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Message board > Number of lessons per week + level of your students
Number of lessons per week + level of your students
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moravc
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Number of lessons per week + level of your students
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I know this has been discussed before, but I would like to know the level your students reach at the age of 10, 15 and 19 (20) ?
We have 2-4 hours (about 130-240 minutes) of English per week from the age of 6 to 19 (20)
Students reach the intermediate level, some upper-intermediate level.
10 year-old - elementary
15 year old - pre-intermediate
20 year old - intermediate - upper-intermediate
QUESTION TWO: ARE YOUR STUDENTS USED TO WATCHING ENGLISH FILMS WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES ONLY (no mother tongue), READ/LISTEN TO GRADED READERS, WRITE texts with 500 words or more, listen to BBC, understand websites in English ... ???
DO THEY DO THESE ACTIVITIES REGULARLY - ONCE A FORTNIGHT ?
9 years of primary school (age: 6 - 15)
English is usually 3-5 times a week - 45 minutes lessons
- that �s about 2-4 hours of English per week
At the age of 15 studends are high elementary, lower pre-intermediate
4 years of secondary school (age: 16 - 19)
English is usually 3-5 times a week - 45 minutes lessons
- that �s about 2-4 hours of English per week
At the age of 19 students are higher intermediate, upper-intermediate, some are very low advanced, some of them are able to take FCE (not all students, FCE take usually the students of grammar schools or business schools)
3 or 5 years of university (bachelor / MSc degree)
English is usually twice a week 45 minutes - that �s about 1.5 hour of English per week
Some students reach the advanced level, but only a few take CAE or CPE.
Some are able to watch films without subtitles, few read unabridged books or listen to audiobooks or BBC radio.
We use various books - for kids - Hotline, Project, for teens Headway, Inside out, Matix, Horizons, New English File and many more...
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21 Nov 2010
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moravc
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I am curious :-D
I think there are great differences...
Some countries have several free TV channels with English films with subtitles in the mother tongue. We have 99% English films in Czech, so kids are not used to HEAR the English every day/week except from school...
Similar with books - some public / school libraries have hundreds of graded readers, some have none...
Do you ask your students to read graded readers as a homework??
What �s the situation like in your country? Are your students exposed to English via tv, radio, books, internet on the daily basis???
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21 Nov 2010
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zailda
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Interesting topic!
Only people who have cable TV (very popular in big cities) at home have access to movies, series and TV programs in English � mainly American. The DVD�s come with a language menu, so I guess that unless the teacher asks the students to listen the original English sound without captions in Portuguese, they�ll watch the movie in Portuguese...
Most of the songs teenagers like are from the US, so the ones who like music have the opportunity to have contact with the language very often.
There are more than 180 millions of Brazilians who simply love the internet and are addicted to social sites like Orkut (most of Orkut users are Brazilians) and now Facebook, Twitter and MySpace (the less popular, I think). Since there are too many users, they launch a Brazilian Portuguese version as soon as possible. For now I think only Twitter doesn�t have one, so our students don�t struggle with English during the most of the time they spend in front of their computers. That �s a pity...
Some popular online games (like Tibia) are in English and many students who play it are fully motivated to learn; also most of the videogames (new versions, that they want to play the most) are in English. Great opportunities to learn and practice and most of my students who are videogame / Tibia players do very well in English.
Brazilians are also addicted to msn, and even big companies recommend their employees communicate with clients through messenger as a way of cutting off telephone expenses (too high in Brazil). But most of them only have Brazilians as contacts.
As teachers we have to present movies (original sound track), songs, and motivate students to get online buddies who speak English as their first or second language. It works most of the times.
EDIT: Sorry, I forgot the most important IMHO: I have several students who love movies based in books (Harry Potter, Twilight, etc.) and I suggested them read the books before / after watching the movie. Most of them loved the experience (as I guessed) and are becoming great English readers. |
21 Nov 2010
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foreverjinxed
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I teach Elementary school in South Korea.
From Kindergarten to age 8, English is not mandatory, but most kids receive some sort of exposure.
Curriculum from 2011:
age 9 to 10: 2 x 40 minute classes a week.
age 11-12: 3 x 40 minute classes a week.
The level of students in every class is always very mixed. Curriculum and afterschool classes are taught by Korean and/or native English speaking teachers.
The curriculum books are not international, and are designed solely by Koreans.
There are native English speaking teachers working in a very large percentage of schools, even in rural areas.
Many children attend �academies � for English and other subjects after school, sometimes until late at night.
English is everywhere here, internet, books, movies, TV, radio, but everything available in English, can also be found in Korean, so English is a choice. A choice which is only made by the ones who care about it!
The level of English, generally spoken, is highly disproportionate to the huge amount of money the government spends on English education per year.
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21 Nov 2010
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zailda
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About my students� level and ages:
They start from 6 - 12 years old and the duration of the course varies; if they start when they are 11 / 12 it�ll take them 6 � years to graduate. Some of them go to accomplish their high school education in the US or England, and they are fluent after 4 years of English classes twice a week. They are able to communicate after a semester and some are able to communicate almost like a native in the end of the course.
Once I took one of my American Portuguese students to my English class (they were at the Mastering Course, after 5,5 year of studying) and they started speaking in English. The American guy (Mike) asked each one where they lived in the States, how long they spent there, etc. None of them had been to the States, so Mike got confused because he didn�t know people can learn English and communicate well studying in another country. Of course I was proud of my students.
Unfortunately Mike wasn�t as dedicated Portuguese student as my English ones, so after a year in Brazil he could barely communicate in Portuguese, and there were some occasions when I had to ask him to repeat in English because I wasn�t able to understand what he was trying to say in Portuguese. |
21 Nov 2010
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moravc
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Do you have any sort of state exam for the students of secondary school?
GCSE? Matura exam? School leaving exam?
It is a hot topic here.
It �s going to be a first state matura exam next year for the 19-year-olds. All students will have to pass this exam of English. They will have to sit the Czech test, Math/IT and another subject too. There are 2 levels of the English test- sort of "PET" and lower "FCE".
Do you think it is appropriate after 11-13 years of English???
I find the tests too "easy" after so many years of studies (11-13 years of English)...
PET level
http://www.novamaturita.cz/index.php?id_document=1404033670&at=1
pre-FCE level
http://www.novamaturita.cz/index.php?id_document=1404033699&at=1
What do you think about it? Is it too easy for your graduates??
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21 Nov 2010
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