Mac 'n' Cheese Battle

How many things does a student have to practice to be able to make lunch in English? They have to read instructions, get the ingredients from the grocery store, organize who will do what and when...so many nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to learn quickly! 

When students are involved in doing things they learn what they need to know much faster. When they see someone doing the same thing later, they are able to identify with it is English. If they have the chance to do a similar activity in the future, there is less anxiety about the language because they have already experienced completing the task successfully (or learned a lesson from the mistakes!) 

Decreasing anxiety and helping students to feel confident is one of the biggest challenges that English language teachers face. No matter how many times students complete fake activities in the class, there will always be hesitation and reluctance when they try to bring this 'knowledge' to outside 'real' tasks. 

We are lucky at Real English Victoria because we are small enough that we can do real things with students. We cook, help students arrange meetings or volunteer work in the community, take them to libraries, grocery stores and markets, restaurants, pubs, and even high schools to show students that they can do real tasks without our help. This is where apprehension fades to confidence for our students.

So tomorrow, I will be cheering as some students make KD, or Kraft Dinner (or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese to Americans) and others will try a home recipe for Mac 'n' Cheese. I won't refuse either, but my first love is KD!

Go KD, go!!!

How can I learn English so fast???

Most people want to know how we can improve students' English so quickly. There are 2 secrets to our incredible success. The first is that Real English Victoria (REV) is owned by the teachers and staff. It is very important to us that you are happy and comfortable, but we also want you to get better at English every day you are here. REV teachers spend all of their time working for you in class and outside of class, as well.

Project students get help from Theresa

The second secret that REV has is that we personalize your education. We understand that you are not the same as your friend, and certainly different than other students at the school. So why would we teach everyone the same thing everyday? We do not do that, we give every student the chance to work on a project; either something that is personally interesting to you, or you can help another student work on their project...it's up to you!

At Real English Victoria, working on a project is the best way to be able to focus on things that you want to improve about your English. When you join the Project Class you must then create a list of the things that you want to be able to do in English. Each day our teachers make sure that you are practicing what you want to improve by giving you new vocabulary, new idioms and expressions, or helping you to understand Canadian humour by telling lots of jokes and having fun together with students.

It doesn't matter what your level is, REV can help you to accomplish your goal of speaking English fluently.

Too many people from my country study here!

Often I hear students complain or comment that they think that they can't learn English when there are many people from their own country in the same school. I understand this and I think that in most English schools this may be a problem. However, if a school has an English-only policy and teachers spend a lot of time around students, there should be no problem. The real problem is that most language schools do not help students understand why it is so important to speak English while living in Canada.

Greg at Taft Point,
Yosemite National Park 2011.
Stan Trevena photo

Living in Canada can be a lonely feeling if you are not able to communicate in English. Most students tell me that they want to meet Canadians and make friends while they live here. Canadians are not usually shy, and often begin to talk with new people on busses, waiting in line at banks and restaurants, or even waiting to cross the street.

But if you are waiting to be seated at a restaurant and you are speaking your native language, it is unlikely someone will try to speak with you because they think you probably do not speak English. If you are speaking with your friends in English, even with a strong accent, people feel more comfortable starting a conversation.

Speaking English with people from your home country can lead to some of the best experiences while you live here.

Shin Dreams of Coffee

Today I am going to introduce you to one of our newest students who works as a barista in a local coffeeshop in Victoria. Shinya only has a few hours a week that he can devote to studying English. He comes twice a week and he is just getting used to active learning.

This week, for example, Shinya is going to contact other coffeeshops and restaurants around Victoria that might be interested in offering a discount to our students. To accomplish this, he will have to call many different shops and speak to people. Sometimes he will have long conversations, but some places may not be able to talk to him, so he will have to listen carefully and figure out quickly what the situation is.

This sounds like a difficult task, but it is actually never as bad as students think it will be. After the first few phone calls Shinya will get accustomed to this kind of situation and will be able to speak confidently on the phone after doing this. Shinya told me he wanted to improve his ability to listen effectively and respond to customers on the phone.

This is not the only task that Shinya will have to perform while he is here at REV. He is also going to work with Camosun College marketing students to help create a marketing plan for our school. This will help him to function better in group situations and prepare him for business meetings when Shinya opens his own business in Victoria in the future! In the photo, Shinya is showing a student and one of our teachers, Theresa, how to use Trello, a project management application students learn to use at REV to manage their time and to communicate with teachers 24/7.

Yuki is Following Your Dreams...you should, too!

Today I would like to introduce you to Yuki. Yuki is a student from Japan who is attending the University of Victoria (UVic) to learn English. When she is finished at UVic, Yuki comes to REV to work on a project that is interesting and important to her. She is teaching people about how dreams and personal goals can positively affect the lives of young people. Yuki is also pretty good at drawing, as you can see in the poster that she made for an open house last month at REV.

Yuki has spent her time over the last few months talking with people from all over the world about her ideas about dreams. She will write a book about the dreams of people she has met while living in Victoria in order to inspire young Japanese students to dream impossible, yet inspiring dreams. Check out Yuki’s blog here.

While here at REV, Yuki has been introduced to lots of professionals and entrepreneurs, and she has been to so many social functions that it is not possible to list them all! While following her own dream, Yuki has become even more inspired by others.

Following your own dreams and being open to the dreams of others is an essential part of being human. Finding out what excites you and others helps to make everyone’s life richer and more fun! At my school we encourage students to follow their dreams...this is the best way to improve your English and make your life more interesting!

Academic English

Lots of people want to come to Canada to attend university or college, or even high school. At most English schools you will be able to study general, business, or academic English. Unfortunately, however, most schools do not prepare students for doing anything in business or academic English. Most classes are just vocabulary. Often students believe that all they need is more vocabulary and better grammar. This is usually not the problem.

Yes, you do need to learn more vocabulary, but memorizing it for a test is not going to help. You need to use new vocabulary in context so that you can easily use it again the next time. As I have said before, almost every student I have met from Asia or South America need practice with vocabulary, not more of it.

This is why you need to join a course or class that focuses on letting you practice the English you know, while your teachers give you the English you need when you are practicing. When you do this, you will remember what to say and when much more easily.

In my next post I will begin telling you about some of the cool projects and project student we have at REV.

Visit us today to find out how you can be a part of the REVolution!