TED Community » steven ira

More About Me

I'm passionate about

quality control im 55 and i really want to make it work.ive seen desperate folks just hand over the money needing english so badly.

An idea worth spreading

well, I see so many teachers who tell students you should have studied more and students believe it..i think just maybe the teacher should have taught better.if my paycheck were on the line or a big bonus id work smarter and come to think about it ,,it is-

Talk to me about

english language in spain.toefl first certificate. i have a 94 % pass rate.. thats darn good.

People don't know that I'm good at

jumping from planes..i was in tsahal and we jumped alot.

My TED Story

no story..just want to meet language teachers with ideas on this..explaining then activites to get students to capture.i remember a girl kept forgetting the word tuesday in english..i told her if monday were ONE DAY then tuesday would be TWO DAY and it really is. i explain that we use the past tense in english to talk about a future like in "if i went to italy tomorrow"...they rcapture the grammar the first time in a game using a watch and change it from past hour to now or later.a real watch.it helps them catch the concept and remember it . how to get them to catch it is what im interested in..anybody can explain plus cuam per mumb ojumbo..and object pro what nnoun? but people dont speak well if they dont use it..but an hour or 3 a week is small potaotes.. i need tricks songs methods.. forget puzzles gaps matching..thats toilet paper..

Comments

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• A comment on Conversation: Do you think that English fluency is the new money?

  Jan 18 2013: Kate..who said im spanish?

• A comment on Conversation: Do you think that English fluency is the new money?

  Jan 18 2013: very funny..once a british man told me that when i say "20" i must say the T cause its there.I asked him to say the number 1 ..i then told him to say the E cause its there.He said that in 20 the T is sounded and if i dont say it im low class..and in 1 the E is mute and if i say it im low class..So his rule was do as i do..He thought americans were low class cause we omit letters in words like tthe T in twenTy or in the word WATER we dont say the T we make it into a D..He said you need to say what you see..until i pointed out to him that he too does it..Then he changed his rule from you must say all the letters you see to his new rule..do as i do

• A comment on Conversation: Do you think that English fluency is the new money?

  Jan 18 2013: in many cities in the world europe south america.theres a tie between really good english and money.almost to the point of seeming on purpose.Inspain only spanish can be teachers in pub schools.so no real natives can teach english here as full time real teachers.But in private schools they can and do and are.the govt tells everyone that english is so needed and not speaking english is like a virus..it affects all the rich and poor all the economy..an easy change would make english available to all but no..

• A comment on Conversation: Are professional English teachers who are also native english speakers better than a native speaker calling themselves a "teacher"?

  Dec 3 2012: Sorry but my thats one of my problems...cant type at all really and just use periods to cut off sentences...iIwouldnt say language is my obsession..its that kids and adults spend too much time muscling through the memorize phase and little on the play phase.. Many spend too long memoriizing the periodic table while others get it via a nifty song.Or the colors in physiical order with roy g biv while others constantly look at a chart to recall it..History class has become for many memorizing dates places names without playing or thinking about why things happened or caused happenings. Teachers of all subjects should think about the remembering part and make it easy and share ideas.. Publishers should include the easy words like sohcahtoa in math class for trigonometry or HOMES in geography class. english teachers need to be great at teaching a word or structure like You Had Better..in a way that students instantly catch it..Or a social studies teacher can do it in his class when teaching facts related.i just think too many teachers are explaining and students really have the job of memorizing. Living in a country where english is spoken is plan A.. I need to simulate that here in Spain in just 3 hours a week.

• A comment on Conversation: Are professional English teachers who are also native english speakers better than a native speaker calling themselves a "teacher"?

  Dec 3 2012: here in murcia spain we have an overdose of natives who say they are teachers but most are not trained.some dont even know why we use the word DO in english or what the past perfect is..and most can explain to you the second conditional but after they fail at getting students to catch it.to be able to produce it quickly..its all very passive in murcia.i try to offer active english..easy explanations i talk simple then activites in class to close the deal then there. there is play with the dough so to speak.until the student can produce it on demand..
  really any native can talk english and if theres alot alot alot of time the spanish will absorb it via osmosis but theres not so much time.And many teachers quote unquote can explain that the second conditional uses the past plus would and the third column of the verb (speak spoke spoken) but after most students cant speak well. PERIOD.the explanation is not the teachers job. the capturing it producing it on demand is the language teachers job..the history teachers is paid to explain in easy terms. so to it is the job of a geology teacher .but the language teacher is not teaching english for students curiosity.its for life and death in murcia spain. English Is The New Money...no english no job its that simple and the monied people get english all they want live in nannies english lang schools in murcia at 1500 a month per kid..you got 2 kids did you say??
  ..its the non monied folks who need teachers.methodology..when the usa army went to europe in ww2 they taught the GIs german french right away by memorizing 500 sentences . and in israel the same for learning hebrew. they told the immigrants to memorize translated form german or french to phonetic sentences in hebrew to say the basics and from there you can permutate new sentences..simply put any one can explain but get the student to produce it on demand thats the TEACHER job.thats my job.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!

  Dec 2 2012: great talk about how it becomes business..here in murcia teachers are anybody from england.like im a dentist if i can brush my teeth..i try to really offer quality and my reception has been great..