OOS Natural English Services is a professional English language services company offering:
Think of the way we learned our first language as a baby. A baby’s mind has no structure. It is pure awareness and absorbs information like a sponge. It observes, imitates and then plays with what it has copied from its environment. A baby takes its time to digest, experiment and play with what it learns. Then through a need to communicate it learns to build a linguistic rhythm which slowly develops into a language. The way you learned your first language as a baby is the natural way of language acquisition.
Compare this to how most people learn a second language. The modern way of language acquisition forces people to try to quickly memorize large amounts of vocabulary and sentence structures, and then hold them in memory. This is similar to building a building with a weak foundation. It may function to a degree, but it is structurally flawed. Language acquisition needs to be intuitive and gradual. People learn in different ways. The modern systems of education are largely a “one size fits all” approach.
Natural English Services seeks to find the key to fit the lock of how each of our students learn according to their own individual nature. In other words, each student will receive an individual custom approach that best fits the type of support they need as a student.
Conversation is the essence of linguistic communication. Have you ever wondered why learning a language in school usually lacks much if any real conversation? It usually makes you memorize a bunch of rules, grammar structures and vocabulary, but doesn’t give you much practice with all of that information you memorize. What is the end result? You walk away with a lot of language knowledge, but unable to actually speak the language well.
Have you ever noticed that those who went away to a foreign country and lived there for some time, often come back with a strong ability to speak that language so quickly? This is because they marinate in a language environment which demands constant communication practice. The need for specific vocabulary and language structures in order to function and express themselves is constant. The result is a much more efficient acquisition of that language. Comparatively better than if they were studying at a university or a language school.
It is like taking a lecture about driving a car, but you never get any real practice driving during the course. The end result would be you would finish the course not knowing how to drive even though you understand the process intellectually. Compare that to people who jump into a car with their family member next to them and they learn how to drive with hands-on experience and no prior study. They learn to drive in a faster and more enjoyable way. Plus, they acquire a natural sense of driving that could never be learned from a book.
One of the problems with studying a language through textbooks and lectures is it encourages the undesirable development of a split-brain approach to language acquisition. It is like these people have two brains; one is their native language brain and the other is a brain reserved for the new language they are trying to acquire. The result is they end up translating everything in their head before they speak and use knowledge of grammar and rules to structure their speaking as they talk. Its almost like having an interpreter around you always and needing to speak through them to communicate. This would slow down and distort the true message of the speaker dramatically.
On the other hand, the student who tries to actually think in the language they want to learn and doesn’t translate, is like a baby acquiring their first language. They actually get their hands “dirty” with the language by playing with and experimenting with it and not worrying so much about mistakes. Then they develop a “native brain” by actually becoming the language rather than just memorizing it.
When speaking, the language needs to be ready on the tip of the tongue without thinking. If you need to access knowledge in your brain to speak a foreign language, it will be difficult to ever reach a very high level of communication in that language. So, language acquisition, which is conversationally-based but provides room for practice and development, is a natural approach to learning a new language.
Understand that all languages originally formed naturally by no specific design. Later on, people tried to organize and structure the language with rules. Honestly, a language is not a perfect mathematical equation. It will contradict itself, change and evolve year by year. A language nicely matches up and agrees with the developed grammar rules when it is in a textbook. A natural language is usually in major violation of the grammar rules, but is alive and flowing.
Learning and understanding some basic grammar can be useful in the beginning, but if the speaker’s mind becomes too full of all these rules and structures, it will definitely make it difficult to become a natural sounding and effective speaker. Such a speaker has to run their words through their mental filter constantly. This will impede and reduce the natural flow, shine and energy of their communication.
When you were a baby, did you learn a lot of grammar and rules before you started speaking? Of course not! First, you learned to speak and then years later you learned some of the rules. But only if you could stay awake and keep from being bored in your language class. Sticking to grammar is like a crutch to get you going and help you organize your learning as a beginner, but after a while it will probably only weigh you down.
A language environment which is most conducive to effective learning is one where the target language is being spoken exclusively. Similarly, the foreign language environment recreated in your Natural English Services classes will give you the right amount of pressure to encourage you to learn more quickly, deeply and effectively. This is why the best classroom for learning a language is living abroad where everyone is speaking the language all around you constantly. In your classes with us, we will do our best to recreate that foreign language environment.
There needs to be both a need and a desire to learn the language being taught. Without these two, language learning can be a lot of work. Remember how a baby learns? You can see it isn’t work for them, but a natural result of interest and play.
If the teacher constantly translates for the student then it may become a crutch for the student and they are not likely to absorb new material easily because information is conveniently given anytime they want it on demand. This is similar to the modern misuse of smartphones to quickly access any information. A strong need or desire to know, makes the information digest much better than quickly getting information at any time.
Having the teacher continually translate while teaching is almost as bad as a speaker who is communicating in a foreign language, yet in their head they constantly translate as they are speaking. First, they think of it in their mother tongue and then they convert it into the target language or vice versa. This will for sure drain the effectiveness and delivery of the speaking power of the individual.
Using the example of learning English as a second language, it can be said that the desirable approach is to develop an English brain so when English is spoken, the mother tongue is turned off and the brain functions totally in English. Both thoughts and spoken words are in English.
This being said, if the student would like a bit of translation in their classes, an appropriate balance will be given. It is fine to get a hint here and there if the student is struggling, but not advisable if it is habitually done. We can work out a balance with you, no problem.
A textbook lesson is focused around a textbook as the teacher guides the student point by point through each chapter. It has a lot of structure and a lot of controlled practice, but does not offer too much in terms of developing a natural skill in the expression of the target language.
A free-conversation lesson is the opposite of a textbook lesson. It has almost no structure and focuses mainly on improving the fluency of the student through speaking practice. Students tend to just exercise the language they have already acquired, but don’t expand too much nor develop a solid foundation.
A conversation-based study lesson is the general type offered by Natural English Services. It is a balance between a textbook lesson and a free conversation lesson. Naturalness in the development of speaking skill is emphasized. There is a conversation which flows freely until the student makes a significant error or is unable to understand or express what they want to say. At this point the teacher will switch to structured practice and make the necessary corrections, drilling, vocabulary building and grammar structuring so the student can continue the conversation as they build a stable foundation.
It seems every school is emphasizing their own method and instruction techniques. There are a number of good methods out there which can help the students develop at a fast and steady rate. The trouble with the majority of the methods of language instruction being offered on the market is that the main focus first and foremost is to generate as much income as possible for the company. Helping the students reach their language goals in a balanced way and at a steady pace is not their main focus because it is not as profitable for the corporation.
In order to maximize profits, many schools create a complicated system of learning so they can market it as something special and then sell it at a high price. The illusion is that since its expensive and complicated it must be effective. We however have seen time and time again that this is not the truth.
We believe nature provides the simple solutions to life and language acquisition is no different. We genuinely want to help you reach your language goals at a smooth and hopefully rapid pace. We pledge to do everything we can to help you accomplish this. In your classes we present natural methods of language acquisition and will help guide you through the English language and encourage you to rely on the foundation you develop with us to take you anywhere you want to go.
Modern education encourages memorization as a major part of the education system. As you may remember from your own schooling, the results of memorizing large amounts of information has limited results. How much can you remember from all the material you memorized for all those tests in school? Probably not too much…
Memorizing phrases and vocabulary and holding them in your head, is an ineffective way to learn a language as we see it. In natural language acquisition the more you are exposed to and practice using various language items, the more ingrained they become in you naturally.
The language you speak should be a part of you. It is inefficient to have to search your mental database for information each time you want to express yourself in a given language. Just think of your mother tongue. Do you try to remember all those words and language structures each time you speak? Of course not… they have become a part of you and you use them effortlessly. This is the direction we wish for you to develop in.
Let’s say you wanted to learn how to drive a car. Imagine we explained all the details of how to drive and you listened carefully and memorized all that information, but we never let you actually drive the car. Do you think you would be able to drive by the time you finished the course? Most likely you could not drive even if you had thoroughly understood all the details and procedures you learned in class and got perfect scores on the tests.
Modern education likes to dump massive amounts of information in your lap. If you are able to hold a certain amount of that information in memory and then cough it up for the test, then you are sold the idea that you have accomplished something great. But the end product will yield mediocre results.
A lecture is one-sided and monotonous. A lively ping-pong exchange between two people while language items are being used and practiced will create a much more solid foundation and a higher skill level than learning from a lecture could ever give you. This is what natural language acquisition is all about. A learning environment that is alive and evolving and holds your interest. Not an old dusty book that has an inflexible combination of structures to work with.
A textbook can be a useful guide and practice reference if it is used at the correct dosage and timing.
Some structure practice is needed in the beginning of studying a language and having a set of structured information and practice drills readily available can create a degree of convenience sometimes for both teacher and student. It is a useful reference, but it is far from being a necessity.
The drawback of a textbook is that is too often overly relied upon. This can create a one-dimensional development in a limited set of areas, especially when learning a language. This can be seen if language textbooks are examined closely. After looking through even hundreds of texts, it is obvious that no single textbook is capable of capturing a complete snapshot of a language to study. It will present some information sets to practice, however, it will always be missing large amounts of information no matter how well the book is written. The scope of a language is just too wide. It is amazing to see how much modern education has their head stuck in a book while the greatest teacher, which is life itself, keeps changing and dancing around them.
Conversation, when used as a properly guided study technique, offers a much more multi-dimensional approach to language learning. When a good textbook or study materials are used as a supplement, there can be a much more holistic outcome in development.
The first point that needs to be made here is this… any language company that tries to sell you the idea that you will master a language in a short amount of time is not being completely honest with you.
The truth of the matter is that any skill that requires a degree of mastery at any level needs time, patience, focus and consistent practice. Competency in any language is a possibility for everyone. However, if the student is in a rush to obtain fluency, only mediocre results can be obtained.
Each student needs to assess what it is they are looking for in their language study. If you are doing some travel in English speaking countries and want to learn a basic set of survival English, this can be accomplished in a relatively short time. If, however, fluency is the goal, the requirements for that achievement are substantially higher.
Of course, each one of us learns and acquires a new language at a different pace and in different ways. This is why the modern cookie cutter education system that gives all students the same approach and sets the same inflexible standards for all, has proven time and time again to be ineffective and in dire need of a major restructuring.
Natural English Services looks at each student on an individual level an considers all strengths and weaknesses. We seek to customize your learning experience to suit you in the most appropriate balance possible. We encourage your feedback and open cooperation throughout your development to help us achieve this in the most efficient and enjoyable way possible.
If you make a commitment to your language goal, work with a good teacher, and be consistent in your practice, you will definately get there! Natural English Services hopes you will choose us to help you reach your goals. We will give our best effort to make sure each student develops thoroughly and consistently in the direction that best suits their needs.
It is very common for upper-intermediate and advanced students to reach a point in their studies where they feel they are no longer making much progress. In the beginning days of learning a language, it is very easy to note and measure linguistic improvement and progress. At the start, a student can clearly see that they can’t express themselves or accomplish basic tasks in the target language. But as time goes on, it is very measurable to see that now they can do this, that and that, whereas before they couldn’t. Here a student can easily feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Once a student reaches a certain degree of fluency in a language, however, and the list of things they can’t do gets shorter and shorter, then it becomes difficult to measure progress. To be clear, linguistic development, growth and skill level in a language never stops, even for a native speaker. Language is a living entity that continues to evolve, as well as its relationship with all those who speak it. Refinement, restructuring and increased skill will progress as long as we keep speaking a language. It is a natural process of life.
Be rest assured that for the one who seeks progress in a language, all one needs to do is speak, speak and speak as much as possible. Just know that the more one stays conscious of the words they speak, how they speak it, and in which areas they want to develop, their linguistic evolution is guaranteed! The more we put into our studies, the more we get out. And the more we stay conscious of our words, the deeper our development and skill level will grow to be. This is a guarantee!
The simple answer to this is, the better the connection there is between two people, the more likely it is that information can be effectively exchanged between them. To take this a step further, it can honestly be said that fantastic teaching techniques and a good textbook are all secondary to how well the teacher and student connect. I have seen a number of bad teachers with no technique and weak teaching materials, effectively teach students who connected well with them in class.
In learning a language, the most important aspect of it is learning how to effectively communicate with another person. This goes beyond the words themselves and is not limited to language. It is very possible for two people to communicate very well, even though they cannot speak each other’s language. This can clearly be seen if a person has a pet with whom they can communicate very well with even though they don’t speak any words.
To make your online lessons as effective as possible while taking lessons with Natural English Services, some simple suggestions should be considered:
1) Keep your chat screen open – The chat screen is the dynamic whiteboard of an online lesson. Open it as soon as the lesson starts and keep a constant eye on corrections, alternatives and notes the teacher will be frequently dropping there. The chat screen script also is your record of the content of the lesson and should be used for supplementary practice after each lesson.
2) Recognize a correction and take a minute or two to practice it in class – It is important to be mindful when a correction or suggestion has been made from the teacher. When these are written by the teacher on the chat screen, it is best to pause the language practice and repeat the correction at least 1 to 3 times before moving on. All you need to say is “Let me practice this” and then go ahead and practice it out loud. There is no need to wait for a cue from the teacher.
The best time to learn is when a mistake or language difficulty happens in real time. Make the best use of these opportunities to improve and polish your speaking skills.
3) Do not be afraid to ask questions or to request additional practice with a language item during class – Please don’t hesitate to ask when you don’t understand and to request more practice with certain language items that are challenging for you. You can interrupt the teacher at any time to ask or you can wait until you are asked “Any Questions?”. It is the job and the function of the teacher to make sure you can follow the pace and content of the lesson.
4) Speak as much as possible – In your classes, your progress is heavily dependent on how much you try to speak in the target language. Please don’t be shy but instead speak, speak and speak more and more all through your lessons.
Expand on topics, speak in full sentences, ask questions, engage the teacher and use every minute of the lesson to sharpen your language skills. The teacher can fill in the gap by speaking whenever necessary if the student is quiet or shy, however this would be a waste of such a good opportunity to improve yourself. We request you to talk our ear off. Practice makes perfect!
5) Always review and practice the notes in the chat script after every lesson – For maximum growth and development, the corrections, suggestions and notes given by the teacher in the chat screen are best reviewed and practiced alone after each class. Read them out loud a few times or more, make new sentences and questions with any new or unfamiliar language structures or do some short essay writing and try to incorporate as much of the language items as possible into it. Then you can ask your teacher at the beginning of the next class to check it or practice it before the regular lesson starts.
6) Maintain regular and consistent practice – The key to the mastery of any skill is consistency of practice. Try to make your lessons as regularly as possible and also maintain an equal amount of home review and study after each lesson whenever you can.
7) Be open with your teacher and request customization of your lessons whenever possible – The most important thing for us is to ensure you keep steadily on your path to reaching your language goals. However, every student has different inclinations, preferences, and ways of learning, so it is necessary to customize each lesson as much as possible to fit the needs of each student. This happens most effectively with open customer feedback. Feel free and open to say what you like and don’t like about our lessons at any time before, during or after class. Let us know what is working and not working for you as well as any difficulties you may be having. This can even be sent by email after class, etc. if that is easier than explaining it in class. We do our very best in each lesson with you, but sometimes we may overlook things so help us customize the best possible lesson that suits you.
8) Choose topics that are fun and interesting for you – Most people have the image that study, by default, needs to be difficult and hard, not to mention boring. This is simply not so. The more interested you are in the content of your lessons and the more fun you have, the more likely you are to learn and learn quickly.
One of the highlights of Natural English Services lessons is the freedom and ability to customize the lessons almost any way you want to. Don’t you wish you could have had this option during grade school?
We encourage you to bring any topics, materials, magazines, videos, internet content, your writings, news pieces etc. to class that really interests you. Then we can make that into the class content focus and you can learn English with topics that stimulate the most interest and fun for you. Please freely tell your teacher the next area of discussion for your lesson at any time without hesitation. The study of a language can be done around any topic.
One of the highlights of Natural English Services lessons is the freedom and ability to customize your lessons almost any way you want to. Don’t you wish you could have had this option during grade school?
The customization of your Natural English Services lessons can be in areas such as but not limited to material content, teaching style, amount of correction, teacher speaking speed, focus on certain areas of the language development (grammar, vocab, idioms, pronunciation etc.), conversation topics etc.
Just imagine whatever is desirable or undesirable about a language lesson for you and let us know and you can customize pretty much anything you want about your lesson. We encourage this from our students as much as possible. The more interested you are in the content of your lessons, and the more fun you have, the more likely you are to learn, and learn quickly.
We encourage you to bring any topics, materials, magazines, videos, internet content, your writings, news pieces etc. to class that really interests you. Then we can make that into the class content focus and you can learn English with topics that stimulate the most interest and fun for you. Please freely tell your teacher the next area of discussion for your lesson at any time without hesitation. The study of a language can be done around any topic.
The general business practice of the average language school is to lock a student into a number of lessons over a period of time at one large price. While it can be useful for some to be locked in so they are forced to study, we feel this business practice is not ideal.
Natural English Services wants to give every student the freedom and flexibility to study as much or as little as they like. It is true however that without consistent practice, a language cannot be mastered so it is important for a student to remain self-disciplined and diligent in their studies if they wish to progress. We do offer larger packs of lesson tickets at a discount rate, which is a commitment in some ways because it is generally non-refundable. So, if a student wishes to use that as a way to commit to their studies, it is an option. Otherwise, the choice of frequency, and length of study is, and always will be the free choice of our students.
We have seen a large number of students in their study of a language turn to idiom books as a way to improve the naturalness of their speaking and to sound more like a native. While a certain number of basic idioms are necessary to function in a language, the problem is that many idioms are region/ area specific, or are limited to the usage of a certain generation or group of people. In other words, many native speakers may have never even heard of many of these idioms for one reason or another, which will further make communication inefficient if used.
Another problem is that many idioms require the right tone, delivery, and timing in the correct context, in order for them to be used properly. This is quite difficult to pick up from a book. If a student buys a textbook of idioms and studies it hard, it could be useful to know in case they are ever exposed to them. However, the chances of being able to correctly use many of these idioms in the right way for clear understanding is often unlikely.
So please study basic idioms, but it may be a good idea not to overdo it or overly rely on them. It is a mistake to think all native speakers use or know all the idioms in the book. The best way to learn idioms is in a living natural language environment where their proper usage and timing can be observed and learned over time.
Imagine you had a personal translator go with you on your vacation. Sure, you would accomplish what you need done in general, but it would be done at a slower and less effective rate. It would drag you down in many ways. Of course, it will always be much better to speak directly for yourself. Translating in your head while you speak is a lot like the situation above.
In the beginning of the developmental stage when learning a new language, it is acceptable to translate in your head from your native language and then into English. It’s a natural impulse to want to do this as most of us need some kind of format to express ourselves with and the first and most obvious choice is the language we have spoken since childhood. So, for some time this may be acceptable. However, the student will quickly realize that most languages have a different order, structure and ways of saying things that are often not directly translatable. On top of this it will stifle and slow down the flow of the speaker as there is a filter in place through which all of the language must go through. It will become obvious that translating what needs to be said in the head first is for sure an inefficient way of learning and speaking a language. In fact, if the habit is kept up for too long it will ensure that the speaker never develops past a certain level (in some ways anyway).
Another way this has an impact is that it will dull down and take the life out of the impact of their words. Consider this… have you ever heard a great speech from someone that is reading it off a paper? You probably got bored or even fell asleep when listening to such speeches? The reason is that the energy of a language lives in the immediateness of the present moment. Putting the words we want to say through a filter or speaking from divided attention takes the energy and life out of the words in many ways. When this is done, the words will have less impact and will cause boredom or confusion in the listener in many cases.
The best way to speak, is by speaking the language with a mind that is quiet and is not filtering it with thought or a mental translation mechanism. This will encourage people to hold their attention on your words, understand you more effectively and keep their interest.
If any student is more comfortable with a textbook study or printed-material-based lesson rather than a conversation-based lesson, this is always an option open for them. Another option could be classes with 50/50 text and conversation practice. All you need to do is speak to your teacher and arrange the best class balance as well as select the best text that is right for you.