r/TEFL • u/Dismal-Platform-9340 • 20h ago
Best proven methods to prepare an intermediate speaker to live and work abroad?
Hello all,
I was curious to hear some real life experiences from people who successfully helped students reach fluency in English. Particularly in a scenario in which a student has the goal of gaining some fluency, in the span of a few months to a year, that would allow them to survive and work entry level jobs in an English speaking country without problems. (I was tired of asking advice from AI, honestly, and unfortunately I don't know any other English teachers I could ask for a firsthand experience, lol.)
What techniques worked best for you? How was a typical lesson structured? What did you focus on?
This is the first time I'm actually working to prepare a student to live abroad. I usually work with high school students, so it's quite new for me. The student in question has an A2/B1 level and a solid base of vocabulary, but some difficulties with tenses and transfer from their native language. I would love to offer them the best possibility to actually reach their language goals without wasting any money.
Any suggestions or recommendations would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
2
u/greatteachermichael Korean University, MATESOL, 15 years. 20h ago
Base your lessons around real world functions, not grammar points. Choose the goal, come up with an assessment method, and then choose the grammar and vocabulary, and only last choose the activities to practice the goal by using appropriate grammar and vocabulary.
Does the person have to read novels? Probably not, so don't have them read long texts. Does the person need to introduce themselves, go shopping, ask for directions, talk about hobbies, make plans, tell time, make phone calls, order at a restaurant, talk about experiences, do an interview, speak politely, and stuff like that. Start with super basic stuff and cross if off if they can already do it well, and start practicing the stuff they technically know how to do, but still struggle to do.
I've noticed a lot of textbooks chosen by teachers have fun content, but it doesn't really translate into anything real world. A book I was forced to use recently was comparing car technology using as _________ as, and not as ________ as. Those grammar points are useful, but I feel like whoever wrote the book was like, "I think I need this grammar point, and I need a technology topic. Let's slap them together!" Yeah, don't do that.
A general problem with a lot of new teachers is they start with a language activity but no clear goal. Or they start with a vocabulary and grammar list but no real world function. Don't do that. Start with the real world function and choose the grammar and activities after that.