Field Trips

Lincoln Castle

As an English language teacher, I know that my practical experience makes me much better suited to teaching professionals than teenaged students; however, I like the field trips that the Heart of England summer school arrange – for both an afternoon and the whole day. This year, although Alton Towers, Cambridge, York and many other very familiar places were on the agenda, there was also a trip along the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and an opportunity to learn some circus skills – an activity that I particularly appreciated.

The Sedgwick Museum

With a more liberal attitude adopted this year by the new Head Teacher, and with the option to either go shopping or wandering around a fantastic historic monument – such as Lincoln Castle – I was the only one who put my hand up for the latter!

One of the views of York Minster from the city walls

Nonetheless, also given the choice to opt in or out of activities such as punting, I made the most of my free time to explore some new places that I think that older professional students would be more likely to want to see.

A detail of Triassic sandstone at Alton Towers

The Triassic pebble beds at Alton Towers are spectacular, the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge is unique and a walk along the York city walls reveals details of Permian rocks and views of the city from high ground.

The Dino Trail at Drayton Manor Park

The Heart of England IV

Tabula

After a break of a couple of years, during which the Heart of England summer school was being reorganised, I was asked back this summer to teach a group of students from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Seville, Málaga and Madrid – and accompany them on their field trips again.

Cambridge

The need to combine field trips with the younger Rotherham group and other late minute changes to the itinerary ate into the classroom teaching time, and it was harder to structure the lessons than in previous years; however, using some tried and trusted methods, I soon got the students talking freely and discussing a variety of topics.

 

At Victoria Quays

Having been learning Spanish myself - and needing to overcome the problems of self confidence when trying to speak another language - I can empathise with my students and I think that this experience made me a much better English language teacher than before.

Planet Pot

There was good humour, as usual, and I introduced a few new ideas into my lessons - including the games of Scrabble and Tabula, which only required the explanation of a few simple rules.

 

Learning circus skills

Business English

Discussing business at Steel Henge

As a teacher of Business English, it is essential to have a good understanding of the tasks and skills that are required in a commercial environment.

I don’t claim to be a natural businessman, but I do consider that the founding of one of London’s leading specialist building restoration contractors has been one of my best achievements to date. It gave me great experience of undertaking every task that is necessary to develop a successful business - within a very demanding and profitable industry.

The wide variety of tasks that I undertook are far too many to describe here and many of them will be very different to those that are necessary in other industries. Undertaking work directly for myself, my experience has diversified and covers various interests in land and buildings.

With experience in marketing and publicity - knocking on the door, making phone calls, sending out letters and brochures - as well as producing  stands at trade exhibitions, I am well prepared to help my clients with their particular needs.

My speciality is the Language of Stone...

The Conversation Exchange - English

Scott Engering at "El Museo Geominero" in Madrid

For over 5 years, I have been informally teaching English to my friend Aurora in Madrid but, because I was learning Italian at the time, I never considered learning Spanish and I was happy to help her with English - it is a very complex language.

Now, I have language partners all over Spain, in 14 of the 19 autonomous provinces  - and from Colombia too. Most of them are professionals, very often teachers, who have a good grasp of the English language and many are studying for their Cambridge Exams.

Although we have never considered using textbooks, with my students preferring to discuss various practical subjects, I use the resources that I have developed in a formal classroom situation to address the various points of grammar that arise during the conversation.

Having discovered the problems of learning Spanish, I empathise with my students and know the difficulties that they might encounter when trying to express themselves. I have been told that my patience – especially with pronunciation and explanation of phrasal verbs - is greatly appreciated.

The Conversation Exchange is not just there to help with listening and speaking, because reading and writing is an essential element of the learning process too. To date, I have assisted language partners with such diverse projects as the text to be used for the displays in a new Museum of Gastronomy in Segovia and in translating and writing publicity material for formal Language Workshops in Murcia...

The Conversation Exchange - Spanish

The Conversation Exchange

Very shortly after I had finished my one to one lessons with Irene, from Almeria, I decided to try and learn some Spanish, not least because I was hoping to teach and lead another group of students from the Canary Islands, in Sheffield, later in the year.
 
I decided to throw myself into learning Spanish using the Conversation Exchange. It's very easy to use. Just write a brief profile that highlights your native language, the language that you want to learn and briefly describe your interests - and away you go.

Although I could quite easily search quite specifically for a potential language exchange partner, anywhere in Spain, I have just let the Spanish speaking world approach me.

With a vocabulary of one line phrases that had previously enabled me to eat, drink, sleep and travel, and with very little grammar, I struggled to express myself at first. Using a Teach Yourself Spanish book that I had bought ages ago, without the audio resources, watching films and listening to the radio, I soon improved and, before long, I was able to construct more complex sentences.

Not having the structure of formal lessons, or a strict syllabus and homework to complete, I found that the best way is to create a strict timetable with my language partners. This has paid real dividends and, 10 months later, I have finished my Teach Yourself Spanish book and I now possess a good grasp of the language.

As an English teacher, it has also been a really valuable experience...