March '09 newsletter (1)
March '09 Newsletter (1)
Hello to everyone Out There
I really hope your March began with a flourish and is making you smile on a regular basis.
Language learning rehab
Audio interview with Nick Chaplin - oops, no third bit!
Virgin English speaker gets motivational boost
Bloggers who write about learning to speak languages
Who needs a dictionary?
Old Yorkshire Jokes Home
Audio: This is your language class, do not say anything (part ?) - Well, I have scoured my laptop for the files and listened to hours of audio, but there is no third bit of the interview. Sorry to those of you who wanted to keep listening...we will all have to create our individual conclusions to the story about the bloke in the cab in Beijing or just leave him about to converse with a Chinese person for the first time in Chinese. Still, we got the nuts and bolts in there I think and the moral of the story? Memorable experiences stick..if language is contextualised, presented in a comprehensible and interesting way and connects with the learner and their needs it is much more likely to be acquired.
In listening to Nick talk about the ALG programme and discussing things with Stephen subsequently, it has become increasingly clear to me that what we at Out There do is very close to the ALG programme, only we do it Out There and not in a classroom and we use complete strangers and not charismatic native speakers. ALG take the interesting stuff inside, without books or exercises or rules based instruction and let you clock up the hours of amused and entertained listening.
David Long who runs the ALG programme believes that conventional language teaching damages our ability to acquire language. And I think he may have a point...read my blog where I explain more:
http://www.languagesoutthere.com/articles/Language-learning-it-fucks-you-up
On the subject of speaking with a native speaker for the first time in their language... yesterday via www.italki.com a young Chinese student from Shanghai called me on Skype. He wanted to practise his English because he had a speaking and listening exams coming up soon. Apart from the fact he claimed to be Man Utd fan it was a very pleasant conversation and we are going to speak again next week. Only once we'd rung off did he then send me an IM saying that it had been his first time talking with an Englishman and that he had been very nervous. Here's the transcript:
[05/03/2009 13:17:15] *** Call ended ***
[05/03/2009 13:25:11] tracy: hey ,i am back
[05/03/2009 13:25:31] tracy: thank you for your website , i will loook it loog time
[05/03/2009 13:25:34] tracy: thank you
[05/03/2009 13:25:52] Jason West: No problem! Hope it helps and speak soon.
[05/03/2009 13:25:55] tracy: i am intersting in it
[05/03/2009 13:25:56] Jason West: Cheers
[05/03/2009 13:26:03] Jason West: Good, thanks!
[05/03/2009 13:26:06] tracy: yes ,thank you
[05/03/2009 13:27:02] tracy: you know today i am so nervous ,my first time talk with english man .
[05/03/2009 13:28:32] tracy: thank you .sir . hope contack with you ,in the future
[05/03/2009 13:35:00] tracy: man? are you there ?
[05/03/2009 13:36:52] Jason West: Hey, that's great, you did really really well, honestly, well done. it will get easier and you were very brave. I'm impressed if that really was your first time talking to a native speaker!
[05/03/2009 13:37:45] Jason West: Call me when you have opened that lesson plan and studied it and completed the exercises. The we will do some practice on skype.
[05/03/2009 13:38:28] tracy: ok .thank you sir . that's my pleasure
[05/03/2009 13:38:58] Jason West: no prob! see you later...bye...got to have some lunch, I'm starving!
[05/03/2009 13:39:17] tracy: ok ,enjoy it
[05/03/2009 13:39:18] tracy: bye
I was chuffed and immediately told my partner when I went down stairs for cup of tea. It's nice to be someone's first and help give them an experience that they found helpful, supportive and motivating. I thought I'd grown too world weary and had seen it all, but I was surprised at how good it made me feel to read Tracy's message (he took his name from an NBA player of the same name although he did acknowledge that it is normally a girl's name and his skypename has been amended to protect his privacy).
Continuing the theme that has developed here...I found a couple of interesting blogs posted by people who are learning to speak second languages or trying to teach them and I found them really very instructive as to the motivations and desires of both learners and teachers. Do please check them out, they are great blogs:
http://jalthokkaido.net/blog/2009/02/24/students-practicing-what-we-preach/comment-page-1/#comment-351
http://sheinchina.blogspot.com/2009/03/speaking-class-with-minimal-speaking.html
A new European Union directive is set to make the dictionary obsolete:
http://www.languagesoutthere.com/articles/Who-needs-a-dictionary
New EOT London course details are on the site now:
http://www.languagesoutthere.com/categories/london-english-courses
There are also 10 teachers' lesson plans at each level available for individual download for just £1 each at:
http://www.languagesoutthere.com/store/
Finally, we will be renting classrooms out at Number 10 Coptic Street (a stone's throw from the British Museum) from the start of April. EOT is going all Out There but teachers who really want a classroom can hire one for £10 an hour. We will also be hiring the rooms out to teachers if they want to teach other programmes, such as extra IELTS or FCE classes for grousp they have created themselves, and if any schools need more classrooms from time to time, do get in touch.
The old Yorkshire jokes home
Old Yorkshire Jokes Home:
A Yorkshire man takes his cat to the vet:
Yorkshire man:
"Ah've come to see thee abaht me cat."
Vet:
"Is it a tom?"
Yorkshire man:
"Nay lad, I've browt it wi' me."
Until next time...
Cheers
Jason
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