Before learning:

In our first class, Tommy was able to establish confidence as he spoke. He was comfortable using English as his second language. His listening skill was good, he was able to comprehend spoken instructions but sometimes repetition and further explanations were needed for him to understand it well. His ability to understand what he heard was really impressive. He could come up with relative and correct answers with questions that were given to him. Also when it comes to lesson discussions he could easily understand the explanations given to him. In to grammar, he knew basic rules and was able to apply them in his sentences.

As we went on with our classes I noticed that he needed some improvements in the aspect of speaking, vocabulary and grammar. In speaking, his voice was audible but his words were not clear enough to be understood so it turned out that the listener wasn’t able to understand what he said. He also spoke in a fast manner which made him lose his intonation while pronouncing each word. He sometimes answered in phrases and short sentences. He used commonly used words in his sentences and wasn’t able to understand complex words.

After learning:

The SMART program was a big help in Tommy’s progress in getting better in English. I let him read stories in the file and I give corrections when it comes to mispronounced words as well as in his manner of reading. We sing English songs, ask him to describe pictures and let him construct his own sentences for him to be able to describe what he sees in the picture. I also encourage him to give more details about the picture. I also ask him follow up questions using his answers. In that manner he will speak a lot. He will be able to think of answers in different ways and will be able to speak his mind. I also guide him when it comes to complex words. I ask him to explain the meaning of the word and if he is not familiar with it I will give the meaning of the word, explain the usage and give him examples sentences using the words. After that I will let him construct his own sentences to know if he understood the explanation. We also have free talking to practice his speaking and comprehension skills. In this way I can determine his ability to apply what he learned with the lessons that we had. Also impromptu questions will help him comprehend well and express his thoughts using the language. Also I let him retell a story that he read using English. This helped him to improve a lot in the aspect of speaking, comprehension, grammar and vocabulary.

大家好，我叫Tommy, 现在我准备要上初中了。在我年纪小的时候，我并不知道学习英语是很重要的。所以我学起来很困难。然而，我的语法和发音不是很好，我没有要如何提高它的任何想法，最后是我的堂兄Billy让我加入易说堂英语。学了几堂课后，我感觉很好并且一直在坚持学习。我每天都会和Zoey老师进行故事，测试，音乐，艺术和阅读的互动。之后我们会上书本的内容。书中有一些发音和语法内容，我现在已经学会如何正确和有效的运用了。而我的学习咨询师Grace则让我更加清楚了解课程的内容。我喜欢测试日，因为每次测试日我会得到很多谜语，然后我们会一起讲笑话。曾经老师有问我一个谜语，我记得是一个我很喜欢也是很有趣的谜语。这个谜语是：如果你在参加马拉松赛跑，你超过本来第二名的人，那么你第几名呢？答案是第二名，那个被你超过的人现在是排在第三名。所以我认为在易说堂学习真是太棒了！希望你能参加。