Ellie Leacy: Teaching a language

As a project of mine I took it upon myself to begin teaching English to a few people who struggled with their grammar. I have had some experience with tutoring as a couple of years ago I tutored a girl who was dyslexic back home. However, tutoring a native English speaker is a lot different than those whose first language is not English. Teaching English is not as simple as just going through vocabulary. I realised I have to help them understand the language efficiently and effectively as the grammar can be very confusing to those who have not learned it from being a child.

In preparation of my lessons I would put my own knowledge to the test by creating work booklets for the people I would teach. I found it easy because what I was teaching was quite simple, for example; different tenses, sentence structure and dictation exercises. Although, teaching was easy actually preparing the work was more difficult. Putting the exercises in a decent order and making it not too strenuous was very time consuming. It would usually take me the majority of the working day to create the work booklets which I did not mind as it was going to benefit somebody else in the long run.

During the start of the classes I noticed a few students were a bit shy about saying any verbal answers in case they were wrong. At this point I realised it was important to reassure them it is not a bad thing because it shows they are willing to learn and correcting mistakes is a way of learning. I learned that method of teaching from my own teachers from when I was in college as they wanted us to be more motivated to learn rather than be scared to.

When tutoring feedback is always key because even I, as the tutor, needs to learn and reflect back on what I am teaching. At the end of lessons I would ask the pupils what they would want to go through next time therefore I could prepare the work. Personally I think that is what some teachers lack; basic feedback. It is important to always listen to your student as that is your only source of constructive criticism.

Another tactic of learning I used other than work booklets was presentations. I had made a presentation on how English grammar is and can be used. This proved to be helpful since I would have to verbally explain tenses and show examples rather than the group reading and having to figure out what certain topics meant themselves. I think this was a good opportunity for them to ask me questions and to discuss amongst each other to compare their opinions and see that was correct.

In closing to what has been said I think my English lessons have been beneficial and will carry on being useful the more I do. This goes for me and the people who I teach because i believe we can all learn from this experience.

As a project of mine I took it upon myself to begin teaching English to a few people who struggled with their grammar. I have had some experience with tutoring as a couple of years ago I tutored a girl who was dyslexic back home. However, tutoring a native English speaker is a lot different than those whose first language is not English. Teaching English is not as simple as just going through vocabulary. I realised I have to help them understand the language efficiently and effectively as the grammar can be very confusing to those who have not learned it from being a child.

In preparation of my lessons I would put my own knowledge to the test by creating work booklets for the people I would teach. I found it easy because what I was teaching was quite simple, for example; different tenses, sentence structure and dictation exercises. Although, teaching was easy actually preparing the work was more difficult. Putting the exercises in a decent order and making it not too strenuous was very time consuming. It would usually take me the majority of the working day to create the work booklets which I did not mind as it was going to benefit somebody else in the long run.

During the start of the classes I noticed a few students were a bit shy about saying any verbal answers in case they were wrong. At this point I realised it was important to reassure them it is not a bad thing because it shows they are willing to learn and correcting mistakes is a way of learning. I learned that method of teaching from my own teachers from when I was in college as they wanted us to be more motivated to learn rather than be scared to.

When tutoring feedback is always key because even I, as the tutor, needs to learn and reflect back on what I am teaching. At the end of lessons I would ask the pupils what they would want to go through next time therefore I could prepare the work. Personally I think that is what some teachers lack; basic feedback. It is important to always listen to your student as that is your only source of constructive criticism.

Another tactic of learning I used other than work booklets was presentations. I had made a presentation on how English grammar is and can be used. This proved to be helpful since I would have to verbally explain tenses and show examples rather than the group reading and having to figure out what certain topics meant themselves. I think this was a good opportunity for them to ask me questions and to discuss amongst each other to compare their opinions and see that was correct.

In closing to what has been said I think my English lessons have been beneficial and will carry on being useful the more I do. This goes for me and the people who I teach because i believe we can all learn from this experience.

Ellie Leacy