“Excellent teacher, really knows his students. Central location in Manchester is hugely convenient. Course materials are easy to access. The website isn't always very clear regarding what course to enrol on or continue with, but if you do make a mistake (as I have done) an email to the Cactus team sorts it out very quickly.”
“The quality of the course depends on the teacher, of course. I've had very good teachers, but one in particular that was amazing.
The book used for the French classes isn't great, and I've found it better when teachers didn't strictly follow the book curriculum”
“I am in my second your of studying with Cactus, so I was a bit surprised when all of a sudden all communications were sent to my husband and he appeared on the list of participants! Please do not blame it on your system as an employee did when I rang. The system is designed and operated by humans!
We started the course Autumn 2017 with a very poor Cantonese teacher. after feedback (I had to ring to get the form!!!) you kindly changed the teacher. Under Jenny Cheng's paticient guidance the group has been going from January 18 to now. Not a bad achievement for Cantonese! We all want to carry on, so please invent new levels for us if necessary!”
“The quality of a language school and of the teaching is extremely dependent on the teacher. I had an outstanding teacher last time and learned a lot! I like that the groups of students are kept quite small which makes it easier and quicker to learn and the teacher can dedicate time to everyone.
I like that cactus has several branches across the city and there’s a large variety of languages and courses offered.
The staff is nice and helpful.
Room for improvement I see in the atmosphere of the class rooms. I think they should be more inspiring and motivating for the students and a place you like to go and feel comfortable. An idea is to decorate the walls slightly with fotos/collages/maps from other cultures. A water fountain and a coffee pot or kettle and tea in each class room would be nice as well.
In general it seems to me that cactus is not using the latest techniques and appears to be a bit “oldschool”. But all in all I am satisfied! Thanks to the whole team.”
“I enjoy my Portuguese course at Cactus. Reasons the courses are well structured with a text book and interaction class activities, that involves reading and speaking. Also the Cactus is in the town centre which is handy for getting home in the evening.”
“Teacher was fantastic, her methods were easy to follow & understand. I learnt a lot more than I was expecting in the 10 weeks.
I will be signing up for the continuation course.
“I'd definitely recommend Cactus for those wishing to learn a language. I started at Beginner 2 for French and have since continued up two further levels with the school, as have most of my class. The group sizes are small, the teachers are professional, fun and often willing to help with your studies out of hours too. The two hour lessons are just the right length of time and the month-long breaks between levels has enabled me to do some much-needed revision. The only drawbacks I've faced is that the textbook can be a bit confusing at times and the class has occasionally gone a bit too fast for me, but that just underlines the fact that you really ought to do a couple of hours homework/revision between lessons in order to stay on track!”
