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Q: How to setup English class for a business?
Hello everyone,
I've just been offered to teach an oral English class for two hours every weekend for a total of two months at a local company in my city. I've been told that the English levels of the students will vary, but most have at least an intermediate level of English with some having an even higher level.
Obviously, class size, access to resources and technology, and several other variables will matter, but I am mostly concerned with creating content that is going to maximum the students' ability to improve their English.
Do you think I should lead this as more of a discussion based course with class materials being given a week prior to the class to give students a chance to practice, or do you think it'd be better to hold their hands more and have more controlled practice?
All opinions, suggestions, and advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.
7 years 44 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
You will need more information from the customer in the form of a needs analysis:
Why do they want english lessons?
It is industry specific?
Is it only about 'face' or are they serious?
The students should be put in similar ability groups to make it easier for everyone - who is going to assess their ability before making up classes?
Being told 'make them love English' (or anything similar) like i have on a couple of occasions, is a recipe for failure and it means that the company is not serious about improving English levels.
Press for more input on the part of the company before agreeing to anything.
Keep in mind that if this is a weekend class, many of the students might not want to even be there and it ends up more stress than it is worth.
You will have to be prepared for a lot of controlled practice at the start as most will be unwilling to actively participate in the class.
Keep in mind, the company themselves are unlikely to have a good unbiased assessment of English levels (i have been told often enough that my students were Intermediate when in reality they turned out to be 'Pre-Intermeidate' or 'Beginner'), so you should insist on speaking to some of the prospective students beforehand to ensure you have a reasonable estimate for yourself.
Good luck with this as it can turn out to either a rewarding experience or a nightmare depending on the motivation level of the students.
But keep in mind that this is in effect illegal work with all that that entails.
You will need more information from the customer in the form of a needs analysis:
Why do they want english lessons?
It is industry specific?
Is it only about 'face' or are they serious?
The students should be put in similar ability groups to make it easier for everyone - who is going to assess their ability before making up classes?
Being told 'make them love English' (or anything similar) like i have on a couple of occasions, is a recipe for failure and it means that the company is not serious about improving English levels.
Press for more input on the part of the company before agreeing to anything.
Keep in mind that if this is a weekend class, many of the students might not want to even be there and it ends up more stress than it is worth.
You will have to be prepared for a lot of controlled practice at the start as most will be unwilling to actively participate in the class.
Keep in mind, the company themselves are unlikely to have a good unbiased assessment of English levels (i have been told often enough that my students were Intermediate when in reality they turned out to be 'Pre-Intermeidate' or 'Beginner'), so you should insist on speaking to some of the prospective students beforehand to ensure you have a reasonable estimate for yourself.
Good luck with this as it can turn out to either a rewarding experience or a nightmare depending on the motivation level of the students.
But keep in mind that this is in effect illegal work with all that that entails.
I would suggest that you ask them just what their goal is, what they wish to achieve with an English class. Then it is up to you to come up with a plan. Simple.
Adding to the above, the real important question is "how much money is involved?"
In all likelihood, someone has realised they can make a bucketload of pocket money by charging them per person, and only giving you one flat (low) rate!
So, if you're going to do this - charge per person!!! I will bet you that the idea will sink quicker than... well, the Titanic went down in a couple of hours, so faster than that! 
I hate to do this, but I always say this. If you can't do the job, don't take the job. What you're asking is basic. Also we don't know anything about the class you're going to teach.
Shining: this guy should just take the gig and use it to learn how to teach,
Shining_brow:
Might be worth looking at his posting history... According to that, he can teach... (which brings us back to the OP..!!!)
For whatever reason, my browser is not allowing me to respond to your posts using the comment feature, so I am going to create another answer.
YOU CAN LEGALLY PRIVATE TEACH IN CHINA
On the United States Embassy website, it states that you are allowed to accept private work as long as your company provides written consent. Has there been some recent changes to the law, or is the United States Embassy completely wrong?
http://shenyang.usembassy-china.org.cn/teach.html
Many people view this website to get information on China. I think we all need to get our facts straight, before we start posting things that aren't completely true.
Englteachted - Based on many of your previous posts, you're probably just flaming me to get a raise out of me, but I'll still respond nevertheless.
I asked this question to get some insight on private teaching to a group like this. I know I didn't provide many details, but I was just curious to see if others have had similar experiences, so that I could learn from them to better improve the quality of my instruction. There's nothing more to that.
In addition, I'll state that I am currently teaching at an international school which is administrated under a foreign principal with decades of experiences. I create all of my own lessons, tests, assignments, hand-outs, PowerPoint, and many other resources for the classroom. My recent teacher evaluation was flawless.
iWolf:
lol......i always go to the chinese embassy website to find out about visa regulations for america. Of course. It makes perfect sense Although the answers you go weren't to your liking they were all pretty accurate. The bottom line is this: foreigners cannot perform any part time work. End of story. Your company writing you a note is laughable. At the end of the day it is up to you whether you choose to take the risk for a measly few rambos doing something which it appears you don't know much about. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Englteachted:
Why not contact SAFEA and ask them. Would you use the Chinese embassy a source for finding out what is legal and illegal in America? Again, this is basic intelligence.
Englteachted:
Also, I'm a highly experienced teacher who designs my own lessons, 'can anyone design a lesson for me about Business English?' Go to taobao and download a damn book for christ's sake.
morget:
iWolf - Did you even bother looking at the website? I am the only one who linked a website with information on private teaching in China. I guess the embassy isn't very credible.
Engteached - I don't know? Because, I trust the embassy website. I am curious to know where you learned that it is always illegal to private teach in China.
You also sound very elitist here. You've never asked others for advice? What if you moved to South America to teach English and you've never taught students from there before, would you not ask other teachers for advice? I don't care how much experience you have in your respective field, you will always need to seek the advice of others or you will never be very successful.
Englteachted:
I seriously doubt your intelligence or your motives. Your post is about working part time but you use the term 'private teach' when talking about legality. You're either mentally ill and are trying to bend reality to fit your wants or you're being disingenuous for some ulterior motives.
Englteachted:
I actually have well over a decade of teaching experience, in America and China. If I ever asked a bunch of strangers how to do the basics of a job that I took, I'd fire myself.
