Yes, we run a language school, so read this with the appropriate pinch of salt. But we also spend a lot of trial lessons undoing the damage of courses that were chosen badly — students who paid for a year upfront at a school they had never visited, or drilled grammar for months when their actual problem was speaking confidence. So here is the checklist we wish everyone used, on us included.
1. Ask the class size — and the maximum, not the average
“Small classes” is marketing; a number is a promise. Fifteen students means you speak for two minutes per hour. Our bias is known (we cap at eight), but whatever school you choose, get the cap in writing.
2. Ask who actually teaches
Not the school’s founder, not the photo on the brochure — the person who will stand in your classroom. What certification do they hold (CELTA, TESOL, DELTA)? How long have they taught adults, or children, specifically? A great school answers instantly.
3. Take the trial, and watch the other students
Almost every school in the Klang Valley offers a trial lesson. During yours, ignore the teacher for five minutes and watch the students: are they talking, or transcribing? Do they look like people mid-conversation or an audience mid-lecture? Learners in the room tell you more than any syllabus PDF.
4. Ask how progress is measured
“You will improve” is not a metric. Look for scheduled reviews, level descriptors, and something written you can hold in your hand. If a school cannot say how it will know you improved, it will not know.
5. Read the refund terms before, not after
Life happens — transfers, new jobs, new babies. A confident school has clear, humane refund terms published where you can find them. A school that buries them is telling you something about its retention strategy.
6. Check the online option is live, not a video library
Post-2020, everyone “offers online classes”. The question is whether that means live lessons with a teacher who knows your name, or a login to pre-recorded videos. Ask whether online sessions are recorded for review — the best of both worlds.
7. Match the course to your actual bottleneck
If you read well but freeze in meetings, a grammar-heavy course will feel productive and change nothing. Name your bottleneck honestly — speaking confidence, writing, an exam date — and ask the school directly: which of your courses attacks this, and how?
8. Distrust pressure, discounts included
“Promo ends today” is a red flag in education. A good course will still be good next week. Any school worth your money will let you leave the trial, think, and come back — and will say so out loud.
Use it on us
Genuinely: book a trial at Oakforge and bring these eight questions. If our answers disappoint you, walk away with our blessing — and the checklist still works at the next school.