I recently had a student who had to qualify in English for an au pair position in the USA. We didn't have much time to get her ready and it occured to me that conversations I have with family in the USA on skype.com might be something that could augement her conversation skills. I didn't have to leave my home, and though it's a bit difficult to "teach", it is helpful in the conversation arena.
She's normally a bit shy and it takes a while during the teaching session for her to "warm up" as far as speaking goes. I was amazed to discover that she was more relaxed on screen than face to face. I have used it with another lady who is going to hook up with her hubby stationed in another country. She's a French speaker and he is British and a French speaker. Her desire was to be able to speak to her husband in English, teach their 3 year old son English so that reunions with her husband's family in the UK would be more satisfying. She has another younger daughter and sometimes lessons were a bit discombobbled with interruptions from the children. We were able to have conversation sessions on skype after the kids went to bed. Again, a special need situation. It has made me more flexible however, and I am able to meet my student's needs and help them arrive at their goals in another way.
Since skype also allows for conference calls, I invision the possibility of a few people at once being able to converse. Not the optimum, but helpful when scheduling becomes an issue.
Don't know if this helps anyone out there, but for what it's worth, it has been a good experience for me.
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I love Skype too!!
I just got my mum to get it on her laptop so that we can talk for free when I am in china!! :)
I love Skype! We use it with out Italian friends to help improve our Italian.
I love Skype! It's one of my "must have" when I go travelling. Not only it is free but you can use it on your phone as well as on a computer. Video conferencing are always a bonus but conference calls make it even better! My brother, myself and my parents have been using it on a weekly basis for the last 5 years and did we banished those long distance call phone bills or what!!! Thumbs up for Skype!
That's cool - hopefully the service will keep improving - it's early days yet, but I reckon that teachers like you who are willing to innovate and run classes in different and more flexible ways will really be at an advantage over the next few years.
Keep us posted with how you get on with it.
Hello i-to-i,
Skype will have to become more reliable, which they are working on continually. It still leaves a lot to be desired for the time being. Worksheets can be emailed, but writing on a board is a bit clumsy. We've used the instant message format, for some of the add-ons that occur during our conversation session. AND, many computers cut out after a period of time, requiring a new call, and it does interrupt the flow of the lesson. The students who have used this way to improve their conversation skills have been pleased with being able to save time by doing this from home, and sometimes at times outside of "normal" school hours. Works for me since I am one who usually goes to the student's homes.
Hey Veronica,
Great tips - thanks very much for sharing! Maybe teaching without leaving your home is the future? What does everyone reckon?
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