English Teacher Required In Warsaw - Would Prefer Callan Experience

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May 2, 10, 08:42 #31

Necramancer:

Many Callan schools are trying to cut costs

You know why that is? because Callan themselves have become so money hungry, put the book prices up to 10 pounds per stage... which a complete rip-off! But of course you would know that already

Necramancer:

it cannot be taught by two foreigners teaching each other the method

Not according to Mr Callan..... That's what they want you to do now! I agree that is you want to use this method, then it should be done by a native speaker

Never the less, some people actually want to learn by this method and will pay good money to have lessons conducted by a native speaker

Necramancer:

I may not be the best at written grammar

So proof reading isn't something which you should really be undertaking?

Mr Bradbury, don't you think that your "posting past" looks rather suspicious on PF??
-30,000 "business opportunity"
-Restaurant
-Property
-300 hour Callan school
-Sheik entertainment (not on PF but on the net)

So i think you should understand why people are slightly sceptical about you?

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Edited by: Dougpol2 May 2, 10, 13:27 #32

dtaylor5632:

Thanks for your honest post and do not get too down hearted by the English teaching snobs that come onto the threads from time to time. I think most of them should take a step back and remember that every teacher has to start from somewhere.

Good post - I used to hang out with the Longman crowd here in Katowice. For a very very short time.....
Mummy boys and girls and liberal bores to a fault. All of them "expert" teachers ( straight from CELTA...) and proud to announce the boast to any poor sod who would listen, There was even one tosser who was chatting to a group (in English) in the battle cruiser and he suddenly came out with some wit along the lines of "If you want to carry on this small talk here's my private card and it's 40 zlotys an hour."
The only sound bloke that Longman employed who didn't look at his watch at 10.30 and announce "this had better be my last beer of the night" was half French :))

PS = forgot - there were two Longman lads 5 years back - both middle aged - cracking lads, who were out of the mix because they smelt the snobs in there and publicly outed them at the bar :)
This post should not be taken as anything against Longman franchises personally in Katowice - I'm one of their best customers lol.

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May 2, 10, 13:39 #33

I echo what Dave said. I would say that I have a decent awareness of the classroom dynamic but that doesn't turn me into a Jeffrey Harmer overnight, nor would I want to be so into it like that. The Poles take methodology to an anal level and that hampers them. Being overly systematic is an approach favoured by the minority. I like classes with punch.

As for Avalon, I could put you in touch with those that teach it but 'ianaus' here might be worth PMing.

I am critical of Callan as it doesn't teach the 2 receptive and 2 productive skills enough. There is a mishmash of everything but not well proportioned and allocated. It doesn't teach the skills of skim and scan reading that I teach at Speak Up. The book is just the book, it doesn't have the variety of readings that Speak Up has. As for writing, Speak Up has many more practical and functional lessons. A 5-min dictation (often repeated) is just not good enough.

In this day and age, we need to think more about what we are saying rather than just parroting back. A knee-jerk response in class doesn't adequately equip students for anything. What they do learn is tempo and S-V agreement, together with auxiliary matching. Still, I've seen students pulling their hair out with the method. It's own PR trips itself up. When students feel that they aren't learning 4 times faster as promised, they lose hope and, being Polish, will lash out. We all know it's symptomatic of other things but they want quick results.

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Edited by: Dougpol2 May 2, 10, 17:48 #34

Very interesting post Seanus. What's this S V stuff you mention anyway?
I often get clents complaining that I don't sell a "method." I just push eclecticism and enthusiasm with my team. If it were down to me I'd have every level doing the kinaesthetic way, by drama, of whatever ilk, but it's a pity for me as a anti-grammarian Celta grad that not everybody learns that way, just as not everybody is an auditory learner - lucky too, or they'd be little need for teaching..:)

PS Harmer's alright but Jim Scrivener is the teach.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 2, 10, 18:51 #35
Subject-Verb. I got into the habit of using letters at Callan as it was quicker. Whether it be transitive/intransitive, passive voice or other structures, I put it up on the board and they all follow. I use it at Speak Up now. Scrivener was the guy that pioneered cusinaire rods, right? I read him during my CELTA in Edinburgh. I guess I had his standard text.

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May 3, 10, 21:46 #36

Necramancer:

Well I think you are wrong about the Callan Method. Yes it's an old method but do you honestly believe it doesn't work?

Of course you would think that we are wrong - after all, you're trying to sell it. But frankly, that ship has sailed in Poland - and given the amount of effort that Callan schools have to use to keep their clients (much more than other schools!) - the days of Callan are over. It was a cheap and easy fix for Poland, but nowadays, people are much more demanding.

It's fine to get people from "omg I can't speak English" to "hey, okay, I understand something" - but no more.

Necramancer:

I currently have many students learning this method and it's not just teaching them the method but adapting the method in such a way that the students can really progress with their English.

But Chris - how can you claim that you're approved of by CMO when CMO themselves would strongly disapprove of any modification of the method? Robin Callan himself even clearly states that you shouldn't question it or change it in any way.

Whether or not you're right in your opinions is meaningless when you can't stop yourself from lying to people.

Necramancer:

I believe 100% in the method I have seen tremendous progress in all my students who are learning this method. And when I teach this method I try to speak with my students as much as possible so as to develop their conversation skills.

So - why have most schools moved away from it? And developing conversation skills means nothing in Poland - most governmental jobs require Cambridge (or equal) exams - and quite frankly, conversational skills aren't enough. Callan does a dreadful job of teaching reading and writing, for instance.

Necramancer:

Seanus. Took me a while to find this Avalon method, it actually looks quite interesting. I don't suppose you could tell me a little bit more about it could you?

Uh, you're advertising it? Surely you should know about it if you're using it?

Avalon is simply Callan updated for today, nothing more, nothing less. It still has the same fundamental flaws, it still relies on the same "you are a parrot and you are not trained to think" approach and still suffers from the same old problems.

Necramancer:

Many Callan schools are trying to cut costs

Nothing new there, they need to try and survive somehow. In big cities, they don't have a chance.

Necramancer:

Callan needs to be taught by an English Native it cannot be taught by two foreigners teaching each other the method. Yes it's good practise between lessons. But Impossible for complete beginers.

Why? I know Polish people with a far superior command of English than you - and given that everything is in front of them, they don't need to improvise it - a Polish teacher is actually better, especially when it comes to explaining just why Callan is using outdated terms for grammar.

Necramancer:

I may not be the best at written grammar but I am constantly working to better myself, I am constantly doing course after course.

So why are you advertising proofreading then? Surely you're just deceiving your customers further if you freely admit on here that you aren't the best at it?

Necramancer:

think I am some stupid tw* who's trying to teach English

In all honesty - yes, I do think that. You make some absolutely dreadful mistakes in written English, you have lifted the website content from others without asking for permission, you are making false claims on your website and you really don't seem to realise that what you are doing is wrong.

Chris, if you had a poor grasp of written English, but were honest and didn't lie or contradict yourself (whatever happened to your 650 teaching hours a week?) - I wouldn't criticise you. Someone like you is perfect to teach Callan - but I cannot stand liars or cheats. I can see that you simply want to make enough money to look after your wife and baby - but you need to take a step back and look at what you're actually saying to people.

I mean - offering proofreading services. Have you really no shame?

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May 4, 10, 08:50 #37

Delph, regardless of our reservations regarding the drawbacks of the method, Chris may have found some demand. The market for Callan was stable for so long, largely due to the PR surrounding it. There are still those that are fooled by the claims and see it as a fasttrack option, rightly or wrongly.

My point is, we should not deter Chris too much from using it as it's all in the selling. If I were to have held consultations regarding the efficacy of the method and its underlying purpose, they would have yielded interesting results. Students want a magic wand and we have to accept that. They must learn for themselves how it works and we must accept that each learner learns differently and comes at it from a different angle.

It might be a learning experience for Chris himself, so long as the no questions asked approach is followed.

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Edited by: delphiandomine May 4, 10, 11:51 #38

Seanus:

Chris may have found some demand.

Oh, there probably still is demand out here among people who believe that a magic wand does exist, especially with those who are complete beginners. I don't deny this - and whatever I think about the method (or the "direct method" in general) - it is still the quickest way to get people over their fear of speaking. But of course, it's totally useless in the real world - I know of one company here who rather lost the plot when they discovered (after paying for 2 years of Callan) that their employees couldn't actually hold a reasonable conversation in the language because Callan had drilled them to such an extent.

Dougpol2:

Mummy boys and girls and liberal bores to a fault. All of them "expert" teachers ( straight from CELTA...) and proud to announce the boast to any poor sod who would listen, There was even one tosser who was chatting to a group (in English) in the battle cruiser and he suddenly came out with some wit along the lines of "If you want to carry on this small talk here's my private card and it's 40 zlotys an hour."

Future British Council employees, then? ;)

Never, ever, ever mix business with pleasure is my rule.

I'm partially of the opinion that CELTA doesn't actually equip you to teach at all, because it does little to nothing to open your mind about alternative approaches. But - in the case of Chris Bradbury here, saying that they only use qualified teachers - then to try and recruit unqualified ones...well.

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May 4, 10, 12:32 #39

I can well believe that, delph. The truth is that it is effective in the first 4 levels in particular. For those that like grammar, levels 5 and 6 are useful. Even in the first 4 levels, it is only potentially effective as you need a teacher who has good tempo and also students who latch on.

For the teacher, it quickly comes to be demotivating. I wasted a year of my life in my 3rd year and was glad to have other forms of teaching to keep me amused. That's behind me now but it loses sense, asking questions that you don't want to ask. That's one of the reasons that Avalon entered the market but, as I gather, it's just a different name but the same BS! I prefer more classic and traditional methods which aren't so focussed on TTT, rather STT.

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May 4, 10, 22:58 #40

delphiandomine:

I'm partially of the opinion that CELTA doesn't actually equip you to teach at all, because it does little to nothing to open your mind about alternative approaches

Mmm - all I know about the CELTA is that a lot of folks bang on about how the course attendees will stay friends for life or will stay in touch from the jungle, or Bournemouth maybe....

I was the oldest on my shift admittedly, and was bored rigid by the PC crap, sat up all night every night on the 4 written tasks - did my best Gordon Brown smile on the 6 observed classes; the students liked me, the trainers and the other participants didn't :))

So it might be reasonable to assume I was at fault, not the course, hehe. but I did dare to challenge the CELTA's one dimensional approach, it's concept checking and re-inforcement maneuvers notwithstanding
When I put in a short controlled pairwork exercise at pre- intermediate for learning comparatives and superlatives it was bad enough )I had pictures of different sized and cheap and expensive TV, and introduced it facetiously as a topic for the tech mad men in the class (cue uproar from the trainers) - but I'd also written role cards for simulations (students being themselves) based on ethnic stereotypes. The students were well into it - they were Ethopian, Brazilian, Somalian, Iranians and so on.

After the resulting melee ( quite a few comparatives were thrown around, and that was the target language after all! ) I was warned about my future classroom subject matter, and was denounced by my fellow participants as anti PC (whereas I was the only Labour voter there) Lol.

Needless to say, after the course the group went off to the pub, and I went up West. A lesson learnt. I'm not bitter :))

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May 4, 10, 23:13 #41

I wouldn't quite go that far, delph, but I know where you are coming from. Dougpol has a good point about the trainers. I've always been a guy to get a class going and have scored very well in student surveys and observations with those I trust in to observe me (maximums in both cases). However, I've had to tell my 2 trainers in Scotland and 1 observer here that they are too stuck in methodological and pedagogical nonsense and actually to back off with it. 3 stuck up women with limited classroom skills in my opinion, teaching dry lessons that would make watching paint dry somehow appealing. Watching tatties and neeps grow anyone?

Morad83Threads: 3 Posts: 30 Joined: Mar 5, 10 ♂	May 4, 10, 23:58 #42
Sounds a bit like my three trainers can I ask where you done it?

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	May 5, 10, 15:56 #43
In Basil Paterson College, Edinburgh. They were looking for particular things but didn't give you the list of criteria. That's a bit unfair in some ways. If you are being tested, it's good to know what you are being tested on.

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