That's rather a challening title isn't it? Well, Judy, Caroline and myself all really don't like to call ourselves "teachers" because, as you will hear if you listen, we feel the word doesn't describe what we do and is sort of obsolete in today's world. Are you wedded to the notion that "teaching" is (still) the right word to slap onto the role of someone who supposedly helps others to acquire usable skills and knowledge? If you are we three would, respectfully, invite you to listen to our rationale and give it some thought in the context of your day-to-day activities with other people's brains and the learning outcomes you are hoping to achieve with them.

If you are on LinkedIn you might even like to go and contribute to the discussion below a post Judy put up a week ago about education in Finland versus education in North America. You can read it HERE

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Judy Thompson - https://thompsonlanguagecenter.com/#aboutjudythompson
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

This week Caroline and I talk with our special guest Caprice Jackson, the director of the English Out There summer school. Caprice has been running it every year since 2009 and has a wealth of knowledge about languages, language learning, teaching English (in a London further education college) and the summer school style of English Out There...carried out without classrooms and on the streets of London for real speaking practice with Londoners in every session!

Listen to Jason and Caroline discuss with Caprice how EOT stopped using classrooms completely years ago and how Caprice has adapted her teaching style from the classroom to the public realm with huge success in terms of learner speaking improvement in just the ten lessons (2 weeks) with each separate group.

The conversation starts with the EOT summer school and then moves into how both Caroline and Caprice see the method or process of EOT to be completely different from conventional ELT and much more inherently personalised and contextually meaningful for each and every individual learner.

There were a few surprises along the way! Have a listen.

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caprice Jackson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caprice-jackson-84951911
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

If you are a learner and wish to buy some EOT learning materials click HERE
If you are someone who wishes to use EOT to help learners to speak English and want some materials click HERE

This week Caroline wanted to say a bit more on formal learning outcomes in mainstream education leading into ELT and how we both find it perpetually surprising that the billions of English learners are, in our view, being not only let down but, worse, blamed for their failure to speak by the ELT status quo. It is changing and new ways of working have developed but no hugely profitable hegemony gives up without a scrap and Jason talks about innovating and the backlash that he experienced by just doing something differently and proving it. And proof, real proof of efficacy, should we both think be a mainstay of marketing in such an important and (potentially) life-changing practice, but it isn't. Look around! Or have a listen :-)

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

We've got Judy back! Yay! This one is fairly broad ranging. At the start Judy responds to Caroline and Jason's discussion in episode 7 about context in learning English and other topics then the three discuss teaching and global systemic educational outcomes and how learners are actually constrained by the prevailing orthodoxy in the opinion of the participants which segways into a discussion on difference and autism. The episode ends with some background on the educational backgrounds and experiences of all three and how they relate to how they learnt at school and how they all learn and work in education now.

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Judy Thompson - https://thompsonlanguagecenter.com/#aboutjudythompson
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

So, after a week away due to some 'field activities' by Jason, Caroline and Jason discuss learners conventional perceptions of what an English language course is and what they perceive as the level of indoctrination suffered by many many learners around the world and how this affects their progress. This then leads into a discussion of the importance of "context" in the learning process (originally meant to be the sole focus but listen to find out why it got shoved down the order). Caroline and Jason both explain what "context" means to them in their work helping people to speak English comfortably, finally. Have a listen, let them know what you think in the comments and do please share this with anyone you think it might be of interest to!

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

"Pattern Transfer = Language" - Listen to Caroline Swinton, Judy Thompson and Jason West discuss patterns in English language teaching and learning and how you can use the human brain's natural language acquisition ability to dramatically improve the speaking and writing ability of your students. There really aren't many teaching guides and course materials that exploit this very well researched but little applied phenomenon for the benefit of English language learners worldwide. Have a listen!

To learn more about the contributors to this podcast visit:
Caroline Swinton - https://www.facebook.com/madrelinguadilondra
Judy Thompson - https://thompsonlanguagecenter.com/#aboutjudythompson
Jason West - https://englishoutthere.com/about-us/about-us

International educational truth-monger Judy Thompson, author of English is Crazy and The Backpacker's Guide to Teaching English, joins Caroline and me on the podcast...yay! We do the intros and then get stuck into the general malaise of teaching (including teaching English) as we know it. It is a truly massive topic and one that has energised Judy and me very vociferously for a long time now. Caroline comes at this from a sligtly different angle, which is great, because it teases out stuff that is good to air and might have been missed. We collectively refuse to moderate our views and, in some instances, our language, so be warned, the 'F word', i.e. FAILURE is used (amongst other F words,...so be warned!).

In this episode Caroline brings up the big issue of English learners not understanding language during speaking practice and how she, Judy Thompson and her "English is Crazy" book, and others, approach it and try to fix it. Jason has his own slightly different slant on the problem and, in the context of how he and the English Out There method and learning materials work, explains how he thinks it happens and how he sets about trying to help learners to learn to cope with a lack of comprehension, to get over it fast, and then to flourish. Don't think these problems aren't linked to the conventional ELT system and how it prevents progress in learners' speaking....that's the corporatisation bit at the end...of course! :-)
Have a listen!

To engage with and possibly work with Caroline to improve your English visit her Facebook profile and message her.
To learn more about Jason's 20+ years of work on helping learners to finally speak and to buy his unique learning content which support the method visit his English Out There website