The Practically Speaking Conversational English course focuses on speaking practice and vocabulary expansion.  While reading, writing English are recognized as very important, our course is designed to give each student maximum opportunity to hear, understand, and speak the English language to improve their level of proficiency in verbal communication using English.  Our goal is to provide exposure to practical and useful English so that the student can immediately begin to communicate in the English language.  Teachers are all native speakers of American English and have been trained in the Total Physical Response method of language teaching.

Our course typically includes five to six daily classes (one week course) or nine to ten daily classes (two week course) that last from 1 ½ to 2½ hours (the equivalent of up to 12 to 16 hours of exposure to the English language.

During our two week course, we frequently schedule a special event for the weekend between the first and second week.  During the one week course, this special event can be scheduled for the final day of the course.  Special events will always be announced in advance during one of the closing sessions.  The special event is not part of the course, but is offered to our students for additional speaking practice. 

Prior to the first class day, each student undergoes a pre-registration interview with one of the American teachers.  This interview is used to place each student in the class that matches their proficiency in speaking the English language.  Class sizes are optimized to foster an informal, relaxed learning environment that encourages individual and small group practice.  For the Primary and Beginner levels, class sizes typically range from 12 to 20 students.  For Intermediate and above, the classes typically range from 8 to 16 students.

Daily Class Schedule

The daily class includes:

• The opening session where all students gather for announcements about the day's events
• English "warm-up" using American songs (to improve vocabulary, rhythm of the language and pronunciation), pronunciation tips and practice techniques from the School Director
• The small group class time (90 to 120 minutes) with the English teacher for exercises, vocabulary expansion and speaking practice
• Closing session where all students gather for announcements about the days ahead, additional speaking practice using American songs, and tips and encouragement from the School Director
• The time allocated to each segment of the course is typically:
• 10-15 minutes for the opening session
• 90-120 minutes for the small group class time
• 10-15 minutes for the closing session

What We Ask of Our Students

• Make a commitment to attend all lessons
• Complete all information requested on the registration form
• Attend at the same hour each day and attend only one lesson each day
• Provide pen or pencil and paper for personal note taking
• Participate in the speaking practice during the opening and closing sessions and the small group class times so as to receive the greatest benefit from the course
• Arrive on-time for the opening session and stay through the small-group class time and the closing session
• Always wear the student identification badge while at the course
• Attend all scheduled special events on Saturday or Sunday, if possible

Five Different Levels of Classes

Our course offers five different levels of classes that match the student's proficiency in speaking the English language.

Primary - For students who speak very little or no English we offer:

• Basic sentence structures
• How to form a question
• Pronouns
• Vocabulary of everyday American English words
• Individual and group speaking practice

Beginner - For students who already have some vocabulary of everyday words and can make simple

• Complex sentence structures with basic vocabulary
• Past, present, and future tenses
• Additional vocabulary of everyday American English words
• Practice for everyday events and situations
• Individual and group speaking practice

Intermediate - For students who can speak in complex sentences, but may not have a broad vocabulary or demonstrate confidence in speaking English, we offer:

• Complex sentence structures with expanded vocabulary
• Idiomatic expressions
• Practice for everyday events and situations
• Additional vocabulary of everyday American English words
• Individual speaking practice

Advanced - For students who are already comfortable speaking in complex sentences and demonstrate a moderate level of confidence, we offer:

• Extensive individual, contemporaneous speaking practice
• Complex sentence structures
• How to form special questions using American English variants
• Idiomatic expressions
• Additional vocabulary of everyday American English words and expressions
• Practice for everyday events and situations
• Individual speaking practice

Superior - For students who already have a broad vocabulary, demonstrate a high level of confidence, and are able to express themselves on a broad range of topics, we offer:

• Extensive individual, contemporaneous speaking practice
• Additional vernacular vocabulary of American English words and expressions
• Idiomatic expressions
• Discussions of American life

Additional vocabulary of everyday American English words and expressions

Curriculum

The Practically Speaking Conversational English curriculum has been specially developed to provide intensive practice of useful and practical English.  Individual practice and small group practice are used to multiply the amount of speaking time for each individual student during their small group class.

The Total Physical Response (TPR, hearing, understanding, saying, doing) methodology is incorporated throughout the curriculum.  Topics and vocabulary are specifically selected to provide English vocabulary and sentence structure that is immediately useful to the student.  The curriculum is designed uniquely for each level of proficiency.