AEE 296: Never Get to Speak English? How to Solve Your Problem Now

Do you feel like you never get a chance to speak English? Even when you attend an English class or work with an English tutor do you leave the class feeling like you haven’t spoken at all? If so, then you are not alone. A lot of students feels this way. Today we have a guest, Jason Newnum, who is an American English teacher. He teaches on the italki platform and he is available for lessons now! Jason has a special class called “Student Speaks, Teacher Listens.” Why did Jason create this class? Jason created this class because when he took Spanish classes he noticed that he was not getting much speaking practice at all. He felt discouraged and didn’t get much better. He realized that the same problem was happening with English students. Jason wants to solve this problem. Why is Jason’s class different? He makes sure that students talk more, about 80% of the time He feels comfortable being quiet, he doesn’t get nervous like other teachers do sometimes when they are nervous so he doesn’t fill that space with meaningless chatter A typical class with Jason: He asks you what’s new with you He gives you a short article or video clip and asks for your opinion He asks great follow-up questions- directly related to YOU and YOUR experiences He writes out your mistakes in the Skype chat box so that you have a record of your mistakes Jason’s Bio: Jason Newnum teaches English as a second language, in Bariloche, Argentina, and lives there with his family. Although he received his university degree in Spanish and now lives in a Spanish speaking country, his Argentine wife speaks English and Spanish equally. So it’s difficult to force himself to practice Spanish, when it’s easier to speak English with his wife. So he understands the frustrations of having to force ourselves to practice a foreign language everyday. Do you have this problem with your English class? Are you planning to try Jason’s class? If so, let us know when you are going to get started with Jason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices