スミス英会話布施校講師が書いた記事。日本語のメインサイトはこちら
I would just like to make a few comments about how happy I am with the new “free online mini English lessons” we have been uploading to the Smiths School of English website and using in our classrooms on a weekly basis. (英語オンライン無料レッスン)
These days with the Internet, it seems that any kind of information is readily available at our fingertips, including information for those who are looking for free online English lessons. Looking to learn English online is… a worthwhile cause and I myself have also studied Japanese online from time to time but what is missing is that there is no teacher sitting down in front of me who can listen to me and make comments and corrections on the spot. (英語 オンライン 無料 レッスン)
There is no teacher who can encourage me to expand my sentences, perhaps add a few more thoughts, and make a more interesting story in the end. There is also no teacher who can encourage me to include some elements of past lessons, so in my opinion free English lessons online are ok for a starting point but will never provide the level of improvement in English language speaking as coupling those lessons with a real teacher will.
Here at Smiths School of English we upload a new “free online English lesson” for our students on a weekly basis. It’s basically a new sentence pattern and an example of a sentence using that grammar, both of which are provided in English and Japanese. By themselves, it would be a stretch to call these complete lessons; they were never intended as such.
I began by saying that I would like to explain why I like this new format of weekly “free online English lessons” we have been using now for roughly 7 months or so here at Smiths School of English. 英語 オンライン 無料 レッスン
The reason I like these is because they provide a platform from which we can begin an interesting lesson each time. Each student takes a look at the new sentence pattern prior to their next lesson and then creates a sentence based on their own personal information. It brings the sentences to life!
Depending on the individual student’s level, some may simply fill in one word for the “A” slot, “B” slot and so on, while others use the sentence pattern as the cornerstone of a story. These sentence patterns provide all students, regardless of their levels, something short, manageable and which they can quickly adopt into their English conversations. We upload the “skeleton” basically and then the students, with their teacher’s assistance in a Smiths School of English classroom, bring it to life whether as a short sentence or as part of an extended story.
Several of my students at Smiths School of English in Fuse regularly print them out, bring them to class, write down the other student’s examples, then file them away into a plastic binder which they bring with them to class every time. These provide my students at Smiths School of English in Fuse with an opportunity to quickly review a list of useful sentence patterns used in everyday English conversations.
In addition to having these free online English lessons up for reading and printing, we also upload a short video every week which the students can view and improve their listening abilities. These free online English lesson videos are thanks to the work of Al Bartle from Smiths School of English in Okamoto. In addition to these videos, Al has also made some very useful TOEIC listening practice videos which can be viewed on the Smiths School of English YouTube Channel.(英語 オンライン 無料 レッスン)
Thank you Al, we all appreciate the extra efforts you make!
That sums it up for me in regards to the Smiths School of English Free Online English Lessons.
I like them. (スミス英会話の 英語オンライン無料レッスン)
Enjoy,
Alessandro “Alex” Stanciu
アレッサンドロ“アレックス”スタンシュー
Smith’s School of English Fuse
月謝制 の スミス 英会話 布施 校
Alex,
Great post! I agree completely. The free online lessons provide a great platform to start the lesson, expand it and to bring it to a close with the newest one at the end of the lesson. I think it is important for Smith’s School of English teachers to remember to review the last one as the ET at the beginning of the lesson. They really makes the lesson good and as you say, the student can then really give life to these patterns and assimilate them. It is a part of the building process that typifies the Smith’s method. I enjoy doing the videos each week. I wonder if anyone has noticed the change in the voice on the videos? I did not suddenly get 25 years younger you know.
Regarding the TOEIC practice lessons, I am learning and improving each time. The latest one is much more like the real test. So I think this can really help the students. By the way, I also give the TOEIC practice test at my school on Saturdays if you students want to come to take it sometime. I know you are far away but Okamoto is a great place with great shops and restaurants and it is on the way to Kobe Sannomiya so it could make for a great day out for sightseeing or shopping in Kobe. I have had several students take the test so far and the benefit is that I can schedule review lessons for them as a follow-up. It usually takes 2 lessons to review both the listening and reading sections, identify their mistakes and prescribe some homework for them to master the parts they have missed. They can never get that kind of help when they take the official test. They only get a score and some vague comments that are difficult to take action on. So let your students know that Okamoto is providing this service to all Kansai students. The test begins at 10:00 a.m. for 3,000 yen (4 students maximum) and they need to come about 5 or 10 minutes to pay the test fee and get settled before the test begins. You could of course do the follow up review lessons with them. Think about that. It is another way that Smith’s School of English goes far beyond the other schools.
Al
Alex,
I agree. The free online mini lessons are working very well with my students at Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi. My students impress me with the sentences that they prepare for homework using the one-point English patterns on the web site. I thank you very much for uploading the free online mini lessons every week and Al for all the videos. Keep up the great work guys!
Derek
Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi