What a good VES class looks and feels like...

At VES we want to give our students excellent classes - the same standard of teaching that you’d expect at a college or paid-for language academy. That’s part of the reason all of our teachers are qualified.

However, we are “more than a language school” - VES is a ministry of the church, and as such we are a bit different to those more formal learning environments.

Here are key things we’re shooting for every time we host a class:

• Students that are early are given a warm welcome.

• Teaching begins on time.

• ideally 6-12 students (or ratio of 4-5 students and 1 native speaker)

• A specific but low key welcome of any new students, and welcoming back if someone has come back after an absence.

• Some review / repetition of previous material

• Well prepared material with a clear theme (“Today’s class is about…)

• Well presented, clear teaching point(s)

• A variety of activities through the class

• Not too much TTT - (teacher talking time)!

• A drawing in of all students as much as possible

• The lesson works well enough as a ‘stand alone’, but also has a sense of progression / freshness for regular students

• Some laughter / light heartedness

• A healthy dose of encouragement (“Keep going… you are doing so well”)

• Finished on time with a feeling of “we could have kept going there”