So you want to improve your English: Choosing the right program and teacher

When I sit down with professionals who want to improve their English, at some point during the needs analysis I outline the process of what we need to determine together in order for them to choose me or some other trainer. I would like to share with you the process and what is important in choosing a language trainer and program.

I am a freelance English trainer for adult professionals. Previously I was the Country Manager of Instruction of a global language school (see my LinkedIn profile) and I have more than ten years of experience in assessing the needs of students, putting together customized programs and delivering private lessons and group seminars.

There are three aspects to assess when you are choosing a language learning program:

• The method
• The material
• The trainer/teacher/facilitator

Ask the language school about their method:

• How is your language learning method different than other methods?
• How does your approach determine the goals of the individual student and make sure the student achieves those goals?

Regarding the material used in the program:

• Ask to see the material. If the material is not interesting or directly relevant to your life or profession, it can be a burden to your progress.
• Can my own company reports, published material and emails be used as the basis for a customized program?
• Don’t think more is more. Programs that have books with CDs, DVDs, online material (that you pay for) may not be the right fit for you needs. So many students who insisted on buying books and CDs ended up never using them. It’s kind of like buying all the gear for bike riding but then never pushing the pedals.

The teacher – Who is across the table from you?

The most important aspect to consider in choosing the right program for you is who is the individual who is going to deliver the material and the use the method to help you improve your English communication skills. In the end, this will determine the success or failure of your program.

Here are some guidelines for choosing a teacher:

• What is the teacher’s background? Does the teacher have a previous business background with ten years teaching experience or is the teacher a 22 year-old who has just finished a 4-day teacher training course?
• What recommendations does the teacher have?
• Insist that you meet the teacher; chemistry is important. Ask yourself, can I spend hours in a room with this person?

Robert Moneyhon is an ESL Trainer, Workshop Facilitator and Presentation Coach

Contact: robert.moneyhon@gmail.com   054-550-6566

Common Mistake: Two “To”s

Mistake 1. – Explain to me

Often my student will say: “Let me explain you.”

The correct phrase is “Let me explain to you.”

I tell them think of “explain to” as one word “explainto” because in most cases “to” will follow the word explain.

Mistake 2. – Have to, need to but must (no to)

My students: “I must to go to the bank.”

Correct phrase: “I must go to the bank.” There is no “to” after must which is, I admit, confusing because you say “have to” and “need to”.

The only way to break this habit is to repeat sentences using must (without to) over and over until your brain creates a muscle memory of the structure.

Say this out loud once a day for 23 days:

• I must wake up with a smile everyday
• I must be careful what I read in the news.
• I must remember to compliment someone today.
• I explained to him
• They explained to us

…you get the picture.

Robert Moneyhon is an ESL Trainer, Workshop Facilitator and Presentation Coach

Contact: robert.moneyhon@gmail.com   054-550-6566

A Bag of Please, Thank You and I’m Sorry

Language is one of the legs that supports culture. There have been several captivating studies done on the subject of the how our sociocultural identity is formed by and tied to language.

One of the cultural DNA strings of English is polite language: expressions such as please, thank you and I’m sorry. Why does English have this polite gene? I am sure fascinating explanations can be spun and proved to answer this question but in the end, I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is. Thank you very much.

I tell my students to keep a bag of “please, thank you and I’m sorry” and sprinkle them generously in your written and spoken English.  Please allow me to demonstrate:

A simple dialog in a shop – no please/thanks/sorry

• Customer: Can you tell how much is this shirt?
• Clerk: It is $ 20.
• Customer: Does it come in gold?
• Clerk: I’ll have to check current price of gold. Wait here.

The same dialog with please/thanks/sorry

• Customer: Excuse me, can you please tell me how much is this shirt?
• Clerk: With pleasure, it is $ 20.
• Customer: Thank you. Does it come in gold?
• Clerk: I’m sorry, I’ll have to check current price of gold. Please wait here.

Do you feel the difference?

Please/thank/sorry – apply liberally.

Robert Moneyhon is an ESL Trainer, Workshop Facilitator and Presentation Coach

Contact: robert.moneyhon@gmail.com   054-550-6566

 Israel, Professional English, Tel Aviv, Communicating in English, Training in Israel, Executives, Business English, ESL, English as a second language, Learning English in Israel,

Best Practices: Language Learning

Best Practice 1 – Reading aloud 

Over the last ten plus years of teaching English as a second language, my students have always asked me, “What’s the best way to improve my spoken English?”

There is only one way to improve your speaking skills. Any idea what that would be? Go ahead, take a wild guess.  You have to speak to get better at speaking – it’s not rocket science but let’s look at what that really means.

What is the most widely  spoken language? No…it’s not Chinese but good guess. It is bad English – English as a second language, think about it. If you want to improve your spoken English and we agree the one way to improve is to speak, it is not enough to just speak in English because if you are making grammar mistakes you will reinforce your bad English…not good. So how can you improve you speaking skills? Move to Australia for two years?

I have suggested this solution to countless students. Not all of them have the discipline to do it but if you can, I guarantee you will get results.

Simply the answer is to get a contemporary novel by a native English writer and read aloud for five minutes everyday. This practice puts the correct words in the right order and novels are written, for the most part, the same way people speak. It’s as if someone if telling a story verbally. That’s why I suggest novels because you can’t read a newspaper or magazine article aloud; it sounds weird. That’s not how people speak.

What to read? Here is a link to some popular, easy-to-read novels:

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/easy-read-novels

Robert Moneyhon is an ESL Trainer, Workshop Facilitator and Presentation Coach

Contact: robert.moneyhon@gmail.com   054-550-6566

Learning English in Israel, Israel, Professional English, Training in Israel, Executives, Business English, ESL, English as a second language, Tel Aviv, Communicating in English