Posts Tagged ‘esl’

Getting to Know TalktoCanada.com – Corporate Language Training

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Corporate English language training is a topic that most companies both large and small who operate international have talked about at one point or another.  There are so many different variables for each company that it’s hard to talk about a one size fits all approach when discussing training with a new corporate client.

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.

time money quality

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.

Part I Goals – What every corporation should know about Language Training

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

What do you want to get out of the training? What are your objectives? What are your long term plans and goals? These are questions that you need to answer before determining what kind of language training would be beneficial for you. Figuring out what your employees need is crucial in determining the content and best method of training.
Of course everyone has the same overall goal – to learn English – but many have specific goals that can be the focus of the lessons. Business is such a broad topic that narrowing it down can be quite a difficult task. Learning vocabulary related to telecommunications won’t be helpful for a company that sells medical supplies. Specialization and complete understanding of what a company is all about is important to achieve success.
Course content should cover a variety of things. Basics in grammar, vocabulary, idioms and expressions, practical application, and review of learning should be fundamental aspects in a lesson. Activities and exercises that stimulate the students instead of putting them to sleep is always a challenge – making everyone happy all the time is sometimes a difficult task – but appropriate content that connects and flows together, paired with an excellent teacher is a recipe for success.
Read these blogs about how TalktoCanada.com takes advantage of the online classroom and uses it to its full potential:
http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/03/how-to-be-creative-in-the-virtual-classroom/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/why-canadian-accents-are-the-best-and-the-easiest-to-learn-and-understand-for-esl-learners/

TalktoCanada.com Teacher of the Week – Laura McCusker

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Laura McCusker

Hey there, I’m Laura and although I’ve been lucky to live in Northern Ontario and British Columbia, the UK and also Taiwan, I currently live in my hometown of Hamilton, On. I guess you could say my house is multi-national as my dog was rescued in Taiwan and my boyfriend is Irish. I love learning about other cultures and working at TTC offers this unique advantage. My favourite travelling experience has to be Indonesia, which is not only beautiful but has fabulous people and truly smells like paradise with all the spices. I hope that one day I can make the trip again. I think people would describe me as hard-working, compassionate and creative as I’m always doing photography, cooking and even sewing. I love the summer and like to be outdoors as much as possible either with friends or just relaxing. (Even though I love reading….I am taking a break as I’ve spent the last few years reading nothing but textbooks!)

Being happy is really important and so is being yourself…honesty plays a big role in my life.

4 Part Series – What every corporation should know about Language Training

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Corporate language training is becoming increasingly popular nowadays.  As companies begin to expand into different countries and markets, they realize the importance of having functional English skills to conduct meetings, communicate both orally and through writing, and for social events as well.

It is unrealistic to assume that employees will take it upon themselves and enroll in an English course – outside of working hours, and out of their own pocket no less.  As it is also a misconception to believe that everyone in business has a functional level of English.

There are many language training providers out there – face to face – telephone training – and e-learning.  All offer a different approach and cater to different groups in different ways.  As a company, you need to decide what your goals are and how you are best able to achieve them.

In this 4 part series I will go over the different aspects of corporate language training to help you understand the different aspects and importance of selecting the appropriate corporate language training providers for your employees.

Have a look at these previous blogs to get an idea about how TalktoCanada.com can meet your corporate training needs:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/05/getting-to-know-talktocanada-com-how-do-we-teach-english-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/how-talktocanada-com-makes-online-english-learning-personal/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/part-v-using-the-dogme-approach-in-group-lessons-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

TalktoCanada.com Teacher of the week – Heather Barnes

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Heather Barnes

Working with TalktoCanada.com since 2010

Hello! My name is Heather Barnes. I am currently finishing up my degree in International Development at the University of Guelph. I am fascinated by different cultures and languages. My favourite things include bike riding, hiking, Latin American culture, documentaries, theology, painting, reading, beautiful music, and watching “The Office”. The last book I read was a wonderful novel called “A Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken. If I had to describe myself in three words, they would be: friendly, idealistic, and complicated.

I had my first experience with ESL when I volunteered as a conversation partner for new immigrants to Canada. I loved this position, because it allowed me to learn the stories of people who have come to my country from all over theworld. This experience instilled a dream in me, to make ESL teaching the goal for my future career. Little did I know that the future would come so quickly! Working with TalktoCanada has been a dream come true, and I am enjoying every minute of it! I am making friends, sharing laughs, and learning just as much from my students as they are from me.

It is hard to choose a single motto that I live by, but I would say that “Live well, laugh often, love much” comes close. I am married to a wonderful organic farmer, and we live in a sweet little house in Guelph, although one day we dream of living on an island in the South Pacific.

Getting to Know TalktoCanada.com – How do we Teach English Online?

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

What can you expect when working with TalktoCanada.com?

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.

Questions and Answers - Magnifying Glass on Words

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

Working online – a new era of trust – trust 2.0

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

In this day and age, the Internet and working online – actually doing EVERYTHING online is becoming more and more common place.  People tend to rely on the Internet for much more than just finding information.  People are developing friendships, relationships, breaking down barriers and borders, experiencing new things that only 5 years ago were impossible to experience.  Yes the Internet has changed our lives and there is no looking back.

Working online is no exception.  Online work or as I like to call it ‘e-jobs’ is fast becoming more and more popular and can actually replace traditional “office” work — and is a viable option for many people.  But – with this – comes a new era of trust. Ironically enough – we are limiting ourselves and our opportunities by setting up boundaries and always thinking the worst without any concrete reason why.

Online companies have been painted with red — for those few that have taken advantage of people in the beginning — it has stuck and has caused people to be extremely cautious in all dealings online.  Online companies have to work twice if not three times as hard to prove themselves — and even then – people are skeptical.

is no exception — we are an online company – but we are also a very REAL company. I have many people ask me to validate our credibility — and on one had yes I understand why they are asking — but on the other hand I wonder what it is that they are looking for that they cannot find on the website.

When comparing sketchy online English language providers (yes there are a bazillion out there) the first red flag that should come up would be in the name (personally non-biased opinion here – TalktoCanada.com rocks as a name – and does not have anything sketchy about it at all).  After that – content, web page presentation, and access to information usually will either encourage you to sign up or apply for a job — depending on the sketchy factor.

After that – it’s up to you to put your trust in someone that you’ll meet via Skype or WebEx or the telephone.  And that is a new kind of trust.  The new era of trust 2.0 as I like to call it.  I’m not going to lie, I too was skeptical at first — not really understanding this wonderful online working world — but being open to trying it out.  2 and a half years later — I trust my little working world at TalktoCanada.com more so than I would a traditional company.

I trust as I never have before — and it goes both ways.  In these 2.5 years I have yet to “meet” any of my co-workers – but despite that I’ve been able to trust them and them me through this crazy invention called the Internet.  We share stories, experiences, and plans for the future.  We put our livelihood in the hands of someone  that although we talk with everyday and have “thousands” of emails from — have yet to meet.  It’s surprising — but it’s new — and it’s the direction in which thing are headed.  You can either jump on or jump off — there is no half way – - But I recommend taking that plunge and trying it out.

TalktoCanada.com Teacher of the week — Aaron Petrie

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Aaron Petrie

TalktoCanada.com Teacher since 2010

I’m D. Aaron Petrie, an English Teacher in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Canada’s East Coast. I have a BA in history from The University Of Kings’ College (Halifax) and have recently returned from several years teaching English and studying Chinese in southern Taiwan. Three things I often seem to get called are enthusiastic, restless and nocturnal. I heartily enjoy my work with Talktocanada.com because it lets me meet students from around the world and enjoy genuine, thoughtful exchanges with them. It also keeps me on my toes, as my motto in teaching is “show, don’t tell”. I tend to get a workout from miming and gesturing my way through lessons, whether in a classroom or in front of a camera. In my spare time I study French and Chinese, and volunteer with a community radio station. Lately I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Ruth Minnikin & Her Bandwagon’s CD “Depend on This”, often while re-reading favourite passages from Lisa Moore’s novel “February”. My plans for the next year or so involve getting a few more stamps in my passport, why not drop me a line if you have a suggestion for where.

How to be Creative in the Virtual Classroom

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Having a virtual classroom doesn’t mean that you have to give up your creative side — if anything, it means that you should beef it up a bit.  HOW you may ask? Well there are a few ways that I’ve actually done — and a few ways that I’ve seen other teachers to be quite effective in the virtual classroom.

1) Bring in Props!!

Today’s lesson is about FOOD — Fruits and Vegetables — what easier way to show what you are talking about than to SHOW the students what it is… it adds a little bit of “REAL” to the class.  A lot of countries have different fruits and veggies — and it is interesting to share, especially if you have it in your hands.

2) Sometimes it’s fun to add a little bit of weather into the classroom

I know my studentsalways got a hoot out of seeing snow — as most of them had never experienced it before.  I’d show them shots out of my window — and sometimes at the beg of the class add a little graphics — just to make things a little bit more interesting,.

3) Special Holidays

A lot of teachers take advantage of the fact that there are special holidays that fall on teaching days: ie: Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentines Day etc… These are by far the easiest days to take advantage of to be creative in the classroom.

There are a TON of ways for you to to spice up your virtual classroom — as an online teacher its important that you find a way that your students respond to best.  They’ll like it — try it! :)

Why teaching English expressions is important

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

A lot of students have the “I want to speak fluently” goal, actually probably about 100% of my students want to achieve this goal.  Most of them have an extensive vocabulary base — but lack the most important thing — English expressions — and I’m not talking just the “top 10 common ones” I’m talking about the ones that native speakers use on an everyday basis — without thinking about it.

Before I started teaching English — I didn’t realize how often I would use common expressions in my speech.  I don’t normally use a lot of slang words — but I do use many expressions that can change their meaning depending on the situation.  One of my favourite words to teach is “SKETCHY” — this word can be used in a variety of situations and its not one that you’ll find in a “Learn English like a native speaker” book.

Usually how expressions come up is either through random conversation — or in an article (students tend to pick out the most obscure words to ask about sometimes) or just a question because they heard it somewhere (TV, movie, book) and wanted to know what it really meant.

Of course learning and MASTERING using English expressions are 2 entirely different things.  I have a few students who are able to use the new expressions in the right situation — and others who don’t quite get it right away — but its always encouraging to hear them use an expression that I’ve taught them a few weeks after the fact — and especially when they use it in the right situation!  I know my job as an English teacher is working and their English is actually improving.

So the next time you hear a non native English speaker use an expression in their speech let them know that you think it’s awesome that they are able to do it!