Teaching English Step 2

This article is with regards to instructing business English. From a personal point of view, this has always been my favourite form of instructing English. My experience is in Madrid, Spain but this counsel covers most countries with instructing Business English.

I was lucky to have a strong business background in law and HR so it felt like a natural route for me to take. However a heap of of my graduates get very nervous in regards to instructing business English, peculiarly if they are new graduates with fixed experience in the business world

What are you teaching?

The basi thing to do not forget is that you are instructing English in a business context, not instructing business in English. Many of the managers I have taught have talked regarding how patronizing they find it for a college graduate to walk into their office and commence instructing them how to give a presentation! They know how to give a presentation, they need help with the tone and terminology in English – assure your classes are never patronizing. Many of the instructing text books do fall into this trap so make sure you adjust your classes to your audience.

On the other hand, even with fixed experience of business it means that you may be a good teacher to any student who needs business English. If you are instructing finance English for example, the majority of the aid they will need is the English you already know, for everything else there are specialist books and dictionaries. Don’t get me wrong, there are always students who need humans with specialist psychological result of perception learning and reasoning and attainments but it is the exception not the rule. When I was instructing at the Banco de España (The Bank of Spain), I knew very little regarding finance English and I was very honorable with regards to this to my students. They had no problem with this as they necessitated help with emails, presentations, little talk, grammar etc. They already knew their finance terminology but necessitated helping putting it all together so it sounded right to the recipients.

Hours

Business English classes tend to fit around the ebb and flow of business hours. Classes are commonly early in the morning 7-9 or 9.30, lunchtime 1-4 and evening 7-9. The more senior the student, the more flexibleness they have with their schedule but this is a double edged sword as they likewise have busy lives, neverending meetings and often travel a lot which means they cancel more classes. I once had a student who I actually taught for only 21 hours in a whole academic year! Luckily sufficient his secretary was genuinely friendly with an endless supply of croissants.

Whether you have got your hours directly with a Company or through a instructing agency, make sure you find out what the cancellation policy is. Whilst it may seem glamorous to have a large total of senior executives as your students, they are more likely to have one-2-one classes and as stated above, have higher than intermediate cancellations. In Madrid, a heap of of the agencies now have an 80-85% cancellation policy which means that you get remunerated 80-85% of the classes disregarding of how a good deal of they cancel. If you do have a huge amount of one-2-one classes, it is very primary to check this out in the contract to make sure you may still earn a decent living in spite of what goes on in your students’ business lives.

Resources

When instructing business English, the internet is your new best friend. If your client works for a bank make sure you look at their internet web site and the websites of their competitors. Do a search and find out what articles have been written with regards to them which you may then use as reading material in the classroom. Check out finance reports on the BBC that you may download onto your iPod. YouTube is another splendid resource for videos on meetings, demonstrations and negotiations (for both the right and faulty way to do it!).

Whenever you go back to your home country or have friends and family visit, get them to gather all the pamphlets they can. One man’s junk mail is another man’s instructing resource!

The text book industry has actually stepped up the pace in the last couple of years and there are a range of books to suit the most junior to the most senior employees. Lots of influential newsprints and magazines (the Financial Times, the Economist etc) have joined up with the publishers to create a heap of very comprehensive business text books with real articles, consultations and up to date news. Make sure you do a proper needs analysis with your student to see what they need before making the choice regarding a text book.

Finally, stay convinced and calm. Students need to feel that you are in charge and recognise what you are doing. Read up on what you are instructing the night before and plan ahead. Do a comprehensive needs analysis and level test and stay one step ahead.

Teaching English Step 2

This book provides dozens of practical speaking and listening activenesses for beginning ESL students who need exercise with present tense verbs, do and does, and prepositions. Although it is designed to be applied with Gramatica del ingles; Paso a paso 2 and English Grammar: Step by Step 2, it likewise may be used as a stand-along volume.

About the AuthorElizabeth Weal is an ESL teacher in Redwood City, CA and a former journalist. When she could not find a grammar book that was suitable for her Spanish-speaking students, she decisive to write the book herself. In addition to Teaching English Step by Step 1 and Teaching English: Step by Step 2, she has written English Grammar: Step by Step and Gramatica del ingles: Paso a paso. There are two levels of each of these books. Please contact her at ElizabethWeal@tenaya.com if you want to learn with regards to her next grammar book.

Teaching English Step 2 Picture

Teaching English Step 2 Photo

Teaching English Step 2 Picture

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Most helpful customer reviews

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Clear, concise, and practical ESL teaching tool with loads of activities
By Tod Buis
I have used Elizabeth Weal’s ESL grammar workbooks for some time now and this Teacher’s Edition is yet another useful companion to her earlier materials. The activities are well-directed and easy to prepare, a fact that makes them easy to use in a classroom situation, but I think they work well for individual tutoring practice as well. For me, the most valuable part of this book is that it answers the questions facing all ESL instructor’s, namely, “How should I teach this idea? Or.. Is there another way to present this material?” Her activities do what they’re supposed to–they connect the students to the concepts in meaningful ways and emphasize all aspects of language acquisition in the process. Most of all, my students respond well to the exercises! They remember prepositions of location (for example..) because they enjoy the activity and they’re able to tell me in their own words, “I liked that exercise. I understand now.” I highly recommend this book and all of Elizabeth Weal’s workbooks–I think she understands the needs of both ESL students and their instructors perfectly.

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