Global Partners

In our mission to “break down barriers in language, geography, and culture,” EF has joined hands with a few like-minded organizations that we work with on a global scale. Our partnerships include:

EF Research Unit at University of Cambridge

EF has established a Research Unit at the University of Cambridge Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics to collaborate on fundamentally improving the way students learn English.

The Olympics

EF has been chosen as the Official Supplier of Language Programs of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in the City of Sochi. EF is training 70,000 athletes, volunteers, judges, organizers in the run-up to Russia’s first Winter Olympics. Sochi 2014 Ambassador and gold-medalist para-Olympic swimmer, Olesya Vladikina, becomes the first Russian student to start EF’s customized Olympic English training.

EF has a long history with the Olympics. We were the Official Language Training Supplier to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, training thousands of Chinese professionals, competition organizers, translators, and interpreters to help them greet the world. We also served as the Official Language School during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, helping volunteers learn English, French, and German.

Football World Cup

EF is helping to prepare Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. In the run-up to of one of the world’s most anticipated soccer tournaments, EF is working with Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism to help prepare hospitality and tourism professionals to speak English and Spanish. EF is slated to help train 80,000 Brazilians a year through Ola Tourista

Asian Games

EF was selected as the Official Language Training Supplier of the 16th Asian Games, held in southern China in November 2010. We trained 60,000 volunteers to speak English in preparation for one of China’s largest cities, Guangzhou, to host this regional athletic event.

Whitbread Round the World Sailing Race

In 1998, EF sponsored two boats in the Whitbread Round the World Sailing Race, including the winning boat “EF Language” (skippered by Paul Cayard) as well as the first all-female boat. Now known as the Volvo Ocean Race, this sporting challenge has been named “The Everest of Sailing.” For eight months, focused crews sail 37,000 nautical miles across some of the world’s most treacherous oceans. Winning this fierce competition was a clear illustration of one of EF’s core values that “nothing is impossible.”

AIESEC

In 2010, EF joined a global partnership with AIESEC, the world’s largest student-run organization, specializing in leadership development and internship exchange, at the “Youth to Business Forum 2010” in Hyderabad, India. EF is contributing to AIESEC’s goal of offering young people the opportunity to be global citizens and change the world by supporting local AIESEC chapters, through offering exclusive rebates to AIESEC members on their language education.

www.aiesec.org

Hostelling International

Both EF and Hostelling International (HI) have long histories of enhancing world travel for young people. HI is the only global network of hostel associations, offering 4,000 hostels in 90 countries worldwide, founded in 1932 and hosting more than 38 million overnights a year. The partnership, which was kicked off in 2011, includes special discounts on EF language courses for HI members and staff worldwide.