Job Discussion Forums

[MikeySaid]

Do they?

I've seen students walk out of class convinced that they've learned soooo much because their teacher pounded them with the why's and the how's of a language but... in learning Spanish... rules never helped me.

Mexican students seem to think its better to learn a language as if it were math... not acquire it. Do you think this is better for them? What method/system works best for you?


pssst... also, I have a really hard time getting my students to write down any vocabulary, and in a language like English where spelling often makes little sense... I believe it is important to make words go in your ear and out your hand, instead of just in one ear and out the other.

[Oreen Scott]

Students will soon know whether they are learning or not if quizzed and tested regularly.

[Phil_K]

I believe that you can't teach someone how to learn - he should have learnt that in school, so it is up to the student. If he really wants to learn, he will.

[leslie]

Bye

[Prof.Gringo]

They know they have learned when they pass to the next level/book and they pay their next round of fees!

It's not just a school, it's a business.

[Kootvela]

I have to tell my students that they're making progress because somehow they can't really name it. Maybe it's in our nation or smth If to ask them, they're never making progress, duh!

[MikeySaid]

At my school we don't give grades. Writing is frowned upon. Written tests don't happen.

This is part of the problem. We also have students hanging between intermediate and advanced receiving "topical" classes to improve their listening/speaking.

[TheLongWayHome]

A few observations:

Coursebooks don't work.

Copying stuff down doesn't work - and is often copied down wrong.

Testing doesn't work.

Conversation classes don't work.

What works? Games, the dumber the better. It's the only way my uni students ever remember stuff. They remember the frickin game!