Recently we opened a new class at the LITE English school with two new students in one of our upper Intermediate Classes.
The remainder of the class had already been with the school for several previous courses – B4, Int 1, Int 2 – but the new students had been examined on their written and oral English at registration, and their grammar tested out to Int 3 level, and so they joined our Int 3 class.
What became immediately evident, however, was the relaxed attitude and confidence of the existing students compared to the newcomers.
Of course, to be fair, any new student to a classroom is going to experience some degree of anxiety as they adjust to the climate of the new class environment.
Nevertheless, the LITE English system is unique and the experienced students have without a doubt developed a level of ease and aplomb when practicing, in English, their new course content and vocabulary.
We are now into our third week of the Int 3 course, however and the new students are already cracking through the barriers of their previous learning patterns and falling adroitly into the LITE learning system.
For example, last night in our class we were engaging in conversation of a controversial topic: Today’s World.
The students launched into their discussion of this subject with gusto and as the room filled with laughter and a highly interested exchange, the classroom took on the atmosphere of a Saturday morning coffee shop with guests chatting animatedly with each other about the latest news and gossip.
It was as if the students didn’t want to stop talking, and if I had let them continue, the entire lesson time would probably have been consumed by conversation alone!
But we had other matters to cover, and so I eventually reined them in.
We had spent no less than thirty minutes on this first step of the lesson plan alone!
These students now can hold a conversation in English easily and relaxedly for half an hour! And they were loving it.
As the newer students advance, the complexities of English grammar slowly drop away and the students just start speaking naturally as if fluency in English had been an innate ability the whole time.
Self-confidence, fluency and ease of expression in English become a natural talent to these LITE English students.
And as my class approaches the end goal of the LITE English curriculum, I can state with confidence that I have done my job well and my students will soon be fully equipped to leave the school with poise and assurance, to travel or work anywhere in the world where the English language is spoken.
Written by Ian
(中文譯文)
看著學生的成長
最近，在淶特英語開設了一個新的班級，其中兩位新學生加入了我們的中高級課程。
班上其餘的學生已經在淶特上過幾個前期課程 – B4、Int 1、Int 2 – 但是新學生在註冊時已經通過書面和口語考試，並且在測驗時達到了 Int 3 的水平，因此他們加入了我們的 Int 3 班。
然而，立刻顯而易見的是，現有學生與新來的學生相比，態度較為輕鬆自信。
當然，任何新來的學生進入教室，都會在適應新的課堂氛圍時，感到一定程度的焦慮。
儘管如此，淶特英語的系統是很特別的，有經驗的學生在用英語練習新的課程內容和詞彙時，已經展現出一定程度的自信和沉著。
然而，我們現在已經進入 Int 3 課程的第三週，新學生已經突破了他們以前學習模式的障礙，並且能夠熟練地適應淶特的學習系統。
例如，昨晚在我們的課堂上，我們正在討論一個有爭議的話題：今天的世界。
學生們充滿熱情地投入到這個主題的討論中，隨著教室充滿笑聲和熱烈的交流，課堂的氛圍變得像是一個星期六早晨的咖啡廳，客人們正熱烈地討論著最近的新聞和八卦。
彷彿學生們不想停止交談，如果我讓他們繼續，整個課堂時間可能全都變成在聊天！
但我們還有其他事情要處理，所以我最終讓他們停下來。
光是教學計畫的第一環節，就花了三十分鐘以上！
這些學生現在可以輕鬆自如地用英語進行半小時的對話！而且他們非常喜歡。
隨著新學生的進步，英文文法的複雜性逐漸消失，學生們開始自然而然地說話，彷彿流利的英語一直是他們與生俱來的能力。
自信、流利的表達和輕鬆地使用英語成為了這些淶特英語學生的天賦。
隨著我的課程接近淶特英語課程的最終目標，我可以自信地說，我完成了我的工作，我的學生們很快將能夠自信地離開學校，在世界上任何講英語的地方旅行或工作。
由 Ian 撰寫