portret

[leelaportret]

hi, i'm not a teacher nor do i have experience in teaching but i have to give lessons to people that already speak english on a very besic level, i have no idea where to start and the classes start in a few day.
Do you have any usefull tips?

[Casiopea]

Welcome.

First, could you provide us with a bit more information?

1. How old are your students?

2. What is their first language?

3. Are they learning English in an English speaking country (ESL) or are they learning English in their home country (EFL)?

4. How many lessons will you teach?

5. How long is the lesson time?

6. How many students are in the class?

7. What does 'basic level' mean?

8. Will you be teaching conversational English?

[leela]

Hi,my students will be from 20 to perhaps 40 years old. They will be learning from thier country which is half english and half (their language)as they are all of Asian descent.I will have to taech for as long as 1 year, 5 days a week, 1 hour per day. The amount of student in class is not clear as yet as i have to separate the writers from the readers.
I've listened to thier english and i can tell that they need to learn some grammar, vacabulary and also writing.
The problem is that i can speak good english and i volunteered to help but as i'm not a teacher, i feel i need some help.
thank you.

[Casiopea]

Leela, it sounds good. First, if I were you, I'd head on down to one of the major bookstores in your area, as they should have a selection of English textbooks for teaching English that you could use as a base. If not, there are on-line bookstore; i.e., Amazon.com. You might also want to consider surfing the thousands of sites that provide lesson plans for EFL and ESL teachers. Keywords to search under: EFL (English as a Foriegn Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language). Second, given you've not had a chance to assess your students or the chance to ask about their expectations of the course and you, the teacher, it'd be practical to do so in the first lesson. Get to know your students, let them get to know you, and what they can expect from the course. This is quite easily done by asking students, individually, to introduce themselves, as well as to state why they want to learn English and what they expect to get out of the course. Their answers will help you design or structure your future lessons, and their delivery, how they express themselves, will provide you with a better insight into what level they are at and what areas of grammar you should work on with them in the lessons to come.

Hope that helps some.
All the best.