Sunday, April 11, 2010
ESL Conversation Classes
Participating in an ESL conversation class can be instrumental in increasing your English fluency as well as help you in preparing for testing. Many foreigners need and benefit from conversation classes to improve their spoken, everyday English. One important feature of these classes is that they can provide a comfortable environment for the ESL student to gain speaking practice. Many ESL students do not feel confident holding conversations with native speakers, and this practice is a great confidence builder in addition to a skill builder. ESL conversation classes serve three main purposes: Skill Building, Test Preparation, and Confidence Building.
While the technical aspects of English are important for writing and in an academic setting, most of the ESL student’s use of the language will be in spoken form. As with any other skill, practice is critical. By participating in a conversation class, you will be given the opportunity to practice English in a comfortable, structured environment. Your fluency and vocabulary in the language will increase as you participate in these classes.
Any test of your English ability will measure your knowledge of the technical and written aspects of the language. However, the tests typically will also measure your abilities in speaking English and listening to English. Again, the practice you will get from a conversation class will help you in increasing your scores on these areas of the tests. In addition, conversation classes typically focus their discussions on various topics relevant to everyday life. Participating in these discussions will give you exposure to topics which may be new to you and give you a base of knowledge that you can draw upon for writing topics on English tests.
It can be quite intimidating to converse with a native speaker in a language which you are just learning. Oftentimes the ESL learner will avoid opportunities to practice speaking skills because of this fear. Participating in conversation classes provides a supportive environment to help you practice the language. You will feel more comfortable trying out your English speaking and experimenting with new vocabulary and ways of saying things. Once you have had the opportunity to gain practice, you will have more confidence applying your speaking skills with native speakers.
A typical ESL conversation class will focus on a topic of discussion. Depending on the level of the class, students will make notes of their thoughts on the topic before participating in the conversation. Often relevant vocabulary is identified and discussed with the ESL tutor.
Participating in a conversation class can be an enjoyable experience that will help you increase your fluency, skill, and confidence in spoken English. If you are looking for a conversation class, send me an email and I will be happy to help you find a class that will suit your needs. I am a qualified ESL tutor and have successfully coached many English learners.
email me : firstname.lastname@example.org