Our method of learning a language and why this is simply more than Tuition.
All clients are different and therefore there is a right method just for them.
How did you learn your mother tongue again. Through trying and failing and by correction. Its really the same as anything.
It gets summed up by the term "experience" in common parlance.
Through experience you gain confidence and the process is self generating.
Often people have decided for themselves the limits upon which they set this goal. I want to concentrate on grammer or
I wish to do as little grammer as possible and only speak.
Our method provides for the introduction of grammatical structure from the use of the language. You understand the
context of the grammer from its use. This is how you learn any skill successfully. Only with learning a language often through
past study at school the emphasis has been to leearn the rules of the language for passing a limited test on these rules rather
than a serious attmpt to communicate in the language.
Soundding a bit absstract already?. Okay lets give an example from another skill that can be learned.
Many clients have come to us with an interest in sailing. They are more than interested in sailing for some it is a passion.
The rules of the sea that provides for when you should turn to avoid a potential collision between boats.
These need to be learned -they are essential for the safe navigation of a small or large boat. On the printed page they
can appear rather abstract and not a little borng. However their instant ability to know these will sooner or later save
your life.
You can attempt to memorise these but until you see their relevance to you they will not be fully implanted. (This is
the grammar if you will) the rules of the sea.
How these are brought into your experience is important.
A good instructor with a passion for sailing will take you from the harbour and hand you the tiller to feel how
it handles and sooner or later you will be confronted be a conflicting boat. Up to this point you are quite happy in your
comfort zone. The boat bearing down on you will require you to take a decision. The good instructor will leave it to the last
moment toa llow you to respond to the situation.
Only a the last momnet if your knowledge fails you will you be prompted to avod disaster.
From that perhaps uncomfortble experience you will learn. It is isnt the same as simply observing the captain of the
boat making these apparently effortless changes in direction. You need to be put on the spot. The trainer who keeps the tiller
to him or herself.
The poor instructor will clutch the tiller and lecture upon the method of carrying out these manoeveres or constanting
demonstrating them and then turn to another asoect and lecture on that. You dont see the relevance to you and your motivation
understandable declines.
Su it is with language teachers.
A key signpost to the success of your mastering the language is how much of the talking the client does as opposed to
the teacher. The best teachers encourage the client to do the talking and continues to stretch the client and correct where
necessary.
Teachers who are inclined to lecture their pupils on how to use the language, intervene more than necessary or move on
to another aspect before the client has fully consolidated what they have apparently learned. The client will need further
reinforcing of this this perhaps repaeted times. Only then does it becomes acquired and useful. This takes time and not a
little patience.
A language teachers who may have impeccable credentials may be toatlly useless in this function. We know what makes a
good trainer of our courses and simple paper crednetials are not enough. We dont need teachers who want to lecture our clients
on how to speak a language.
Our teachers themselves need to continue their development and continue to exchnege ideas and and perhaps discuss
methods of excercises of overcoming particualr problems in learning. You trainers to us nee to be monitored closely and their
own weakknesses exposed and corrected.
As with a client we cant expect the trainer to volunteer their deficciciences or weaknesses. This is an objective monitoring
exerceise.
This monitoring needs to be done a close hand. We couldnt attempt to do this from a long distcnce.
You need time for your weak areas to be discovered and special attention taken to resolve these.
With sufficeintly time immersed in the language you will come to think in that language.
Now you can go to countless lectures on the rules of the sea. You can even watch other pupils go through this process
but you need to do it for yourself.
This experience needs to berepaeted and reinforced with practical examples, at night under differnt weather conditions
and variables.
You cantanticipate evety encounter on the open sea but you need sufficient confidence to fo outon your own from
the harbour and use the base knowledge and experience to encounter neew experiences with the base of cnfidence and experience.
These is what we attempt to do. Handling a boat in every circumstance is beyond a system of training. Just as learning
another language it is a life-long process of learning What is requird is sufficient training and experience to st you
lose on your own with sufficeint motivation and confidence to face what can be thrown at you without immediately wanting to
turn back to your mooring.
Therefore as with the need to learn the rules of the sea so it is with learning the rules of a language. It is our method
to introduce these rules (the grammatical rules) f the language following on from their parcatical necessity.
Some clients get bogged down in this process because they seek constantly to understand the rules themselves. Over
emphasis has been place in seeeking to understand certain rules than than simply accept them.
For example consistently questioning the rules themselves. In sailing you turn right when faced with a boat coming
at you straight on. Why the client asks. Why does a boat have a red light on the port side and greeen on the starboard.
There may be historical reasons there may not be but in many cases acceptance of the rules even if they dont fit a perceived
prexistent logic is the best course. Accept the rules but more importantly learn to use them instinctively and move on.
This process of learning the rules and your repiaire of skills such as expanding vocabulary will require repaeted
revisiting until you are comfortable with handling the experience. For example during your 8 or 12 hour day you may visit
an aspect during the start of the day we may revist this again during the day until it is acquired to the extent that you
need to take action to avoid collsion without conscious thought.
With one to one training your ability to react to different situations has to be monitored constantly. Your weaknesses
have to be sought out and resolved.
We cant necessarily rely upon our clients to tell us what their deficeinces are we have to probe these and test them.
A key signpost to the success of your mastering the language is how much of the talking the client does as opposed to
the teacher. The best teachers encourage the client to do the talking and continues to stretch the client and correct where
necessary.
Teachers who are inclined to lecture their pupils on how to use the language, intervene more than necessary or move on
to another aspect before the client has fully consolidated what they have apparently learned. The client will need further
reinforcing of this this perhaps repaeted times. Only then does it becomes acquired and useful. This takes time and not a
little patience.
You need time for your weak areas to be discovered and special attention taken to resolve these.
With sufficeintly time immersed in the language you will come to think in that language.
