12 By Gerald Bowers
Inter Tutorial Centre
We visited Inter Tutorial Centre in Paphos and met with Maria Demetriou, the owner Q: Maria, how would you describe Inter Tutorial Centre? A: We are a tutoring centre offering courses to children (10-18 years old) and adults, they can do English, Russian, improve their Greek or mathematics, accounting and computing. In computing we offer the ECDL (European
Paphos Computer Driving License) and IGCSE as well as A Levels.
Q: How long have you been in business? A: Since 1992 Q: Let’s talk about learning Greek A: Well adults can start from the beginner which can take between 30-40 hours. The main aim of these courses is to help people communicate in Greek. People can learn to read and write in Greek if they wish but we concentrate on helping people to speak so they can communicate in everyday life. Plus we specialise in different areas, for example we have special courses for hotel staff, for reception, for housekeeping for restaurants food and beverages etc. But we also can help people who live here who want to learn the Greek language. Courses are held in the mornings or the evenings to suit our clients. Q: What is the typical number of students in a class?
A: We usually have just six or seven people. Q: How many lessons per week would students take? A: Usually twice per week and each lesson is for two hours. But it is up to the student to decide what they want. Q: What would you say is the most difficult thing about learning Greek? A: The grammar is probably the most difficult. But after practicing to speak, we help people to understand the correct use of grammar in Greek.
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year. Exams are taken every June and in December each year. Each module is offer once or twice per week. Some people can take just one or two exams each semester; it is up to them to decide. Q: Any other services that you provide?
We have had many
This is for people who want to follow an accounting profession. The ACCA qualification provides people with the opportunity to open their own accounting firm.
successes from our students with
Q: What is the language of tuition?
many becoming
A: We use both Greek and English. Sometimes we have Chinese and Russian people taking this course so we use English. The main language of instruction is English because the exams are in English.
first and second in all of Cyprus
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Q: How long does it take to complete the course? A: The duration is 3 or 4 years. Students normally take 4 modules per semester and there are two semesters each
Q: Do you give students homework to do?
many years. Plus they are fully qualified as language teachers.
A: Yes, there are some home tasks to complete; we use course books to assist our students.
Q: What other kind of courses do you offer?
Q: What other media do you use to assist in the learning process? A: We use a mixture of course books, video, audio and conversation. Q: What makes you different? What is special about Inter Tutorial? A: Our teachers have a lot of experience. They are mature and have been teaching for
A: We also offer accounting courses. The ACCA course is for adults in the evenings and is a British qualification and is highly recognised. We have had many successes from our students with many becoming first and second in all of Cyprus. This is a very good course. This is one of the courses we have offered since 1992. Q: Who takes this course? A: People who already have a degree but not in accounting.
A: Yes, we are an Examining Centre for European Professional Qualifications. We provide training to help people obtain a qualification in different areas of expertise. The awarding body is the Industrial Training Authority of Cyprus. We provide a range of seminars and training programmes to help both individuals and businesses. (In the UK this is the equivalent of NVQ’s – National Vocational Qualifications) Q: Do you you provide these services across all of Cyprus? A: Yes, we provide courses and examinations in Limassol, Nicosia as well as Paphos. Q: What about Russian language? What kinds of people want to learn Russian? A: We have lawyers and business people who want to learn Russian. Plus we also provide special Russian language courses to hotels and will also help some business people learn Russian in ‘oneto-one’ lessons.