Making Conversation Work for You

About the Book

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About the Author

I have been teaching in Korea for 10 years, mostly at Universities. Of course there are the adults and the children that you teach now and again. Different ages and levels have some things in common. What they learn, or have learned, is segmented. There is a lack of foundation upon which to build. They have learned grammar and vocabulary, reading and writing, but still communication seems to elude them. Foreign teachers often just get frustrated by the textbooks chosen or the lack of support. Everything is about memorizing, but in reality it should be about communicating their ideas effectively. Learning to think differently about what, or how they learn, will bring all these ideas into focus so that English is not just a hodge-podge, but a foundation upon which to build their future learning. The parents spend a lot of money on private lessons but never stick with the school or the teacher. I look at these students as having the information but not knowing how to put it together. I was asked to put some material together for a “teacher’s class”, from my college. I drew from my experience to make something which would be systematic. I wanted to make a book that gave the teacher a foundation from which to build their ideas, not only for foreigners but also Koreans. When I made this book, I gave it out to several teachers, both Korean and foreign. I wanted to see if it was easy enough to teach, and flexible for each teacher to adapt to their style. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. One Middle School teacher remarks all the time, “I used an idea you’re your book.” Most of all the 100 words, that I start the book with, has been her jump off point to expanding the basics of writing real sentences. The dramas create excitement in her class without a lot of stress. The Korean teachers have also found teaching English, using this book, is also easy to do. My passion is to make the learning of English, not only more fun, but also easier. The basic problem in most books is the lack of foundation that they give, or the lack of flexibility. This book allows for creativity and flexibility for both teacher and student. If you work through this systematically, or haphazardly, you will find that the first 100 words will give you the base from which to build. I have had the lowest students make a paragraph at the end of a semester. The higher students have written ten page dramas, or two page essays, in the same time frame. The fun is only beginning when you open this book. There will be a workbook available. Watch for it!