What to expect in your first evening class as a beginner
Wednesday, 17th June 2009
It’s nice to know what to expect from your first lesson when you sign up for an evening course, especially if you are a beginner in the language you are learning.
A lot of people who sign up for evening courses in a foreign language have either never learnt one before, or have not attempted to for a number of years.For this reason, many people can feel a little nervous and apprehensive about what they’ll be expected to know or do...and whether the other people in the class will really be ‘true’ beginners as well! Nobody likes to feel that they are at a lower level than everyone else.
In reality, the vast majority of people who opt for a beginners’ language course will be exactly that. There may be the odd student who has had some exposure to the language before, but this will not have been to any great extent. The reason that the ‘beginners plus’ level exists is to cater for people who fall into this category.
Generally speaking, first lessons are used for ‘getting to know you’ exercises, and to find out a bit more about why each class member wants to learn the language. Language-wise, you will come away with some of the basics that you need to get started - usually the ability to greet other people, to introduce yourself and to ask some basic questions.
You will be shown all the language that you need in order to achieve this - it will not be assumed that you know any of the phrases or expressions already, even if they tend to be commonly known as a matter of general knowledge.
The aim with all of our language courses is that only the target language is used in lessons, however inevitably there will be some instances where English is needed. Students should try as much as possible only to speak in the language they are learning, but of course, this won’t always be possible! If you are really struggling to understand a certain point, don’t feel scared to ask for further clarification (in English if necessary).
Hopefully by the end of the first class you will know a bit more about your classmates, a bit more about your teacher, and have a good idea of how the lessons will be structured. Whilst first lessons tend to be conducted without the aid of any resource material, from the second lesson onwards you will be working with an allotted textbook, which will give you a good idea of the themes and language aspects that will be covered from week to week.
If, at the end of your first lesson, you have any questions or concerns relating to the level of the class or the teacher, please do let us know. The sooner we know about any issues, the sooner we can resolve them!
More on evening language courses in the UK
More on evening language courses in the US
More details on how to test your level online
Tags: language course, language, tailor-made, part-time evening course, italian, german, french, spanish, english
Posted by Laura Harrison 2009-06 under Types of Courses,
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