The Practically Speaking English architecture is highly energized and highly interactive. The atmosphere of the entire experience is intended to encourage each and every student to participate in individual and group practices that are oriented towards the communicative development of oral skills. At every level of proficiency in English, the student is quickly and intentionally moved towards a higher confidence level in personal interaction and increased proficiency in personal oral expression. Since the focus of the course is oral communication, reading and writing activities are minimized.
The lower levels of proficiency utilize Total Physical Response (see the TPR article below) for vocabulary and phrasal learning and substitution principles to develop learned sentence structures that can be reused and recombined to form new expressions. The mid and upper levels of proficiency use these same methods for the introduction of new vocabulary and expression in combination with abstract and contemporaneous expression exercises that facilitate rapid and confident oral communication.
The classes are entirely in English, even at the primary levels. Translation in the classroom is limited to basic procedural instruction (class room management issues, for example) and in giving directions for “home work” and at home, self practice assignments.
The curriculum was developed based on field experience in many different cultural settings and is culturally unbiased, except that the English expressions reflect usage in the United States. The curriculum utilizes a focused approach that guides the instructor in effectively using TPR, individual and group practice, use of high visibility charts, cue cards and handson props. The eight unit curriculum is further focused on conversational elements that are immediately useful to the student. Rather than a theoretical approach to language, Practically Speaking English revolves around the practical (in other words, immediately useful) elements of the language. The curriculum is currently used every week by organizations that are teaching English to non-English speakers in the United States and abroad.
Instructors are all native speakers of American English who have volunteered to bring high quality English learning to students abroad and in the United States. Our instructors perform on a voluntary basis, receiving no pay or compensation of any kind. Each has been trained in the specific use of the curriculum and the techniques and methods that are essential to the effective application of the curriculum. Some instructors are professional teachers, but most come from various professional and semi-professional backgrounds. Practically Speaking English training events are conducted in locations across the United States and all instructors are subjected to intensive preparation and training prior to joining a Practically Speaking English team. Further, instructors are supervised in the course venue to ensure that each student receives the highest quality learning experience.
Our instructors not only impart language skills to the student, but they also develop an informal and personal relationship with the students that results in a relaxed classroom environment. The instructor intentionally reduces classroom stress so that each student can boldly practice and see immediate success. As time permits, English practice continues as students and instructors take advantage of opportunities to communicate before class as students arrive and after classes as students are leaving.
The Practically Speaking English leadership staff has been conducting high quality, intensive conversational English courses in the United States and abroad since 1992. Since the year 2000, more than twenty-five thousand adults have participated in these courses in various countries of the world. Due to the popularity of this course, it has been conducted on university campuses, in high schools and in church buildings in ten different countries.
Our students represent a broad range of the population of the host country. While many of our students are so-called “average” people, it is quite normal to find politicians, military professionals, doctors, lawyers, professors and entertainment celebrities in our course.