Teaching/Learning Online: "dense" lessons.

Hello, People!

I would like to start writing about teaching online and everything involved in it. 

Definitely, it is not an easy task and if you have been following my blog, you have probably seen that I wrote a book about how to open an online language school.

In my opinion, one thing to keep in mind is that online lessons are "more dense" than live lessons. 

What do I mean with "dense" in this case?

Well, in live lessons, even man-to-man lessons, there are some distracting elements such as a picture on the wall, any sound outside the room, or so. Also, the teacher may move around and it takes some time (seconds, I know) to go back to the blackboard to write something. 

During an online lesson, teacher and student are totally focused on the process. Maybe both have earphones, so distracting sounds do not influence the process. What is behind the teacher or behind the student will not change, so there are no distracting physical elements as well.

What does it mean in practice? Based on my experience, we can pass on to the student more material than in a normal lesson. Let's say that a normal one hour long lesson can be done in 50 or 55 minutes. 

On the other hand, if we decide to go for the one hour long lessons, we will be passing on 65 to 70 minutes, if it were a live lesson. One of the questions that arise is if the student is ready to absorb the extra material. One solution for this problem is to drill more, in a way that the lesson won't be boring and will correspond to 60 minutes concerning the material to be taught.

We can discuss more about this specific topic but I think it is enough to start a more general discussion.

This is one of the many aspects that teachers and students have to keep in mind when they work online.

Happy online teaching/learning!
Alex

Sorry!

Hello, People!

Sorry for being away from this blog. It is due to personal and health problems. From now on, I will try to be more regular and bring in interesting topics for you.

Hope to hear from you soon!
Alex

Desculpas.

Olá, Pessoal!

Estive em falta com o blog aqui por alguns motivos pessoais e profissionais. Por favor continuem acompanhando. Tenho alguns artigos para postar e outros que ainda estão na minha "caixola".

Boa sorte a todos!
Alex

Alexandre Scalzitti

Give-Away - Preface, Introduction and Preliminaries Of The Book "How To Start An Online Language School".

Give-Away

Have A Look At The First Parts Of My Book

“How To Start An Online Language School”

So, here are the first pages of my book “How To Start An Online Language School”.

You are free to have a look and I am just coying and pasting here on the blog. Anyone can read the material!

If you have a social media, please, advertise the link of this page.

Of course, don’t forget to buy it on amazon. Have a look at my author’s page.

www.amazon.com/author/alexandrescalzitti

and choose my book.

Hope to get some feedback from you soon!

Alex.

Here are the Preface, Introduction and Preliminaries.

Have fun!

How to Start An

Online Language School

A Handbook for Language e-Teachers

________________

Alexandre Scalzitti

Disclaimer

The contents of this e-book are based on my own classroom and online teaching experience of many years.

If you decide to start an online language school as described in this e-book, you will take full responsibility for your activities, choices and their consequences. I will not take any responsibility for any damages, losses or problems you might have.

The opinions expressed in this e-book are entirely mine and are not meant to humiliate, criticize, or harm anyone in any way.

Names of trademarks, brands, companies, etc., are exclusive property of their owners.

Preface

This book is the result of my activities of teaching language in classrooms, for private students and online. I have been teaching languages in classrooms and privately since 1995 and online since 2002.

After teaching online for many years, the idea of writing something that could be of help to other teachers who have not taught online yet has come up and I started writing.

Initially, the idea was to write an e-book called “How To Open And Keep An Online Language School” but when I started organizing my ideas, I thought that there are many things we have to take into account to start the business.

So, I decided to divide my thoughts in two volumes: this one and “How to Keep An Online Language School” which is under preparation.

I decided to adopt a very simple writing style. I do not write long and dense paragraphs and I often make use of spacing. I believe spacing is really good if you want to write your own comments on a printed version of this e-book.

I also opened a blog related to online teaching and topics related to language in general.

If you have any suggestions, comments, ideas, etc., please, don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you!

Alexandre Scalzitti (Alex)

November, 2016

e-mail  : theonlinelanguageteacher@gmal.com

Blog    : http://thelanguageblacksmith.blogspot.jp/

Introduction

There was a time when the Internet was used only among scientists, engineers and scholars in general. Since its popularization the Internet has been connecting people in so many different ways:

l  someone in Canada access the Internet to play chess with an unknown person in Russia;

l  some other people access the Internet in search for romance and there are thousands of examples of couples who first “met” on the Internet;

l  there are people who access the Internet to talk to their families who are on the other side of the world;

l  there are people who access the Internet to work or have a conference with workmates who are in an other city or in another country.

The Internet has given work a new dimension. E-mail and video conference software’s have made work performance faster and more efficient in a certain way. The impact of the Internet on society and especially on work is a topic of research for many scholars around the world.

Teaching and consequently studying/learning have also received the impact from the Internet.

In the beginning teachers or instructors organized material and made them available on a website. Students downloaded the material, wrote assignments and sent them back to their instructors by e-mail or uploaded them back to the school’s website.

Now we have interactive lessons using video conference software’s such that the student can interact with the teacher using a microphone and earphones.

Depending on the computer you do need neither microphone nor earphones because they are built-in. In fact, you do not need a computer anymore. You can use or mobile phone and interact with your student or teacher as if you were in the same room!

Well, in my personal opinion, nothing replaces a lesson where the teacher and the student or students are in the same room.

However, I think that teaching/studying using video conference is the best second option.

In my opinion, the advantages of teaching online are many. Among them are:

l  teach students from all over the world;

l  know different cultures;

l  be known on educational websites/platforms;

l  make language partners;

l  meet people who are on the same business;

l  Earn money performing a noble work.

Talking about earning money, I should say that it does not happen overnight. You have to build your career online and as a consequence of your good work, effort and reputation, students will come up to you.

The most important thing is to work hard and have fun!

I wish you all the best in your new endeavor.

Alexandre Scalzitti

November, 2016

Preliminaries

First Things First

What Is An Online Language School

Basically, an online school is a school where teachers teach courses (and students attend courses) online.

In other words, the lessons are given (and received) in real time using some sort of audio and video call software. In this framework, I will call the teachers’ teaching tasks “online teaching” and the students’ learning tasks “online learning”.

I also assume that in what follows “online teaching” and “online learning” are always meant to be in real time.

Online learning might be chosen because of a number of reasons:

1.     Lack of options

The student cannot find a course of his/her interest in his/her area. That is very frequent, especially if the student lives in remote areas of the country.

2.     Irregular work hours

The student has irregular working hours (shifts), so s/he cannot attend, for example, group lessons at a school because these lessons have fixed times.

S/he could attend private lessons at a school but that might be a little expensive, therefore, unattractive.

3.     Early hours, late hours

The student wants to have lessons very early in the morning before leaving for work or school, or very late in the evening.

That is very understandable in the case of people from very large cities because they spend a lot of time inside a train, bus or driving when they commute to work.

Generally, the student cannot find schools offering, for example, group lessons very early in the morning or late at night.

Again, if s/he decided to attend private lessons, as in the previous item, s/he might give up.

4.     Student’s physical disability

The student has a physical disability and wants to avoid moving around. No discussion here!

5.     Transportation costs

The student cannot afford transportation. Again, if the student lives far away from the place where there is a course of his/her interest, commuting to this course might be expensive, especially if the course demands the student to attend lessons 4 times a week.

Spending a lot of time commuting and attending lessons also implies in other expenses such as food. Doing the math can be very discouraging.

6.     Saving time for other activities

The student just wants to save moving time to do other things such as sleeping more, spending more time with family, studying something else

at home, enjoying a hobby and so on.

If we think a little bit further, we may find other reasons to decide for online learning but I think the above reasons are very convincing.

In this e-book we will talk about online language schools but the contents of this book can be adapted to any other topics.

■

Who Should Read This Book

Although throughout this e-book, for the sake of writing simplicity, I address a single person who wants to start an online language school, in principle, anyone interested in online language teaching/learning can read this book.

Let me talk about some especific groups of  people who could benefit from reading this e-book.

1.     Classroom teachers

There are many classroom teachers who would like to increase their income by starting online teaching.

However, many of them don’t know where and how to start or think that they would need a huge technological paraphernalia.

If you are a classroom teacher and want to start online teaching, no worries, I will show you exactly what you need!

2.     Teachers who work for online language schools

There are many language schools not only offering the traditional classroom language teaching but also offering online language courses or online after-class support.

If you are a teacher working for such a school or thinking about working at a language school which provides online lessons, you can learn or review some ideas which can be useful for your job.

3.     Business people who want to start a business in the field

So, you are not into language teaching but you have the money to start up the business and hire teachers to give lessons online? No problem! You came to the right place! You can learn a lot about the business from this e-book.

4.     Prospective students of online language schools

If you are in this category, I am pretty sure that, by reading this e-book, you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect, suggest and demand from the online language school you intend to start at.

5.     Business people who offer foreign language courses to their staff members

If you are someone who wants to hire an online teacher or an online language school to offer language courses to your staff members, you will have a pretty good idea of what your staff will get.

We could think of other groups of people who should read this book but I think the above is enough. If you happen to be reading this book but you are not interested in online language teaching/learning, maybe you know someone who might be. It would be great if you could recommend this e-book to someone who might be interested in the field.

■

What You Need To Kick Off

We need a few things here:

1.       teaching ability / credentials;

2.       have a working place;

3.       be able to do office work;

4.       have some computer basic skills;

5.       have the minimum hardware and software;

6.       be able to do marketing for your lessons;

7.       manpower;

8.       organize a banking system for your teaching business;

9.       provide a good presentation, both personal and for the online school.

Once you get the above done, you should think about the following too:

1.       how to search for students;

2.       how to deal with prospective students;

3.       asking about students’ needs;

4.       being honest with students;

5.       choosing material;

6.       lesson fees;

7.       writing your TOS (Terms Of Service).

Well, if you decide to really think about starting online teaching, the above is the minimum you have to consider. I will treat each of the above items to give you a picture of the preparation you should do.

■

Why Can An Online Language School Be A Good Business?

An online language school can be a good business because:

1.     Initial Capital

You need just a little initial capital. If you already have a computer, a microphone, earphones and an Internet connection, your initial capital is practically zero.

2.     Space

You don’t need a large physical space: you can teach from your home. You just need a table or desk to have your computer on.

3.     Equipment

It doesn’t demand expensive equipments: as I mentioned before, you will need a computer, a microphone, earphones and an Internet connection.

4.     Computer skills

It doesn’t demand high computer skills: you should type relatively fast and be able to use e-mail and an audio/video call software.

5.     Work Load

Perhaps in the beginning you will have just a few students and will do this activity part-time together with another job. You can adapt your teaching hours to your free time. If you decide to take teaching as a full-time activity, you will be able to create your own working hours.

■

Author's Bio

My academic and professional careers have been basically focused in mathematics, computer science and language. These three apparently different fields united in the same track when I discovered the mathematical approach to languages which motivated me to start a PhD research in automata theory which is an area on the intersection of information science and applied linguistics. My thesis is under completion. At the same time, my old passion for languages motivated me to start an office that offers services related to languages such as language education (classroom, private and online lessons) translation, interpretation, transcription, proofreading and content writing. My mother language is Brazilian Portuguese. My academic and business experience has given me solid knowledge of English, German and Japanese.

Brief CV

BSc. in mathematics

MSc. in computer science

PhD. candidate in automata theory (applied linguistics & information science)

Professional training as an English teacher.

Large experience in translation, interpretation, proofreading and transcription.

外国語教育の活動について・・・

[Português (BR)] [English]

皆さん、こんにちは！

今回、私の外国語教育の仕事についてお話したいと思います。

ブラジル・ドイツ・日本で２０年以上、外国語を教えて参りました。

日本の高等学校、私塾で外国語を教える仕事をして参りました。

40名単位での授業、少人数のグループレッスン、個人レッスン、そして最近は、スカイプやラインを使用し、世界各国の生徒にオンラインレッスンも行っております。

特に日本人生徒への外国語教育経験は豊富です。

7年間、宮崎市内の私立高校にて英語講師として従事しながら、自身で経営していた教室で社会人のグループや個人レッスンを行い、経験を積んで参りました。

翻訳、通訳、校正、音声テキスト化などの業務も行って参りました。特に来日後は、和文英訳、和文葡訳、英文校正業務を多数行っております。法廷通訳、家庭裁判所の翻訳の経験もございます。

私の対応言語は、母国語のブラジル・ポルトガル語の他、仕事でドイツ語、日常会話レベルのイタリア語など話しますが、主な言語は英語、日本語です。

英語については前述しましたが、校正、和文英訳業務、多種多様なレベルの生徒への教育経験を積んで参りました。

日本語については、様々なテーマの和文英訳、通訳業務を行なって参りました。

また、ユーチューブで教育関係のビデオをアップしております。

私は、日本、日本人、日本文化、日本史、日本家屋、日本語、日本食などを愛する外国人です。

私の生徒たちは、目標達成が出来るように頑張ります！

現在、

• 英語
• ポルトガル語
• ドイツ語

そして外国人の為の日本語を教えております。まだ日本語を話せない友達にアレックスのレッスンのことを伝えてください！

連絡先ですが、

theonlinelanguageteacher@gmail.com　

の方へメールをください。

スカイプかラインでちょっとお話しながら、言語に関する、あなたの目標についてのお話を聞かせてください。もちろん、これは、無料です。

お話をした後、あなたの必要性に基づいてレッスン料を発表します。お気になさらずに、お手頃の金額ですよ！

ご連絡をお待ちしております！

よろしくお願いします。

アレックス

Falando Um Pouco Sobre O Meu Trabalho De Educação Com Línguas Estrangeiras

[English] [日本語]

Olá, Pessoal!

Hoje eu gostaria de falar um pouco do meu trabalho com educação em línguas estrangeiras.

Tenho ensinado línguas estrangeiras por mais de 20 anos. Lecionei línguas estrangeiras no Brasil, na Alemanha e no Japão.

Já lecionei para grupos grandes e pequenos. Também já lecionei para alunos particulares. Leciono “ao vivo” e online.

Além de lecionar, tenho uma grande experiência com tradução, interpretação, verificação e correção, e transcrição. 

Estas atividades me capacitaram para ensinar inglês comercial, por exemplo, inglês comercial entre outros vários temas.

Eu sempre me certifico de que os meus alunos tenham os 

resultados desejados 

quando estão aprendendo línguas estrangeiras comigo.

Você não gostaria de participar desta equipe de alunos de sucesso?

Atualmente leciono

• Inglês
• Japonês
• Alemão e
• Português para estrangeiros.

Avise os seus amigos que ainda não falam português sobre o meu trabalho!

Eu ensino todos os aspectos de cada língua estrangeira que ofereço: 

• compreensão, 
• conversação, 
• leitura e 
• redação, 

em todos os níveis.

Posso ensiná-lo a dar apresentações e como escrever e-mails comerciais, por exemplo.

Por favor, escreva-me um e-mail para

theonlinelanguageteacher@gmail.com . 

Aí, vamos organizar uma entrevista informal no skype para podermos falar sobre a língua estrangeira que você deseja aprender and os seus objetivos. 

Claro que esta entrevista é totalmente gratuita.

Falando em entrevista gratuita, você pode estar pensando se eu cobro pelas minhas aulas...

Sim, claro, eu cobro pelas minhas aulas mas precisamos verificar as suas necessidades e depois poderei anunciar a você uma taxa razoável que não vai ferir o seu bolso. Não se preocupe!

Espero receber seu e-mail em breve!

Divirta-se estudando línguas estrangeiras!

Grande abraço do Alexandre.

Talking About My Work With Language Education

[日本語] [Português (BR)]

Hello, People!

Today I would like to talk about my work with language education.

I have been teaching languages for over 20 years. I have taught languages in Brazil, Germany and Japan.

I have taught lessons to large and small groups. I have also taught one-to-one lessons.

Besides teaching, I have a large experience with translation, interpretation, proofreading and transcription. Such language services enabled me to teach business English, for example, among other several specific topics.

I make sure my students have results using the language they are learning from me.

Would you like to be part of a successful team of students?

Currently I am teaching

• Brazilian Portuguese       
• Japanese     
• German and
• English

Tell your foreign friends who cannot speak English about this blog post!  

I can teach all levels of each language I am offering: 

• listening
• speaking
• reading and 
• writing.

I can also teach you how to give presentations and how to write business e-mails, for example.

Please, write me an e-mail to 

theonlinelanguageteacher@gmail.com . 

Then, we will organize an informal interview on skype to talk about the language you want to learn and about your goals. Of course, this informal interview is totally 

free of charge.

Lesson fees?

Sure, I charge for my lessons but we have to check your needs and then I will be ready to announce a fair fee for your wallet! Don’t worry!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Have fun with your language studies!

Alex.

Alexandre Scalzitti