четверг, 16 мая 2019 г.

Do you believe 'fake' experts?

Hi there!  Today I've got a little story for you! (I love reading and stories by the way - it's my way of relaxing.) But before I tell you the story...
A lot of people tell me "Person X told me the best way to learn English is..." or "Have you heard about teacher so-and-so? He's got this method on the internet for learning English..." In fact, there are a lot of experts on the internet, and I wanted to share a little story with you.
This is a story from Aesop - he wrote a lot of stories to illustrate an idea.
The story is called "The Quack Toad". (This is a photo of a toad - it's similar to a frog.)
An old Toad once told all his neighbours that he was a brilliant doctor. In fact he could cure anything. The Fox heard the news and went to see the Toad. He examined the Toad very carefully.
“Mr. Toad,” he said, “They told me that you cure anything! But just look at yourself, and then try your own medicine. If you can cure your terrible skin and your terrible walk, then I will
believe you. But if you can't, you should change your job.”
The "moral" of the story? Cure yourself before you cure other people.
I hope you enjoyed today's little story!
Unfortunately, there are LOTS of people on the internet who tell you that they are English language experts. They tell you that their method is the best and that when you follow their method, you will have wonderful English.
But you should ask them these questions!
- Have they studied another language?
- Do they understand how difficult and frustrating it is?
- Are they really experienced teachers?
- Have they taught English to people from different countries?
- Are their methods the result of studying and listening to real English and real conversations?
And a really important question...
- Do they have happy students who found success with their methods? 
It takes a lot to be a good teacher. You need to know your subject really well. You need to know HOW to explain it really well.
But you also need to listen to your student. To encourage and support your students. Your student's success is your motivation and your happiness