I got a message from my dear friend Leticia last night. She asked me the following question:

“Hi Adam! I’m wanting to improve my English. I’m thinking of going to English classes again. Do you think it’s worth it?”

My answer to her question is in the next three posts (far too long for a WhatsApp message…), in which I’ll share with you the biggest problems with standard teaching methodology, how this affects learners’ progress, and what YOU can do about it.

My aim is to help anyone who is asking themselves this very question.

The first problem is regarding the relevance of teaching material.

Let’s get started!

Many language learners go to their classes with the wrong attitude.[thrive_leads id=’1049′]

They go into the classroom and think, or even say, “Ok teacher, let’s go! Put some knowledge into my head!”.

As I always say, all learning comes from within. The learner is the one who is responsible for the process of learning. This also means that the learner should be the one who is responsible for the teaching. The teacher then guides you.

This is how it should be. However, it is mostly how it never is.

Don’t get it?

Let me explain.

What does a teacher do?

“Erm…teach?”.

Well done!

What does a teacher teach you?

“The teacher is the expert, so whatever they feel is necessary”.

Here lies the problem, “whatever they feel is necessary”.

I’ve been teaching students from all over the world, at all levels, for over twelve years. I truly believe that if an English learner is starting from scratch, then absolutely, the best thing they can do to get a solid foundation is go to English classes.

In this case, “whatever the teacher feels is necessary” is totally relevant. Any teacher worth their salt knows what a language learner who is starting from scratch needs.

I said “to get a solid foundation” for a reason.

Let’s compare this to building a house.

Imagine you’re going to build a house. Would you start building the house by laying the bricks directly onto the ground?

No, of course not. The house wouldn’t stand for very long. All houses need solid foundations.

All English learners need a solid foundation. This foundation is the same for every English learner.

As teachers, we know what the basic needs are for ALL students, and will start by giving them that.

However, once the foundations are done, what do you build onto it?

Each house is different; each learner is different. Each learner’s needs start to diverge.

This is where the student should start to take control of their own learning. The problem is, because they’ve depended on a teacher for so long for their knowledge needs, they carry on as normal.

Likewise, the teacher is so used to their role that they continue to do the same thing they’ve always done, which is to be responsible for what the learner learns.

From B1 onward, the learner and teacher should exchange roles to maximise learning. The person that leads the class should not be the teacher, but the learner.

This does not happen in standard English teaching, though.

So the teacher continues doing what they’ve always done. However, as the learner progresses, the language that the teacher decides the learner should learn starts to become less and less relevant.

This is because the teacher needs to teach to the masses, so the language they teach is aimed at the masses. It’s not called “general English” for nothing…

I think learners deserve more than “general”.

Teaching general English at beginner levels is fine because everything you teach them will be relevant for all of them. The foundations of a language are the same for everybody.

As they progress, however, and each learner’s individual needs start to differ, what the teacher teaches becomes less and less relevant for each student.

The learner then starts to make progress more slowly. Then progress starts to stagnate.

This is when the learner starts to feel frustrated and thinks disappointingly, “I don’t get it! I made so much progress when I started learning English, but the more I improve, the slower progress gets”.

Sound familiar?

The teacher can build a strong foundation for you and, to a certain extent, the walls of the house. Everything else, you, the learner, should decide on the finishing touches in the house.

After all, it’s your house!

Do you want a carpet or tiled floor? Would you like curtains or blinds? What colour? Is a beautiful bathroom more important to you, or would you prefer a cosy living room? And so on, and so forth.

The list is almost endless because there are infinite ways to finish a house.

If the teacher decides on all the above, you have a house that you’re not satisfied with. You don’t use the things that were put in the house for you, so you throw them away.

Then you’re left with an empty house, feeling frustrated.

In an ideal world, 100% of the language that a teacher teaches you should be relevant.

100%.

Don’t settle for less.

I’ll explain how to do this after going over the second problem with English classes: the roles of the teacher and the learner.

For that my friends, you’ll have to wait for the next post. You too, Leticia!

Stay tuned!

Click here to read part 2[thrive_leads id=’1049′]