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Teach English in Gantian Zhen - Zhuzhou Shi

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Competence I live in Quebec, which is a French province in the English country of Canada. Immigrants come to our area with an agreement to learn French. However, many immigrants would also like to learn English since English gives them a broader door to employment. On arrival, some people have already studied English, and some have not. The result is a variance in the intake levels of ability for our English students which presents a challenge for how we run our English Café. When our church decided to start an English ministry as a community service, I researched the possibilities online and by visiting existing English conversation courses. One approach is to work with the materials available. We could use different materials for two groups as part of the same class, mostly running two or more courses at the same time. We could also use the same materials or topics and have different level-oriented tasks. This type of juggling is complicated. I visited a group in Montreal, where everyone attending sat in the same group. The teacher used materials she had prepared and attempted to include all of the fourteen people in attendance in the discussion, but some were silent. Another group in Cambridge, Ontario, uses the same material but divides the attendees into two or three groups according to their level of proficiency. The drawback is that the groups stay small because it is hard to meet the learning needs of everyone present. Also, pairing the weaker students with the stronger students has had limited success since the stronger students tend to take over and do all the work. In an environment that lacks the number of teachers needed, this may be the only approach. The best solution to the challenge of different levels of English learners is to recruit more teachers. As a volunteer organization, we rely on good-will and not a salary to attract potential teachers. Our pool of possible volunteers consists of a variety of people ranging from fluent mother-tongue English speakers to those who struggle with English or attend our English conversation group in addition to their other volunteer activities. As a result, we are not always able to have as many teachers as we would like. Attracting volunteers and training them is the best approach, but it is time-consuming. In addition, I have started a one-one time with a person who came to our course but is much more advanced than our most advanced group. The result of the individual attention is gratifying to both myself and this student. However, it is an additional time commitment on my part. This approach is sustainable with one person, but I would find it difficult to add more individual time slots to my agenda. My conclusion is that teaching English as a second language is a commitment that must come from the heart. Whether a teacher is paid or volunteer, an interest in the students and the material being taught will make all the difference. I teach because I enjoy teaching. I enjoy using language, especially my mother tongue, and I enjoy teaching others to speak English. When I see students progressing in their language skills, it gives me a lot of joy. I have seen students go from speaking no English to being able to participate in a conversation. There is great satisfaction in experiencing these results in the lives of the people with whom I work.


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