Metodología

Método:
Método comunicativo, personalizado y práctico enfocado a las necesidades específicas del alumno tanto a nivel lingüístico (Fluidez Oral, Comprensión Auditiva, de Lectura, Vocabulario, Gramática, Pronunciación…) como personal y profesional (preparación de reuniones, presentaciones, teleconferencias, negociaciones, comidas de negocios, etc.). De esta manera todos los conocimientos van contextualizados y por consiguiente son bastante más asimilables. Véase la Sección "Los 10 Mandamientos de los Formadores de California Systems" a continuación (sólo disponible en Inglés), y consúltenos sobre cualquier duda que le pueda surgir.

Perfil del Alumno:
Al principio de un Curso de Idiomas se enviará un informe con el perfil y las necesidades del alumno, así como su nivel, dirección, horario, información de contacto, etc. Véase ejemplo de perfil del alumno en el documento Student’s Profile Report.

Prueba de Asesoramiento de Nivel:
Según lo desee el interesado, la "Prueba de Nivel" se realizará principalmente al inicio del curso. En ellas se evalúan las destrezas de Comprensión Auditiva, de Lectura, Vocabulario, Gramática y Fluidez Oral, y desempeña un papel fundamental en el establecimiento de objetivos –sobre todo en clases de grupo, aunque sólo se realizará de conformidad con el alumno y de su empresa-.

Tras analizar los resultados de la prueba, el evaluador/formador acordará con el alumno las metas que deberá seguir para la consecución de sus objetivos, con el fin de aprovechar de manera más eficaz el tiempo de aprendizaje y la inversión.

Informe de Asistencias:
Se enviará un "Informe de asistencias" mensual de cada alumno, según lo desee el interesado. (El formato puede ser bien el nuestro o el que considere el cliente –interno, Fondo Social Europeo, etc.-)

Seguimiento:
Se llevará a cabo de forma asidua entre el profesor y el alumno interesado, tras analizar las necesidades concretas del empleado, sus objetivos, su asistencia y su esfuerzo, y los resultados de la prueba de Asesoramiento de Nivel. El objetivo primordial será el de un mayor aprovechamiento de su aprendizaje.

LOS 10 MANDAMIENTOS DE LOS FORMADORES DE CALIFORNIA SYSTEMS

1.- Relate learning practice to practical situation:

• Ask “Where do you use your language skills? (meetings, conf calls, presentations, emails, socializing…)” and adapt needs to their real context
• Ask for e-mails received by the student in English…
• Ask for hobbies and find any related material. Motivate them

2.- Effective Communication (Please see related Section)

• Business Presentations
• Being Articulate
• Expressing with Trust
• The "Inverted Pyramid" structure
• Not only…, but also…; Both…, and
• Vocabulary Choice & Register
• Contracted and non-contracted forms
• Emphasis
• Language Power
• Positive vs. Negative message
• Building Professional Perceptions
• Using Connectives
• Show me. Don’t tell me. Illustrating

3.- "Imitate, don’t innovate"

• Children learn English thru Listening, not Reading. That"s why you pronounce /report/ the way you do, and /crisis/, and /I helped him/…
• Don"t expect them to pronunce a word thru just reading
• Pronunciation-based misunderstanding:
  • "I lost my /voice/ vs. /boys/."
  • "I /found/ vs. /phoned/ yesterday."
• In negotiations, when using Conditional tenses:
  "Si hubiésemos fabricado más terminales…":
  • Wrong: "If we manufactured more terminals…"
  • Right: "If we"d manufactured more terminals…"

4.- Language Power:

• Emphasis:
  • I understand your point.
    I do understand your point.
  • Don"t say that.
    Do not say that,
    Don"t YOU say that.
  • I"ve seen it.
    I have seen it.
  • I haven"t seen it.
    I have not seen it.
  • I would have helped him.
    I would"ve helped him.
    Had I helped him… (not questioning)
• Vocabulary register:(Anglo-Saxon vs. Latin-based)
  • Very, quite, rather, extremely
  • Strange, odd
  • Put up with, tolerate
  • Call off, cancel; put off, postpone
  • Problem, issue
  • Important, significant, relevant, vs. insignificant, trivial

5.- Watch for Past tenses

• Ask them to imitate your pronunciation, and do not teach its Grammar use when the student already knows its use
• MISCOMMUNICATION DUE TO GAPS AND BAD HABITS:/estóped/ vs. /stópt/ (Pronunciation of Past Regular Verbs)
  It would build up gaps in 11 verb tenses: "I stopped", "I"ve stopped", "I"d stopped", "If I stopped", "If I"d stopped", "I will"ve stopped", "I would"ve stopped", "I"m stopped", "I was stopped", "I"ve been stopped", "I"d been stopped", let alone parallel structures

6.- Get acquainted with the student
ACTION: Care for your students, find out about their needs, ask them questions, provide solutions with SMART Objectives, and keep their information strictly confidential.
CONSEQUENCES: You will be able to build a successful, trustworthy, and long-term relationship matching the students’ professional and private expectations.

7.- "Da ESL Mix" (CD with Songs which cover all Objectives of ESL learning)

• "Imitate, don’t innovate."
• Relate their grammar mistakes, connections between verbs, pronunciation, to some song.

8.- Create "Interactive Stories"

• To ‘force and provoke’ the use of specific structures –even through translation- that otherwise would be avoided
• Drill those structures
• Review the story
• Try to create a lively story

9.- "If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain": Make them overuse and relate to their "10 biggest, most mistaken-mistakes", and their most insecure pronunciation

• "Water" as /uárer/; "let him know" as /lérim nou/
• "I asked her" as /ai áskTer/
• Contractions such as /I"ve heard/, /He would"ve done it/
• Scientists, costs; cards, suggests…
• Make them imitate the questions you ask them*
• MISCOMMUNICATION DUE TO GAPS AND BAD HABITS: "Solemos pagar a los 3 meses del recibo del pedido."
  • Wrong: "We use to pay (which will sound as "we used to pay") three months after receiving the order."
  • Right: "We usually pay three months after receiving the order."

10.- Make them imitate the questions you ask them.

• They"ll develop their skills to address their gaps:
  • You"ll avoid their only paying attention to the message and not the form
  • You"ll make them be active listeners, and not only about structure
  • You"ll help some advanced students to be able to form questions in the present!!! (Believe it or not)