Every business wants to tell you how their product is better than all the competition. Unfortunately, the world of English teaching is not much different; every school, every app, every teacher has a ‘method’ that they insist is revolutionising the way people learn. All their techniques are valid, and surely help many students, but they also fail to help many others.
I use what is often called the communicative approach/method. The basis for this is that students learn by having to communicate in a meaningful way. Repetition is very important when trying to memorise something, but language without communication is not very useful, so I encourage students to express their thougts and opinions by giving them the tools to do so. Sometimes students lack the grammar to express the meaning they want, sometimes it’s vocabulary.
Other times, making the sounds of the English language can be the issue. And for everybody, gradually being able to follow native speakers, speaking naturally, is a great challenge. My idea, is that step by step, we can add useful knowledge that will help you do all of these things to the best of your ability.
What this means in terms of classroom activities, is that we won’t spend all of our time doing just one thing. There will be speaking and listening, with reading and writing tasks often set for homework. When we encounter new grammar or vocabulary, it will be presented to you in a way that (I hope) you can relate to, that is relevant to your life.
The internet has enabled students to access a huge library of resources, the best opportunity to learn that the world has ever seen. But it can be difficult for students to know where to start, or how to improve after studying alone for a long time. My job is to assess what you do well and what you can improve on, and create a program that will help you fill in the gaps.
Teaching involves (almost) as much learning as being a student, the same resources that are available for students, are available for teachers, too. We have to be proactive and interested in developing our skills, so that we can best help our students. Obviously, I’m not perfect, but I try my best to do my best!