Hi all. I will be starting with a private adult business student next week and I would just like some tips on assessment. His English is good enough to work with native speakers, but he wants to improve it more. He is from Spain. I don;t know how much of a differentce this makes. I will star with this one student, then add others in the next couple of weeks, and possibly have a classroom situation by the end of next month.
This is at an office and the company is paying for their Spanish employees to have English instruction. I met with their HR director a few days ago and he's ready to go with it all. I will be teaching both oral and written English and I have to do an assessment first.
Can you please suggest good, effective assessments for oral and written English that would be good for a private adult student?
Thanks
there is less gender posessive pronoun mother tongue interference amongst Spanish native speakers than in French, for example. eg his mother, her father a french speaker has trouble getting their head around it not always being her mother and his father - although they may have issues confusing "their" with 'his/her" - and always in Spanish when talking about collectives , they revert to the masculine - eg his fathers (instead of his parents) or her brothers(when talking about a mixed group of siblings, even if there are say 3 girls and one boy). One issue that they seem to have problems with is comparatives and superlatives eg big the more big the most biggest and pronunciation of words beginning with s becoming es and the sh sound becoming s.
I remember having one very attactive student telling me she was late because her tits were hurting when in fact she was referring to her teeth.
My experience with Spanish students was do not discuss Gibraltar, bullfighting, Britain, Sir Francis Drake, The ETA/Basque situation, football, tourists or Colonialism. Or immigration or gypsies. And dont discuss anything about any other cities/regions if you are in Madrid Barcelona or Valencia.
Also do not be offended by "tutting" - it is not an indication of contempt in the same way that it is in english, more a way of showing disagreement - it used to really offend me until I understood that.
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Originally Posted by Silverfox
A perfect opportunity for the old fox to offer the extra and promotional service of orthodontic massage.
Wow, silverfox, thanks for all that insight and all those tips! It's a huge help to me.
^ Nat, they will add to your forever burgeoning database, but if I do say so myself you've already quite a nice set.
My students at the Uni. of Derby were all Spanish. But it helps if you know Spanish as well.
Brush up on your grammar. They do ask what the difference is between a gerund and an infinitive. They are highly astute students and throw some really good grammar and vocab questions.
Do the soft R samples as they will speak it the Latin way: long and strong.
They love to converse, but they also like homework and expect you to give it. Talk about their interests, Cultural differences, food, etc. They love to talk about Spain and regional issues, so use it to your advantage.
Use lots of action verbs and the usual tenses lessons.
Buenas suerte!
Muchos gracias, senor AYM. I don't have a Spanish keyboard so I can't add the squigglies and accents.
Yes Ajarn Yai Mak they love to talk about regional issues but in a group discussion it will end in a mini-war and people end up storming out lol!
They do like homework and they do like to see samples from British Mainstream press or Hello magazine. Scandals involving MP's or Berlusconi perhaps? (not the Spanish Royal Family though!!)
And yes Bill i did offer my assistance!
Nat, homework can be changing tenses in a sentence or to read about a topic, research it and come back and discuss it with you.
With group discussions, regional issues were never a problem. But, knowing their nationalistic tendencies, stay away from the sore spots.
They are often very proud of their region, so bring up issues such as local gastronomy, safe and not so safe areas of their city or town. They never talk in English with each other, so this will get their brains going.
By the 2nd. week you will have a good idea on where to go with discussions. Your biggest challenge will be to shut them up. Just remember, they will always translate from Span to Eng, so correct those immediately!
Great tips. Thanks again.
Other topics that work well are for them to explain to you what the local sayings and analogies are.
For example, for your first lesson, ask what this means:Hace un dia precioso. Veras como viene alguien y lo jode.
It is not very vulgar but funny as hell to watch them explain it, without a smile.
300 Proverbios y Refranes / Proverbs and Sayings
I need to practise saying it correctly!
OK, I'm finally starting with this student tomorrow morning. I will teach him at his office on Tues & thurs mornings for two hours each. He was away on vacation for the whole month of July and now he's rarin' to go. I'm going to start with the 300 proverbs and sayings then develop into reading and writing activities.
He really wants to focus on pronunciation and expanding his vocabulary. I'll give you an update tomorrow.
Nat,
You may want to consider a scientific approach to your assessment. You could google the Cambridge esl course for adults 'Face to Face' which provides a pre-course assessment based on the CEF 'can do' system. You just click on the icon and print it off.
The advantage here is that not only do you begin to establish where his language is in need of repair but also his strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, you will demonstrate to both the student and prospective students that you 'know your knots' and are professional. The knock on could be more students signing up for private tutoring with you and the HR department sensing that they have employed the right person for the job. Who knows, not only might they re-new at the end but recommend you to others.
Good luck and enjoy
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