«GOOD», «BAD» LISTENER
Episode 1. Diligent, self-confident: «I have already studied English grammar, know 20,000 words...» – «Say something in English» – «No, I can't speak...».
One day a girl came to us who had completed English courses and claimed to have a very advanced level of English (the textbook «Headway», advanced level), she only had to pass the IELTS test. During testing she did well on grammar tests, but was completely unable to hold a conversation, often thinking about how to construct phrases, but passing such a test requires active communication skills.
Episode 2. A superficial, frivolous person, again self-confident: «In 2 months I am going to America with my boss. He said I must learn the language, I will be his interpreter.»
Episode 3. A purposeful, energetic person, again self-confident: «Can you teach me specifically so that I can negotiate with my partners?»
For all the dissimilarity of these cases, all these people have one common problem: they vaguely understand the subject of their aspirations and will undoubtedly experience surprise during the learning process, only having outlined the difficult task of speaking a foreign language. I like less the people who play on their insecurity, «burdening» the teacher with their doubts, feelings, misadventures and conclusions: they remind me of myself at the dentist. Do you know why surgeons put their patients to sleep? To get rid of advice and comments during work! Believe me, a professional knows more about your problems than you do. The natural question: how to distinguish him? Only by the result of his work. After each lesson you should have a feeling of an obvious positive result of his work.
It is utter stupidity to rely on a diploma. One «English woman» showed me a pile of diplomas and certificates of her achievements. I already began to doubt whether I could afford her work, and as a result I did not hire her, due to the lack of results from her work. But a student from a far from prestigious linguistic institution, after begging me to give her a chance to try her hand, was already leading 4 groups within a month, and when she had to resign for personal reasons, we had problems finding an equivalent replacement. I personally would pay attention to recommendations from people who have already studied.
The living organism of language as a means of communication requires active systematic training. It is like a samovar that must constantly be heated. And if even US residents sometimes attend English courses, what about our compatriots? Although in my practice there was such a case: a person who «really needed it» passed the Australian entry test in 2 months! He studied, however, 4-5 hours daily. His wife studied for a year. But I dare say they will have to study for a lifetime to be people «there». After all, what makes an emigrant an emigrant is not actually the residence permit, but the quality of command of the language of the country where he lives. The rich countries where our compatriots go will become rich for them only when they can be indistinguishable, work according to their abilities and education, and realize themselves both economically and culturally.
SPEAKING IS PLEASANT
Every day we learn and improve in the language we speak. We love to speak and we constantly learn to speak with different people in different ways, to be more convincing and pleasant to ourselves. Once I counted two dozen different greetings to different people in one day of my life!
Under my home window for more than 20 years there has been a «linguistic club» in the form of a dozen pensioners, who piqued my professional curiosity with an inexhaustible stream of talk. Through years of analysis I came to the conclusion: they are practicing... For example, after waiting a while, Grandma Katya, seeing a potential partner from the window, runs down the stairs to the entrance within direct line of sight of the victim. Then, already unhurriedly (since their eyes have already met), she sits down next to them, looking away in search of a spark of motivated speech. Having said her piece, she may also be silent.
The fact is that every person has a virtual language template applicable to solving various communicative tasks. The quality and quantity of such blocks depends on the life of the particular person. So, our Grandma Katya, having, for example, a dozen verbs like: see, take, cost, go, be, know, speak, etc., can carry on a half-hour conversation before the motives change with a dialogue partner. She «grabs» the situation and produces a prepared block, using mostly past tense forms. A person who has devoted years to studying grammar and vocabulary can envy the unattainably powerful speech apparatus, muscle and emotional memory of our actively communicating grandmas.
ALL TEXTBOOKS ARE NECESSARY, ALL TEXTBOOKS ARE IMPORTANT
I can say it differently: in Kyiv, the quantity of textbooks is fine, but with the number of English speakers, things are much worse. Every textbook is a teacher, its point of view on the learning process. I would say that every worthwhile teacher should write a textbook as a result of his activity, but I am afraid that not every textbook is the result of such activity. It is reasonable for teachers to take material from many textbooks that best suits their individuality and the characteristics of their students, building their own methodology on this. In general, methodology is a successful, effective activity, a technology confirmed by the teacher's practical experience. It cannot be observed or learned theoretically – it must be passed through oneself.
HELP YOURSELF
When learning a foreign language, try to analyze your daily life from the perspective of communication with close and not-so-close people. Teaching motivated speech requires a certain teacher qualification, and this, unfortunately, is a rather rare phenomenon. Therefore, if you are being taught bookish language, try to compose and speak (mandatory!) simple everyday phrases yourself. English grammar is primitive, accessible, so everyone can do it. Try to avoid the erroneous thesis 'by teaching you to speak 'their way', we teach you to think 'their way'. Believe me, you can only think in your own way; it's a different matter how we express our thoughts. An American working with us often criticizes our somewhat heavy (oversaturated with grammatical constructions) English. Indeed, Americans speak simple phrases, and not only because not all of them have received expensive education. The rhythm of life forces them to be precise, concise, without overly ornate rhetoric.
Alexander VOYNA,
director of the linguistic center 'Elite A+A'.