Students who do register for just a 1 hour trial lesson, are usually very pleased with the results and we enjoy an over 90% registration rate after the trial lesson.  This goes to show you that a lot students are now seeing the possibilities and quality that can be obtained through an online English training company.

So if your on the fence and not sure about online English language learning with TalktoCanada.com the trial lesson is a great chance for you to test out our services without making a commitment.  One lesson will give you enough information to make an informed decision about our services, so I highly recommend you visit the link below to get started.

http://www.talktocanada.com/individual-training/user-fees/

A lot of our current students were just like you before they tried online learning.  They weren’t sure about TalktoCanada.com and they weren’t sure we could do what we said we could do.   Please register for our 1 hour trial lesson today and let us convince you that we are the right solution for your English learning needs.

Every company is different in it’s needs, some need to train very large amounts of workers while some only need to train a few.  Sometimes the training is very specific, such as, English telephone etiquette or very broad such as general intermediate business English conversation.  On an operational level, TalktoCanada.com can work with very large amounts of students to a small number of students.  Before  you consider enrolling your company in any type of English language services, I recommend you answer as many questions of the following as you can.  By being clear and having a focus to your training at your company, you will be better able to find the right solution and even more importantly the correct company.

• How many of your staff need to be trained?
• Are they all the same level of English or very different?
• Will they all be learning the same content or does there need to be some variety?
• Are you looking for a mass-market cheap solution with a high student to teacher ratio or are you looking for something more, where students are able to talk to the teacher in a low student to teacher ratio such as at TalktoCanada.com?
• What is the time commitment you expect your workers to give to an English training program?
• Most importantly of all, what are your expectations.  Always discuss your expectations with your training provider so that there is no confusion.

Corporations interested in English language training should always take the time to learn a little more about the details.  Without knowing all the details yourself, you may find yourself in a situation of not getting the results that you are expecting.  When it comes to training, it’s all about the results and comes down to, and whether or not all of my staff can speak English fluently as expected or not.

Currently TalktoCanada.com has just over 20 teachers on staff — they work with both individual clients and also our corporate clients  delivering specific and  tailored lessons that range from general conversation to ESP lessons (English for Special Purposes).

All of our teachers are native English speakers — and all are Canadians.  Ask them anything about Canada and they should know the answer — except once someone asked me about the underground mall and tunnel  in Toronto — and I really had no idea what they were talking about — until I Googled it and yes in fact there is the P.A.T.H in Toronto — who would have thought it was so famous??!!

Check out some of our Teacher’s of the Week to get a better idea about who they are and what they like to do:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/05/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-laurie-bilokraly/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/05/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-kyle-gooch/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/04/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-jenn-foldi/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/04/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-tiffany-fudge/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/04/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-nicole-ross/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/04/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-aaron-petrie/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/03/talktocanada-com-teacher-of-the-week-amanda-cameron/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/01/tenielle-patterson-teacher-of-the-week/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/01/kiki-christie-teacher-of-the-week/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/01/lusi-brace-teacher-of-the-week/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/samantha-odber-teacher-of-the-week/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/camille-greer-teacher-of-the-week/

Before we start training companies and students in English, they have a very common and similar question.  The question goes something like this, “How do you teach English?” The answer typically goes the same way.  TalktoCanada.com will help you improve your English by teaching you exactly what you want to learn.  Since starting TalktoCanada.com, we have trained all of our teaching staff to center around the idea of asking the student exactly what they want.  Most students know what they want.   The most common things are; business English, test preparation (TOEFL/IELTS), conversational English skills or vocabulary building.  Sometimes a student doesn’t have anything particular that they want to focus on — this is also a great opportunity to touch on everything and determine which areas need the most work.  Usually when students don’t know what they want they usually need help with their confidence.  Confidence is a big concern for a lot of 2nd language speakers and by working with a tutor you have the opportunity to talk, practice and make mistakes in a non-threatening environment.

Depending on the type of student  you are, beginner, novice, intermediate or advanced, we will work with you to improve all the areas that you feel you need help with.

If your looking for more detailed information about our teaching methods I suggest you read the following blog posts below:

Part I: The Basics of Dogme – Putting a name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com uses to teach ESL online
Part II – Key Principles of the Dogme Language Learning Approach – Putting a name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com uses to teach ESL online
Part III – “To Structure or not to Structure… that is the question….” – Putting a name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com uses to teach ESL online
Part IV: Cookie Cutter Language Learning – Putting a Name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com Uses
Part VI – Modifying the Dogme approach to accommodate your students’ needs – Putting a name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com uses to teach ESL online
Part V – Using the Dogme Approach in group lessons – Putting a name to the methodologies that TalktoCanada.com uses to teach ESL online

I suggest reading Factor #1, Factor #2, and Factor #3 before this post if you are interested in online English learning.

4 – Choose A Course That Allows You to Choose Lesson Material and Content

When you enroll in a online English speaking course, you should have the ability to influence…if not entirely direct…the content of your lessons.  Because of the personal and intimate nature of an online English speaking course, you should be learning material that is immediately relevant to your daily professional, academic and social life.

Here are some questions you may want to ask before signing up with a online English training provider:

*Does you instructor ask you what your learning goals are?

*Does your instructor assess your current level of English and suggest targeted ways to improve on your weak areas?

*Does your instructor work with you to make an individual study plan for you based on your input?

*Are you able to ask and be provided with interesting, up-to-date learning materials relevant to what you want to learn?

*Do you have the option of sending your own lesson materials to the instructor(s)?

These are some of the essentials when it comes to choosing your online English course.  Remember…this is your time, and your money.  You should be the one directing the learning.  You should be the one choosing the learning materials.

I hope you’ve found this little series, ‘Four Important Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online English Speaking Course’ helpful.  Learning English online definitely is the way to go.

I wish you all the success in your English learning endeavors.

Factor 3 – Choose A Course With Flexible Lesson Days and Times

You want to inquire about the flexibility of the lesson days and times.

A quality online English speaking course will give you the full freedom to choose your lesson days and times. You should not be tied down to days and times they select.  Remember, this is you money and your lessons.  They should work around your schedule.

Here are some questions you’ll want to get the answers to:

*Are you able to arrange lesson days and times that are convenient for you?

*Can you postpone and reschedule lessons easily if you are unable to attend your scheduled lesson?

*Does the company charge you for rescheduling or missed classes?  They shouldn’t!

*Are you able to request different instructors if you are not happy with the one you currently have?

*Are you able to put your lessons ‘on hold’ for an extended time if you have to go away for business or holidays?

*Are you able to transfer your lessons to other people if you are not able to continue learning for some reason?

These are some more important questions you’d like answered before you sign up for online English lessons.  Finding out the flexibility of the lesson days and times shouldn’t be hard to do.  If this information is not provided on the website, you’d better call the company and ask.

In my next post, I will be discussing the fourth and final factor of the “Four Important Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online English Speaking Course”…

Stay tuned!

All kidding aside, let’s get down to the question, can the Apple iPad revolutionize online learning.  I think the answer is probably yes and no.  No, it probably won’t do much different then your average netbook right now and yes, at one point in time it may revolutionize the online learning world.  I wouldn’t count on it being the next greatest thing though, laptops can do what an iPad can do just a lot more plus they have usually have a webcam which is great for taking lessons with us (TalktoCanada.com).  However, if your looking for portability and simplicity, this device has it covered.  This device has some great applications or apps as those who use an iPhone will refer to them as, such as:

Learning English with the New York Times
English Language Teaching by the Cambridge Press
English at Work

Like any new technology, this one may require a lot of time before it becomes great for online learning.  At the moment I think it’s more of a novelty, but as  technology improves along with the software/programs behind it, I think it will vastly improve online learning.  Just imagine, sitting in the back of a taxi taking a quick 30 minute lesson while you travel to your next location…one day this will be possible :)

On some of our job ads, I feel like saying daytime junkies need not apply, we are just looking for hardcore night owls.  We also look for staff who don’t mind working around the clock, if you’re only available limited hours and don’t like working like a maniac some weeks it’s best to avoid working as an online teacher (this is not just with us.. this is with almost ALL online jobs).

If you’re looking for that elusive cushy management job with TalktoCanada.com.  Take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, do I want to be available 24/7 (really I am available 24/7 – blackberry, skype, phone, chat —  it’s all part of the job — and to juggle that job with real life sometimes is tricky — but OHHHH so worth it!).  If you thought it was tough being a teacher with TalktoCanada.com, management jobs are 5-10 times tougher (ha! try 100 times harder Marc — this is Jillian again btw).  Try being in bed (what??!! You get to sleep??!! – just kidding!!) and getting a call to replace a last minute teacher having connection problems or to do a last minute two hour demo for a new corporate client.  For the record, TalktoCanada generally hires from within for management positions, so if you’re a teacher with TalktoCanada we may be watching to find those that meet the very difficult requirements for a management job.  If you want to get a little glimpse into the jobs of managers at TalktoCanada.com, I suggest reading some of the multitude of posts by our favourite manager Jillian Zavitz (haha thanks Marc!) :) or by visiting the links below for our ‘Day in the life of Manager’ series.

Marc Anderson
Alysia Bartley
Jillian Zavitz

Thanks to Jillian for commenting on my post in RED.

Companies that are taking the plunge to an online enabled classroom need to make sure the facilities are appropriate and conducive to online learning.  This may require a quiet workspace or a quiet room where there are no distractions.  Some companies that we teach English to,  have even built a lab specifically for online English training.  Normally a company wouldn’t have to worry about setting up internet connectivity for learning as traditional classrooms take care of all this.  Organizations are realizing that with a little bit of effort on their part,  learning online has many advantages over a traditional classroom.  In my case, as the General Manager, I have a lot to gain by convincing companies to train their employees in English with TalktoCanada.com.  So, in order to be impartial, visit the links below and do the research yourself on online learning, it might be right for your organization.

Why Students Like Online Learning?

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-online-learning.htm

For a more detailed analysis of online learning

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies by the U.S. Department of Education

http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

Some key information from the Online Learning study which you can find at the beginning of the report under ‘key findings’:

“Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

“Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.”

“Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.”

“Most of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning did not affect student learning outcomes significantly.”

“The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types.”

Spend some time and do your own research

By advocating online English learning, I am not suggesting any individual or organization jump into an online learning program without doing proper research.  As an organization or individual you need to see if this type of learning is suitable for your demands.  If you’re interested or considering online English training for your organization, make sure we are the first company you contact to find out more information about how we can help you or organization.

In this blog post, I will be discussing the second of the “Four Important Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online English Speaking Course”.

Factor #2 – Choose An Experienced and Friendly Instructor

During your selection process, you want to get as much information as possible about the instructor(s) who you’ll be working with.

Information about the instructor’s experience, qualifications and interests should be easily accessible on the company’s website.

Although teaching English on the internet is fairly new, you want to make certain the instructor has at least some experience teaching online as it differs quite a bit from traditional classroom instruction.

Here are a few questions you should get the answers to:

• Does the instructor have some experience delivering online English lessons? How many hours?
• Has the instructor taught learners with similar English language learning needs and goals as yourself?
• Does the instructor have experience teaching students with the same mother language as yourself?
• Is the instructor friendly, personable and interested in what you have to say? Can you view his/her profile on the company website?
• Is the instructor able to converse on a wide range of topics relevant to you?
• What type of English accent does the instructor have?

These are some of the more important questions you’d like answered before you sign up for online English lessons. There’s nothing worse than getting into an English lesson and finding out you and your teacher don’t get along with one another.

A little research ahead of time should avoid this potential problem.

In my next post, I will be discussing the third factor of the “Four Important Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online English Speaking Course”…

Stay tuned!