructions to log into Teams and if you have any issues or you haven't received this email with your credentials, please contact us at the following email address:

ecvacademic@ecenglish.com

We will be in touch with you. Please keep checking your emails!

You can also watch this video using the link below for guidance on how to set up and log into Teams:

www.instagram.com/p/B92s1mBl1Fx

If you are not prepared for your online session or if you do not hand in your post-session activity, you will be marked absent for half the lesson.

You can contact the Director of Studies immediately. If you miss a lesson due to your technical issues, we will not make this lesson up but we will give you an overview so you can self-study.

You need to speak to your teacher; you can do this easily within the Teams chat function.

Yes, EC Online has a homepage banner announcing the new platform with all the necessary information and instructions.

Yes, we will ask you to complete your placement test through EC Online a few days before your start date, and we will assign you to the according level depending on your results.

For 3 months after your course ends.

Yes, we have assessment built in to all our courses. These assement processes are designed to help our students maximise their progress and a guideline can be found here

Yes, once your online English course is finished, you will receive an e-certificate. A hard copy can be provided for a small charge

Yes! We are also offering online one-to-one lessons. Each lesson will be 60 minutes. It's possible to bundle these for a discounted price:

1 lesson: EUR 65.00
3 lessons: EUR 59.00 per lesson
5 lessons: EUR 55.00 per lesson
10+ lessons: EUR 49:00 per lesson

Please note that these One to One lessons can be focused on any area you choose

We currently offer an IELTS exam skill course.

If you require other exam preparation we can offer one to one lessons.

Yes, you can.

We must receive all bookings with payment by the Wednesday before the course start date (on Monday). This allows you to join a Friday induction session before your Monday classes. Any bookings received after the Wednesday deadline will have your induction on Friday the following week.

Assessments are completely personalised and you are tested on teacher recommendation based on your participation in class and on collaborative tasks.

We offer all of the same things on our French course as our English course, aside from a few differences. For EC French, you can book one time zone (14:00 London time), which corresponds to our Montreal teachers’ time zone. French students also study using local learning materials, rather than National Geographic Learning materials and they don’t have access to our student portal during or after their course.

Holidays when no classes will be held are the following: Good Friday, Easter Monday Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Any public holidays that occur during a student’s program will appear on the booking confirmation and there is no refund for lessons missed due to a public holiday.

All published course start dates fall on a Monday; however, if this day is a public holiday, the course will begin on the following working day.

If your camera is not switched on it makes it harder to build communicative competence in the online classroom. For more information on why your camera should be switched on, please see our blog here