English Teacher Jakarta

Mark is a highly qualified teacher who achieved a Bachelor of Education and then went on complete the Cambridge CELTA certificate. Mark has just completed two years of corporate English training in Seoul, Korea and is now ready for the new challenge of working and living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mark is well known for his dynamic, fun and unforgettable classes where students are inspired to achieve their dreams. He is looking forward to being an English teacher in Jakarta.

Education:

Key Skills:

What kind of teaching technique do you think the most effective way to motivate students skill in speaking?

Firstly, getting students talking about what they already know and are interested in is a good starting point. After this, and having established a comfort level, I introduce students to a wide variety of new vocabulary from a range of topics so that they don’t slow down or worse ‘block’ when trying to think of the word in English. Additionally, the essential grammar exercises we go through together help them fit together the vocabulary into meaningful sentences. Following this, I introduce useful phrases and idioms which match how a native speaker would speak so that when they find themselves in a situation with such a speaker, they are able to keep up with the flow of conversation.

What are the obstacles that you often face while you are teaching English?

If a student is particularly shy, they can be prone to stay quiet instead of questioning something if they are not sure of it. This shyness usually disappears as the classes progress and the student feels more comfortable opening up and not worrying too much about making mistakes. I always say “Mistakes are good! The only real mistake you can make is to say nothing”. Another common obstacle comes from when a student has had bad experiences with English learning before. Maybe they had a particularly boring teacher before and without knowing how much fun English learning can be, have stigmatized the learning experience.

What do you do to stimulate students creativity while they’re having an English class?

Different learners use different skills in acquiring language. Some are more kinesthetic and like working with their hands and objects, whilst some are auditory or visual and prefer learning primarily from these senses. I incorporate a range of exercises which target these learning modalities so that each specific learner’s time is creatively engaged using the skills most suitable for them. An example of each might be; constructing fragments of a diagram/puzzle with a grammar focus; analyzing photographs or art-design to stimulate the visual sense; or playing recordings of sound-fx atmospheres to engage their auditory centers. I give students the opportunity to explore each and every one of these learning modalities until they find their own most suitable skill for learning. I’ve found that once they engage in this kind of left-right brain learning; long-term language retention is the result.