VIA LINGUA
Welcome to TEFL & TESOL courses in Greece
About school and location
The Via Lingua School in Crete is situated in the centre of Hania, Crete’s second city (and former capital) on the North-West coast. Hania is a beautiful old Cretan town with a population of around 60,000. The old town centre is clustered around the 14th century Venetian harbour where much of the city’s life and light is to be found. The town is large enough to offer a cosmopolitan atmosphere and a ready range of nightlife and places to see, but small enough that it’s normally easy to get around on foot – whether from the school to your apartment or from the local bar down to the nearest beach.
Rising above the town to the South are the great snow-capped peaks of the Levka Ori (White Mountains) which dominate Crete’s mountainous interior. One of the high-points of your visit to Crete (however long or short that may be) will be the chance to trek down the stunning Samaria Gorge, the longest gorge in Europe. This runs from Omalos in the heart of the Levka Ori (reachable by bus in 2 hours from Hania) 18km down to the beautiful South Coast at Agia. At its narrowest point as you walk along the bottom the gorge is around 10 feet wide, with sheer rock walls rising over 2,000 feet up on either side of you.
Whether you’ve come looking for the fantastic food, culture, friendly people, weather, stunning scenery, nightlife, peace – or just a chance to start out afresh somewhere new and face a different kind of challenge in life – you can find it all in here in Crete. There are numerous job opportunities through Greece (with nearly 100 language schools here in Hania) the cost of living is very low and the pace of life relaxingly slow. A siesta is normally taken in the afternoon between 1-4pm and everything closes down for this part of the day.
Weather
The weather is mild throughout the winter and normally warm enough to sit outside the cafés in shirtsleeves all through the year. During the summer the temperature can rise to 40 degrees Centigrade (100° F) but the fact that you’re never far from a palm-fringed beach helps to make this a little more bearable.
There is almost no rain at all between June and September. However, whilst the winter is not exactly wet, one does get the occasional thunderstorm between November and March.
During the winter it can get a little cold at night and a coat or jersey of some sort is recommended. During the summer t-shirts and shorts are more suitable. For working as an English teacher in Greece, smart casual clothes are normally expected.
The working day
During the day we will normally commence classes at 9.30am. Afternoon classes and lesson preparation times normally run from 2.30 – 5.30. Evening demonstration lessons normally run from 6-9pm. On Friday the working day normally runs from 9.30 – 4.30pm.
Weekends are free except for the course project. During the second (middle) weekend of the course we arrange an (optional) excursion down the Samaria Gorge.
We understand that it isn't always possible to answer every question you may have on our website. We also appreciate the difficulties people may have in reaching someone by telephone from different countries and time-zones all around the world. If you would like a member of our staff to call you at home at a time convenient to you and discuss any particular queries you may have before making a decision about where and whether you take a TEFL course, please just click the link below.