Lessons                                                                                                       Back to contents

Lessons at the school are all taught by lively and enthusiastic teachers with a recognised qualification to teach English as a foreign language. They are supported by a Director of Studies at each centre.

The level of each student is assessed at the beginning of the course by both a written and oral test. They are then placed in multinational classes according to their level and age. Any student who feels they are in the wrong level can discuss this with their teacher or the Director of Studies who can change their class if necessary.

Classes may alternate between mornings and afternoons.   We try to make sure that friends, relatives and members of groups are taught in the same half of the day.

We feel that most students come on our courses to improve their fluency in English. There is therefore an emphasis on class activities which develop speaking and listening skills and pronunciation. These skills are taught through topics which we feel will interest, stimulate and challenge learners of this age range. This topic-based approach helps them to develop their vocabulary by learning words and phrases connected with the topics.

We realise that many students also want to improve their grammar and we provide opportunities for students to review and practise grammar they have learned in their own country. They may also learn new grammar but this is not the main aim of the course. Students at a lower level of English will probably do more work on grammar than higher level learners.

We offer a wide variety of class activities: discussions, role-plays, practising everyday conversations, listening tasks, language games, activities based around songs, reading tasks and many others. Students often work in pairs or groups but some activities involve the whole class. Classes usually do a weekly project. This might include producing a class newspaper, staging a fashion show, using a digital camera to produce a photo story or making a short video.

It is important that there is also a strong link between the social programme and the class activities.   We have lessons designed specifically to prepare students for their excursions.   We also like students to do some written work during the course. Often they keep a diary of their stay here. Each of the classrooms has a display area where some of this work can be shown to other students.

Students are not normally given a coursebook. Some of the material used has been specifically designed for the centres and some is taken from other published sources. Many of the teachers have developed their own material. All of it is designed to produce challenging and motivating lessons and for students to make the most of their stay.