A Note to Parents:
I would like to let you know that we will be having our monthly test this Wednesday, March 19th.
The past month we have covered two new stories, “Tops and Bottoms” and “William’s House.” The vocabulary and story structure is starting to become more difficult as your child’s level of English increases. For this reason, I have decided to start recording the stories in my own voice to allow the students to listen along as they read. This will allow them to hear how to properly pronounce the words. Please encourage your child to not only read but listen to the stories as well.
I have been told that some of the students are having a difficult time with some of the grammar. This past month we have studied singular and plural possessive nouns. I feel the children now have a pretty good grasp and have displayed so. We have spent quite a bit of time on this as to ensure they do understand.
I would like to take a moment and give you my opinion on this topic. The grammar that is taught in bushibans here in Taiwan is often more advanced than the grammar we receive for the same age group back in North America. I believe too much emphasis is put on grammar, which is very extensive in English. This often leads to a fear of speaking English for a non-native learner of the language. Of course the basics of grammar are necessary, but anything that takes away the students’ enjoyment or self-expression only hinders development, not help. We would rather be focusing on reading, writing and speaking as opposed to too much grammar, which can be very confusing for students. When my students and I have a conversation, I try to encourage them speak, without fear of my constantly correcting their grammar. I try to get them speaking naturally and just expressing themselves in an adequate way. Too much grammar has a way of stifling that exact self-expression that a teacher of a second language tries hard to cultivate.
On another topic, we here at ABC have absolutely no problem with helping our students with their Chinese school English work. We would love to see them succeed in all avenues of learning. Should your child need extra help, just have them bring the materials that they are having difficulty with. We are considering ways of incorporating this into our class time. Please bear in mind that our students come from many different schools and the curriculum is different in each. This does make it harder to help everyone at the same time. But with some material from each, we should be able to help your child prepare for upcoming tests, exams, etc. We will do our best to do so.
親愛的家長：
昨天我們已考完此次的月考，盼能一起關心孩子們在ABC學習英文的狀況，並給予指導。
這個月我們教了兩個故事「Tops and Bottoms」及「William’s House」。由於孩子們的學習程度愈來愈高，我會利用時間把課文錄下來，請孩子在家跟著CD念課文，同時也可糾正孩子的發音。
有些家長很擔心文法的問題，這個月我們教到了單複數的所有格，我花了相當長的時間解釋，相信孩子們都已充分理解了。
在此，我想藉機表達個人對學習語文的看法。目前台灣許多的補習班所教的英文太重視文法了，導致於孩子們不太敢開口說英語(當然基本的文法是必需的)。當我在教孩子們時，會比較注重在閱讀、寫作和會話方面，我盡量不去立即糾正孩子的文法上的錯誤，這樣容易讓孩子感到困擾。當我和孩子對話時，我鼓勵他們自然而然地用英文表達自己的看法，而不會擔心我不斷糾正他們的文法。非英語系國家的英文老師強調文法的作法反而扼殺了學生自我表達的本能。
另外，在ABC的全體老師萬分樂意解答他們在小學裡的英文課業問題。我們希望看到孩子在每種學習英文的管道中獲得成就感。事實上我們也正設法將它融入在ABC的課堂上。但不諱言地，因為每位學生來自不同的小學，教材也不盡相同，在同一時間裡幫助每位學生有一定的難度；但我們會盡全力也有信心幫忙您的孩子準備將來的考試。
Sincerely,
John GABC English School Teacher
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