Experiences of a teacher of English

  And now I’m trying to say something which could hopefully help you out on your lessons, above all if you are a teacher. I’m telling you something from my classes to adults, yet same things could be said for teaching kids.  Ten points, ten.  I would say that for teaching English or any other language and, if possible, you the teacher ought to say all in that target language, or more than 90%. Well if everything is said in L2, much better. Even your announcements to your students, about logistics. The communication problem may be convenient for them to learn and acquire the foreign or second language.  Second, while talking to your students, look in their faces also for them to have eye-contact. That will help you reach them more fully with your messages and also that will help you keep the class tight – for classroom management and sere discipline.  Third, your messages to them have to be clear: speak in a finely or roughly tuned level, so that they can follow ...

  I can see you are so concerned about being a good teacher. Let’s see if I can help you out.  And you wish to really assist your students.  What about trying to improve your correcting your students?  Now I’m reading about correction and giving feedback to our dear students from great British expert Jeremy Harmer – he’s an expert on teaching languages.  The first premise is that our dear students do need feedback about how they have performed in the class, okay? And we want those people would learn and improve their work, okay?  The second premise is that positive motivation is a tremendous learning booster.  Yet also we have to correct what they did wrongly. Well I particularly give both positive points and negative ones when correcting their written essays, and also sometimes when the students have given an oral presentation about some topic. And they appreciate both positive and negative feedback.  As well there is a big difference when correc...

  You are the teacher? And want to teach a language effectively? I’m working on it myself.  These days I’m reading from great British expert Jeremy Harmer, and you know what? I’m finding out a couple of principles that may serve to teach in that effective way.  Namely I’m reading about language teaching methods. And I would highlight, as I said, two principles that I think they are at the basis of any success. They are: it’s the learner who has to really wish to learn a language, plus the teacher ought to foster in the classroom to lower the affective filter.  Among the methods I’m reading and studying about, those two principles come up as common in most of the methods.  You are the teacher, okay, well you should bear in mind that it is the student the one who should WISH to learn. If we achieve this learner would WISH to really learn a language, well we will accomplish success, believe me!  In those methods I’m reading about the student is so active at le...