"My aim has always been to have a relaxed and happy dialogue with the students"

Vivienne | Canada. I have been impressed and rather overwhelmed by all the information received recently! I know that a lot of the volunteers now seem to be English teachers or studying TEFL, but as a 'lay' person I have not been going into anywhere near the depth of teaching that some of you have. I know that Roger did explain when we had our volunteer meeting the other week, that we were not expected to do more than the lesson plans that he had sent us.

I have been partnered with 4 high-school students so far, and with each student we have worked our way down the questions in each lesson, exchanged photos and information, and if time, we have performed the role play. My aim has always been to have a relaxed and happy dialogue with the students so that they can practice speaking to an English speaking person (which I know is actually the aim of the project). On reflection, I feel that that was entirely adequate for my students. They all had a lot of pressure of school work, home-work, assignments, exams and extra lessons etc. I think they all enjoyed talking to me and I think that at the end of the course of lessons they had gained in confidence in speaking, and had learned a little bit about life in Canada and England.

However... having said all that... I am now partnered with a high-school teacher, and I realise that I need to 'up my game'. This is where some of the information you have sent is going to be useful! My partner is passionately keen to improve her English and is so pleased to talk to me, and I feel quite a responsibility to do all I can to advance her spoken and written English. The most difficult aspect for me is correcting her English written work. Although I am English, and am fairly well educated and well spoken, I didn't realise how little English grammar I know! I have to think very carefully, particularly with tenses in sentences. I need to do quite a lot of homework myself on this topic! Perhaps one of you might like to correct what I have written here!

Anyway thanks again for all the interesting examples and lessons that you have circulated to the group.