This document provides guidelines for 51Talk teachers on conducting free trial English lessons. It includes:
1. An overview of the 51Talk leveling system which divides English skills into 6 main levels from Beginner to Expert based on standards like IELTS and TOEFL.
2. The general structure of the 25-minute free trial lesson, including a 3-minute warm-up, 19 minutes of textbook teaching, and a 3-minute wrap-up.
3. Guidance for teachers on effectively using learning materials, establishing rapport with students, giving corrections, and evaluating students to help convince them to enroll in paid lessons.
This document provides guidelines for 51Talk teachers on conducting free trial English lessons. It includes:
1. An overview of the 51Talk leveling system which divides English skills into 6 main levels from Beginner to Expert based on standards like IELTS and TOEFL.
2. The general structure of the 25-minute free trial lesson, including a 3-minute warm-up, 19 minutes of textbook teaching, and a 3-minute wrap-up.
3. Guidance for teachers on effectively using learning materials, establishing rapport with students, giving corrections, and evaluating students to help convince them to enroll in paid lessons.
This document provides guidelines for 51Talk teachers on conducting free trial English lessons. It includes:
1. An overview of the 51Talk leveling system which divides English skills into 6 main levels from Beginner to Expert based on standards like IELTS and TOEFL.
2. The general structure of the 25-minute free trial lesson, including a 3-minute warm-up, 19 minutes of textbook teaching, and a 3-minute wrap-up.
3. Guidance for teachers on effectively using learning materials, establishing rapport with students, giving corrections, and evaluating students to help convince them to enroll in paid lessons.
This document provides guidelines for 51Talk teachers on conducting free trial English lessons. It includes:
1. An overview of the 51Talk leveling system which divides English skills into 6 main levels from Beginner to Expert based on standards like IELTS and TOEFL.
2. The general structure of the 25-minute free trial lesson, including a 3-minute warm-up, 19 minutes of textbook teaching, and a 3-minute wrap-up.
3. Guidance for teachers on effectively using learning materials, establishing rapport with students, giving corrections, and evaluating students to help convince them to enroll in paid lessons.
Important Reminders 8 Warm-up 9 Textbook Teaching 10 Lesson Material 11 Scenario for the Target Stage 15 Sample Dialogue 16 Dealing with other Stages 19 Wrap-up 20 Recommended Textbooks according to Levels 22
Appendix 23 Sample Spiels 23
51Talk TRAINING TEAM 2013
Objectives
1. Learn and understand the 51Talk Leveling System;
2. Demonstrate the proper procedure in conducting free
trial lessons;
3. Help the teacher use the learning material effectively;
The 51Talk Leveling System is comparable to the scoring system of
popular English exams. For example, this diagram illustrates that a student in our Intermediate stage is comparable to an IELTS examinee who can get a band 4-5 score. Leveling System
BEGINNER English beginners with little or no experience. CAN… make simple statements on personal details and very familiar topics; manage very short, isolated, mainly pre-packaged utterances; and search for expressions and articulate less familiar words independently, albeit with much pausing. CAN USE: ―Be‖ verbs Simple Present Present Continuous Tense Yes-No Questions with Do
ELEMENTARY English users who have basic knowledge of grammar, structure, and know some situational conversations. CAN… relate basic information on familiar matters using simple terms; make himself understood in very short utterances use some simple structures correctly, but may systematically make basic mistakes. CAN USE: Regular Verbs—Simple Past Tense Irregular Verbs—Simple Past Tense Simple Future Tense Comparatives Leveling System
INTERMEDIATE
English users who have limited expression patterns but can conduct daily conversations with ease.
CAN… relate comprehensibly the main points he/she wants to make; link simple elements into a connected sequence to discuss familiar subjects within his/her field of interest; and use a general repertoire associated with more predictable situations.
CAN USE: Present Perfect Tense Past Continuous Tense Should/have to/ought to Verbal—Gerund Verbal—Infinitive Verbal—Participle
UPPER INTERMEDIATE
English users who can use English expressions and conduct conversation fluently using good grammar.
CAN… express points of view at length without noticeable strain; interact on a wide range of subjects related to his/her field of interest; and correct his/her communication errors independently.
CAN USE: Future Continuous Tense Present Perfect Tense Modals of Obligation Used to Conditionals Conjunctions Leveling System
ADVANCED English users who can communicate in English confidently and have mastered professional and business English.
CAN… show fluent, spontaneous expression in clear, well-structured speech; and give clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects with high degree of accuracy and minimal errors.
English users whose skills are the same as those of native speak- ers‘ skills. CAN… convey finer shades of meaning precisely and naturally; interact spontaneously and fluently; and produce clear, smoothly-flowing, well-structured descriptions.
IMPRESS the student! Be responsive to the student - the experience of
the student must be pleasant/good otherwise they won't enroll; and if they don‘t enroll, you won‘t have lessons to give in the future.
BEFORE THE LESSON
MAKE SURE THAT: your internet connection is STABLE enough for QQ and Skype. your background is a SOLID-COLORED WALL (preferably WHITE). your teaching space is BRIGHT and well-lit. your attire is PRESENTABLE (preferably business casual).
DURING THE LESSON
Video Call is a must. Speak slowly and clearly. Give corrections using the chat box for ALL lessons (including FREE TRIAL IELTS LESSON).
DURING THE WRAP-UP
Evaluate the student based on his/her PRONUNCIATION; GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION; VOCABULARY; and FLUENCY. Estimate the student‘s level based on his/her performance during the lesson. Explain how more lessons will help the student become better in English.
AFTER THE LESSON
Send the lesson memo right after the lesson (especially if you have no succeeding lesson). Use the lesson memo template. 3-minute Warm-up SMILE! Hi! Good morning, Sky! Welcome to Start with an enthusiastic, lively 51Talk, the no. 1 online English voice. school in China. I am Teacher Rose Make sure you make a video call. and I will be your teacher for today. Project a light and positive impression. How are you? Sit down properly. Type down your name as you say it.
First, I will explain what we will do. I
Give an overview on how the lesson will ask you questions to help me will proceed. Establish rapport with give you a good lesson. Then, we the student as you do so. will study the textbook you chose. Finally, I will give you my comments If the student mentions appre- about your English skills. hension regarding the lesson, reas- sure him that you will guide and help him during the lesson. Don’t worry. I will help you.
Make sure that your rate of speech
Is my English okay? Is it too fast is adjusted to the student‘s. Give for you? enough time for the student to re- spond. Choose words appropriate to the student‘s level. In general, the simpler the language, the better. Can you hear me well? Can you Ensure that your connection is stable see me clearly? enough for QQ and Skype by asking the student. Adjust your video and audio settings accordingly. Okay, Sky, I've been teaching Eng- lish for two years. I've taught stu- M a k e the student feels that you are dents from different countries in- credible enough to teach. Don‘t mention cluding China... any other information that‘s not needed.
Ask the following questions one at a time. Pay attention to the student‘s answer.
Why do you want to improve your English with us?
Do you want to improve your speaking? Listening? Vocabulary? Pronun- ciation? Grammar?
* Please make sure you give the student enough time to respond. Para- phrase the student‘s answer to verify your understanding. Before we start our lesson, I would like Tell the student that you will give you to know that I will give corrections corrections during the lesson. when needed. Is it okay with you? 19-minute Textbook Teaching Ensure a good transition from the warm-up to the textbook teaching. You reserved “Comprehensive English Lesson — Describing where to spend the weekend,” am I right? Have you opened Proceed to the lesson that the stu- the textbook? dent has chosen. Speak confidently as you confirm the lesson.
In this lesson, you will learn
Explain the lesson objectives and helpful words, phrases, and stay focused on them. sentences that you can use in describing where to spend your weekend.
Facilitate the discussion by asking Let’s go to the first part of our
questions that allow the student to textbook and that is Vocabulary talk most of the time. Avoid discuss- Building. Could you tell me what ing irrelevant topics for the entire 20 you see in the first picture? minutes.
TIPS: Do not be too mechanical when teaching. Explore and re-
late the lesson to the student’s life. Make sure that the stu- dent learns something from the lesson in a fun and interesting way so that you can easily convince him to study in 51Talk. Lesson Material Lesson Material Lesson Material Lesson Material BEGINNER/ELEMENTARY STAGE
WARM UP
Introduce the lesson by asking questions related to the topic. You may ask simple questions which will help you gauge the level of the student.
Example:
Teacher: What do you do during weekends?
INTRODUCE THE LESSON
Thank the student for answering your questions and introduce the lesson.
Example:
Teacher: Thank you for answering all my questions. That was a great start. You chose ―Comprehensive English Lesson– Describing where to spend the weekend.‖
SET THE OBJECTIVE AND LANGUAGE GOAL OF THE LESSON
Set the objective/s of the lesson. Make sure that your objective/s can be achieved in 25 minutes. For this type of student, you should state that you will be focusing on their pronunciation and vocabulary definition.
Example:
Teacher: For today‘s lesson, we will focus on your pronunciation and the words we use to describe where you spend the weekends. By the end of the les- son, you should be able to use these new words in sentences of your own by describing where you spend your weekends.
INTRODUCTION TO VOCABULARY (A)
For this type of student, you should speak slowly and you should give sim- ple instructions. For the vocabulary, you can ask the student to repeat after you.
You will need to explain the meaning of the words to your student. Your definitions should be easy for your student to understand. Describing where to spend the weekend Sample Dialogue
Example:
Teacher: Look at the words on the first page. The first four pictures are famous places in China and the next four are means of transportation. Please re- peat after me. The Summer Palace. Student: The Summer Palace Teacher: Good! Next, The Temple of Heaven Student: The Tempr of Heaven. Teacher: You should make the /l/ sound. Temple. It should be /templ/ not /tempr/, okay?
INTRODUCTION TO THE PHRASES (B)
For this type of student, you may ask the student to repeat after you again. You should focus on their pronunciation and give definitions of the phrases. You can also ask one follow up question to check if your student can under- stand. But never bombard your student with too many questions.
Example:
Teacher: Let‘s look at Exercise B. Please repeat after me….. ―going on foot‖ is to go to a place by walking. ―Going by bike or riding a bike‖ means that you go to a place using a bike. Do you like riding a bike? Student: Yes. Many people ride bike in China. Teacher: Right! You should say, many people ride bikes in China. You need to have ―s‖ at the end of ―bike‖ because many people have them. Please say that again. Student: Many people ride bikes in China. Teacher: Good.
INTRODUCTION TO THE DIALOGUE (C)
Teacher: Let‘s practice the phrases that we learned. Let‘s read the dialogue on Page 2. I will be Mike and you will be Lisa, okay? Student: Okay. Teacher: Where do you want to go today? Student: I want to go to Summer Palace. Teacher: Wait, you need to say ‗the‘ before Summer Palace. Please read that again. Student: I want to go to the Summer Palace. Teacher: Oh, we can go there by subway. Student: Fist, we can go to the subway station by bus. Teacher: You should say, ―first‖ not ―fist.‖ Could you say that again? You should make the ―r‖ sound. Describing where to spend the weekend Sample Dialogue
NOTE: Continue the dialogue with your student. Give corrections and address the student‘s questions as needed. You can exchange roles with your student. You should also ask the student one to two simple comprehension questions about the dialogue.
Teacher: Where are they going?
Student: Summer Palace Teacher: Correct, but it‘s better to say, ―They are going to the Summer Palace.‖ Please repeat that. Student: They are going to the Summer Palace. Teacher: How are they going there? Student: They going there by subway. Teacher: Good try! They are going there by subway. Student: Yes.
INTRODUCTION TO THE EXERCISE
For Part I, guide the student to make dialogues like in the example. But do not force the student to follow the pattern. Focus on the student‘s pronuncia- tion and vocabulary.
Teacher: Let‘s make our own dialogues. You can answer my questions using the phrases in the box, okay? Let‘s start. How do you usually go to work? Student: I go to work on foot. Teacher: How do you go to the hospital? Student: I go to the hospital by bus. Teacher: This time you ask the question and I will answer. Student: How you go to the airport? Teacher: You should say, ―how do you go to the airport?‖ Please say that again. Student: How do you go to the airport? Teacher: I go to the airport by taxi.
For Part II, it may be difficult for a student in this stage to make a dialogue on his own. You can therefore ask the student and guide him to make sen- tences using the given words.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PASSAGE READING
You can read the passage aloud first. After reading it, you may ask the stu- dent to read it. You will have to focus on the student‘s pronunciation and vo- cabulary. You can ask one or two comprehension check questions from the exercise at the end of the lesson material. Describing where to spend the weekend Sample Dialogue
Teacher: I will read the passage first, then you will read it after me, okay? Student: Okay. Teacher: (reads the passage) Okay, your turn. Student: To—day is Saturday. Mike and I are going to trawer in the city.. Teacher: Say that again? Travel. /v/. Tra—vel. Student: Traber. Teacher: Nearly there. Tra--/vuh/--el. Travel. Student: Traver. Teacher: Good. You can practice more on your own. Please continue reading. We can practice some more when you enroll at 51Talk! Describing where to spend the weekend— Dealing with other Stages
If your student is in the BEGINNER or ELEMENTARY
STAGE:
FOCUS ON THE PRONUNCIATION AND DEFINITION OF
VOCABULARY WORDS, AS WELL AS HOW TO USE THESE WORDS IN A SENTENCE.
DEFINE WORDS THAT YOUR STUDENT DOES NOT
KNOW.
CHECK IF YOUR STUDENT UNDERSTOOD YOUR DEFINI-
TION.
ASK THE STUDENT TO MAKE A SENTENCE USING THE
NEW WORDS.
If your student is in the INTERMEDIATE or UPPER
INTERMEDIATE:
FOCUS ON THE SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND THE
GRAMMAR OF YOUR STUDENT‘S ANSWERS.
CHECK ON YOUR STUDENT‘S PRONUNCIATION.
DEFINE WORDS THAT YOUR STUDENT DOES NOT
KNOW. EXPLAIN WHEN TO USE THE WORD. CHECK IF YOUR STUDENT UNDERSTOOD YOUR DEFINITION. MAKE YOUR STUDENT USE THE NEW WORDS IN HIS/HER OWN SENTENCES. 3-minute Wrap-up
N T ! TA IMP OR Your WRAP-UP should include:
a RECAP of the day‘s lesson, especially the objectives;
SPECIFIC FEEDBACK about the student‘s pronunciation,
grammar and sentence structure, vocabulary, and fluency;
an ESTIMATE of the student‘s level according to the leveling
system;
RECOMMENDATIONS about future lessons and textbooks*;
and
SOFT-SELLING of 51Talk programs.
*Make sure that you include your recommended textbook in your lesson memo for the reference of the Chinese sales team. 3-minute Wrap-up Go back to the lesson objectives as Today, you learned the proper pro- you evaluate your student. Mention nunciation and meaning of words we how the objectives were met during use to describe where we spend our weekends. You need to practice more the lesson. on how you say some words like “first,” “temple,” and “travel.” Please Give specific feedback regarding say them again… Alright, based on your student‘s performance during today’s lesson, I think you are in the the lesson. Tell the student his/ Beginner Stage because of your pro- her estimated stage based on his/ nunciation and long pauses. I can her performance during the lesson. continue to help you practice, if you study with me here at 51Talk. I hope Use the leveling system indicators to see you in my future lessons, Sky! wisely.
Ask the student for feedback of What do you think of our lesson today? the lesson.
I’m happy that you liked our lesson.
This is a free trial lesson, so enroll Respond to the student‘s now if you want to have more lessons feedback. like this.
In our next lesson, we can continue the
rest of the textbook that you have cho- Tell the student exactly how you sen today and I will help you learn more can help him improve if he en- words and phrases that you can use. rolls for your next lesson. You can also choose another book like... For your stage right now I think you can use… We can have fun in our next lesson by studying …. Would you like that?
So join 51Talk and book my next lesson. I’ll be waiting for you, okay?
See you! Goodbye!
3-minute Wrap-up
Go to http://www.51talk.com/course/level2.php to copy-paste the textbook title
into the chat box for the student‘s reference. Include the textbook in your lesson memo. Appendix Sample Spiels
Hi! Good evening, Sky! Welcome to today’s les-
son. I am Teacher Rose of 51Talk and I will be your teacher for today. How was your day?
Hello! Good morning, Sky! Welcome to today’s lesson. I hope
you’re having a great day so far. I am Teacher Rose of 51Talk, the number 1 online English school in China and I will be your teacher for today. How are you doing?
Hi, Sky! I’m glad to have you here at 51Talk. I
am Teacher Rose and I will be your teacher for today. Are you having a good day?
You did well today, Sky. You learned the proper pronunciation and meaning of words we use to describe where we spend our weekends. You need to practice more on how you say some words like “first,” “temple,” and “travel.” Please say them again… Alright, based on to- day’s lesson, I think you are in the Beginner Stage because of your pronunciation and long pauses. I can continue to help you practice, if you study with me here at 51Talk. I hope to see you in my future les- sons, Sky!
That was a good lesson, Sky. You learned the proper pronunciation and meaning of words we use to describe where we spend our weekends. You also learned to use these new words in sentences of your own by describing how you spend your weekends. But, be careful with your grammar. You should say, “How do you go to the airport?” instead of “How you go to airport?” Alright, based on our conversation on today’s lesson, I think you are in the Elementary Stage. You need to practice more if you want to improve and I be- lieve I can help you with that. I hope to see you in my future les- sons, Sky!
