Teach English in Charlemagne - TEFL Courses

Beginner students who want to learn english as their second language are grouped into two types. Absolute Beginners and False Beginners. Absolute beginner students are those that have never been exposed to the english language in any way. And False beginner students are those that perhaps speak some english words, taken some classes and not practiced, may have a small amount of comprehension, but generally cannot speak the language fluently. While teaching Beginner students can be a great springboard to a strong foundation for the english language, it is a daunting task to know where and how to approach a class. Michelle Langley (eHow contributor) writes that in order to teach esl to beginner students the first thing is to assess the students speaking skills. While Kenneth Beare (about.com -Absolute Beginner english 20 point Program) writes that the very first thing to teach is Greeting – Introduction using Basic Small Talk. And Holly Andrews (busyteacher.org) advices to “….Make Personal Connections….” as the first order of the day. If I were to put these good tips into simple terms, Michelle Langley wants to test them, Kenneth Beare wants to get right down to business and Holly Andrews wants to develop rapport, but which approach is best? I believe that to be the teacher that lays the basic foundation for a student in the first years of learning is crucial to the future of that persons growth as a learner. While it is true that the goals to teach a certain number of basic lessons are important, it makes the task so much easier for the students as well as the teacher if the student were to learn in a more supportive environment. A teacher that recognizes that the classroom is truly a students domain versus a teachers platform to perform, shall breed a class full of students eager to absorb, challenge and set higher goals for themselves. Although I would tend to agree with Holly Andrews about building rapport, specially if you are in a country where no one speaks english, it is also imperative that classes be formulated to the needs and realities of the class. A beginner class, say in china, would have a different lesson plan from that of chinese students who live in canada, for instance. I realize that there are really no hard and fast rules about how to teach a beginner class. A teacher has to be able to adapt to the circumstances and situations of their students, be they children or adults, whether they are in their own native countries or not, or are beginner students or advanced students. An easy pace and patience would be a primary consideration for Beginner class teachers. I failed to see, however, that none of the articles I've read clearly stated repetition or practice drills in any of their articles nor their lesson plans. I find that pronunciation is vital to one that is beginning to learn a language, pronunciation is key to communicating in their acquired language. I have mexican and japanese friends who try to speak english and I find that most times I do not understand what they are saying. And I see that they themselves struggle to communicate, searching for the correct words to use and how to say them properly. Many years ago, I took a french language class and found for myself that repetition and practice pronunciation helped me in my class. That and memory work solidified my foundation for the french language. I don't speak it fluently, because I have not had the chance to practice it. Hopefully, those students of the english language will fair better than I and learn to speak english in their daily lives. I am sure somewhere in my future english classes, I shall devote some time to pronunciation and memory drills for my students. Hopefully, I shall learn how to teach a beginner english class and lay a good foundation for my students to advance faster and easier in their quest to learn how to speak english.