Meet Mark: one of our star teachers for Online+Teacher

 

We would like to present to you Mark Myatt: one of our star teachers for Online+Teacher English. With our Online+Teacher packages, you combine E-learning with online conversation classes taught by experienced teachers from UvA Talen. Mark, originally from Chicago, has been living in Europe for more than a decade. He has more than 12 years of experience with teaching English (online). He is really excited about online teaching and only sees advantages.

Online classes: no travel time + the benefit of digital tools
“I am quite comfortable with teaching and training online. Contrary to what many individuals still believe, I find that there is little difference if I meet my students face-to-face or online. Online learning even offers possibilities beyond those of the traditional classroom. Obviously, distance is eliminated, and with it, the hassle of trying to get somewhere by a certain time. As we all know, with face-to-face learning, sick students and instructors should definitely not attend class with others who they could potentially infect. Additionally, since everyone is already, by necessity, in front of a device, there are no problems that arise from someone forgetting their laptop or the battery running out in the middle of class. This helps to facilitate the integration of technology into the classroom.”

 

 

Follow your own learning path
“When I started learning a foreign language for the first time in my life, at age 21, I realized that learning to speak a new language by only taking traditional courses would probably not give me the results I sought in a short amount of time. This is because of the lack of individual attention and having to move at the pace of the entire class. I therefore bought a subscription to a language program and I was able to communicate at a basic level within about a year of regular use. While this type of learning will not produce identical results for everyone, I believe that for many individuals, similar methods can produce satisfactory results in a similar or even shorter amount of time than only learning in a traditional group course.”

Tips to improve your pronunciation
“I guide students in being able to independently improve their pronunciation skills in several ways. Firstly, I recommend that they consult resources including apps and websites. Those technological resources are meant to supplement my role as an instructor and allow students to further take their learning into their own hands. During class, when a student encounters a difficult word, I have them work on the pronunciation of that word in isolation, and then in the context of a complete sentence. In this way, they acquire a more natural intonation. Another effective exercise to deal with pronunciation and fluency is by doing what are known as ‘assisted reading’ exercises. Simply put, these are exercises in which a student is presented with a text that he/she first reads for comprehension, then hears it read out loud to them by the instructor, then reads it out loud while recording him/herself.”

Mark’s teaching method: Flipped Learning
“Nearly all the courses I give are based on the concept of Flipped Learning. The basic idea is that self-study tasks are assigned prior to the following class, and not at the end of class. This means that students arrive at class already having been exposed to that day’s content and material. Concerning the Online+Teacher packages: students can, for example, go through the e-learning themselves before each conversation class, and during class we can practice the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation the student has learned in the e-learning.”

More of a trainer than a traditional teacher
‘’I see myself as more of a trainer than a traditional teacher. I believe that few modern-day students want to sit in a classroom in which there is a teacher who stands at the board and lectures them about grammar rules. They want to learn the language at their own pace and in their own way.’’

 

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