.
Plaza Bami 1 bajo
28017, Madrid
+34 91 404 12 90
info@emersonlanguages.com
www.emersonlanguages.com
.

Feb 11, 2009

Telephone Classes? Are you serious?

Actually, very serious! Phone classes are an excellent way to improve listening and speaking skills and can be taken on a stand-alone basis or in conjunction with presential classes. They also have the advantage of not having to physically go to a place but can be taken anywhere there is a landline. At Emerson, the phone classes are very structured and follow guidelines so that the student doesn’t just “babble”. But the biggest asset that we have is the teachers themselves. It takes a very special type of person to be a phone-teacher: informed, organized, patient, internet savvy, good diction and enunciation, loves to talk on the phone as well as be a good listener, are just a few of the characteristics necessary and we have been fortunate to have found teachers who not only possess these characteristics but embody the essence of being true ESL teachers. While at first glance it may look like an easy job, it is not – it is a lot of hard work and can be more trying than face-to-face classes. Because the student cannot see who is on the other end of the phone, the teacher needs to work twice as hard at establishing a rapport with the student. This can be especially difficult when a student is shy or insecure, but once the teacher has managed to help the student overcome his/her fears the learning curve suddenly becomes a steep incline! So, “telephone classes, are you serious?” Yes, very!!!

1 comment:

  1. As a Phone Teacher here at Emerson, I also wanted to add that many of my students have truly improved their level, because it is due to the DIRECT ATTENTION that the student gets, since often times in a group enviornment, it's harder to address this very important, key element for understanding the real need for each student to advance

    ReplyDelete