The International Association of Language Centres (IALC) was founded in 1983 with the following aims:

• To promote cultural and professional exchanges through the study of modern languages in the countries where they are spoken.
• To represent and convey professionalism and expertise in the teaching of foreign languages.
• To protect and maintain worldwide the existence of high quality independent language schools.

The IALC founders

The founders of IALC were eight leading private language schools in Europe and North America:

• Cial Centro de Linguas, Lisbon, Portugal
• Estudio Internacional Sampere, Madrid, Spain
• Gran Canaria School, Gran Canaria, Spain
• Istituto Michelangelo, Florence, Italy
• Pitman School of English, London, England
• The Language Centre of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
• The Montreal Language School (now LSC), Montreal, Canada
• Rennert Bilingual, New York, USA

Alberto Sampere

IALC was the inspiration of Alberto Sampere (1929-2005). Alberto Sampere founded the Estudio Internacional Sampere Spanish language school in Madrid in 1956. A pioneer of Spanish language training in Spain, Alberto served as the first IALC President and later as the Association’s Honorary Life President and Ombudsman.

The early days

In the second half of the 20th century, international travel became cheaper and language study abroad grew increasingly popular. As many language schools opened across the world, large, multinational language school chains began to emerge. Alberto Sampere, the owner of a successful independent school of Spanish in Madrid, believed independent language centres offered a uniquely personal approach to language learning. With the owners of seven other private language schools in Europe and North America, he formed IALC, originally called “Interlang”, to bring together and promote leading independent language schools teaching the language(s) of their the country.

The first IALC meeting took place in June 1983 in Madrid, where Alberto Sampere was elected President.

Steady growth worldwide

Between 1984 and 1990, IALC grew, gaining new members in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. By 1990, IALC had 42 members and two categories of membership: full membership and associate membership (for branches of full members). IALC now has 102 member schools in 24 countries.

The IALC Workshop

From the beginning, IALC forged close links with study abroad agents and consultants. Six agents attended the 1984 meeting and 19 attended the 1985 meeting. The IALC Workshop has since become a major event in the study abroad professional’s calendar and has been held in some of the world’s top language study destinations: Paris, Madrid, Florence, New York, Athens, London, Dublin, Berlin, Montreal, Lisbon, Boston, Cuernavaca, St. Petersburg and more…

The IALC Constitution

The Constitution, Code of Ethics and Bylaws of IALC were approved in 1988 and IALC was incorporated in Ireland in 1990. The Association now has an Executive Board of five school directors, led by the President, and an executive director based at its Secretariat. There are three regional directors representing Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. The IALC Secretariat opened in London in 1996 and is now based in Canterbury, England. Policy decisions are taken at the Association’s annual general meeting in April.

Quality Assurance

As consumer expectations have risen, IALC has responded. Drawing on the collective experience of members teaching nine languages in 24 countries, IALC has created a quality assurance scheme based on continuous quality improvement. Together with international promotion, quality assurance today forms the core activity of IALC.

The Future

In the 21st century, IALC is embarking on a new and exciting phase of development. In the coming years, we aim through careful selection to add more languages and study travel destinations to our growing network of quality assured, private language centres.

2010 IALC Executive Board

President: Walter Denz, Liden & Denz Language Centre

Vice President - Membership: Alexandra Borges de Sousa, CIAL Centro de Linguas

Vice President - Quality Assurance: Judith Hands, Torquay International School

Secretary - Treasurer: Rebecca Brincat, B.E.L.S. Malta

Vice President - Promotions: Wolfgang Graser, Good Hope Studies

Executive Director: Jan Capper, IALC Secretariat

Honorary Life President Renato Borges de Sousa

Honorary Life Member Mary Towers

Past Presidents

Alberto Sampere, Estudio Sampere 1983 - 1986 Renato Borges de Sousa, CIAL Centro de Linguas 1986 - 1989 Cesar Rennert, Rennert Bilingual, 1989 - 1992 Mary Towers, The Language Centre of Ireland, 1992 - 1995 Juan Manuel Sampere, Estudio Sampere, 1995 - 1999 Sonia Di Centa, Centro Internazionale "Dante Alighieri", 1999 - 2002 Odile Migieu, Cork Language Centre International, 2002-2005 David Diplock, LSC Language Studies Canada, 2005-2008

IALC Meetings