2017-12-21
2017年教育基金会年会《拥抱AI‧教育共好》于18日举行,今年研讨议题聚焦在AI人工智能和未来教育。唐威廉英语(china.williamschool.com.tw)连锁教育事业王总校长指出,AI人工智能将对英语教育产生划时代的影响,光靠填鸭式背诵取得高分,只会被AI人工智能取代....继续阅读
(特约记者新闻专访全文) 目前就读于“北一女中”的 Urania.欧阳彣昱同学提到,唐威廉英语连锁教育事业来自美、加的外教群,最要求的就是“自然拼音法”,孩子的口语能力要在此基础上扎根,日后方能清楚明白地与外国人流利对答。对唐威廉英语最深刻的印象即是外教要求发音要非常准确、到位。在唐威廉英语的六年学习过程里,发音方式的确立让Urania现在的英语表达和听力都没有问题,甚至比其他“北一女中”同学来得更好、更厉害!
Urania 从国小一年级时就进入唐威廉英语,因为一开始父母就为她选择这间由美国人创办,美加外教的英语培训学校,她的学习进程可说是一步一步向上推进,每个环节都能够完全掌握。她也觉得自己的英语学习之路整体来讲是满顺利的,没有什么特别的状况。唐威廉英语的课程规划除了强调口语能力,也要上文法课,两堂课里会有一堂课是教文法;单字的要求亦是不惶多让,有一定的单字量要去记忆,可说是没有偏废地兼顾各项教学。Urania 也有发现,其它选择课业辅导安亲为主的“北一女中”同学们,大都是重复学习课内的东西,然后以写考卷的方式复习,由于都是“纸上谈兵”,口语表达相对较弱,再加上发音不标准,听起来没那么自然,中文腔的味道相当浓厚。
因此,Urania 深深感觉自己的英语表述能力是比较流畅的,不会让外国人听不懂自己在讲什么。经由与外教的频繁对话,听力也是自然而然地被训练起来,Urania 认为这对她来说是很大的帮助。尤其是现在的考试有听力测验,常常必须要听一长串的对话,而她都可以听得懂,不像很多“北一女中”同学会有无法完整消化的困扰。Urania表示,现在如果让她听外国人以正常速度讲话,应该是游刃有余的。
“全外教环境,与外教良好互动!”这是 Urania 对唐威廉英语的评价。唐威廉英语的教学方式除了上课、对话之外,不时也因应节庆来举办万圣节、圣诞节等等活动,让孩子更喜欢融入唐威廉英语这个大家庭。Urania说到,小时候她觉得这些活动很好玩,只要答对题目就可以抽奖,或是表现好的学生就有礼物,非常有趣。这些林林总总的活动也都需要用到英语,是以另一种活泼、生动、贴近美式生活的形式,来让大家活用英语。
在唐威廉英语的学习生活,Urania 亦有机会测试自己的实力。大约三年级的时候,唐威廉英语团体一起报考全民英检GEPT初级,Urania 当然是考过了!她说,那次考试她几乎拿到满分,错误率只有一题到两题,甚至比一些年长的同学考的分数还要高,让她非常开心。有学习、有考验,这是在唐威廉英语六年来得到的丰硕果实,而Urania到现在仍品尝着这果实带来的甘甜滋味。
图说:北一女中 Urania 唐威廉英语让她的英语能力比其它同学更好更厉害
Urania, (欧阳彣昱) who is studying in “北一女中”currently says that the American and Canadian teachers at William Language School focus on “Phonics”, because they stress if the students have a strong phonics foundation, they would be able to speak to English speaking foreigners fluently in the future. What really impresses her is that all the teachers at William Language School strongly encourage the students to pronounce each word with accuracy and confidence. During the 6 years learning period in William Language School, the correct pronunciation method is helpful for Urania’s speaking and listening, even better than other“北一女中”classmates.
Urania joined William Language School since 1st grade in primary school. Her parents chose this language school because it is established by an American and is consisted of American and Canadian staff. Because of this American system school, Urania's learning progress was improved step by step and she was able to succeed in every learning task. The lesson plans of William Language School, which dose not only focus on speaking skill, but also grammar. Students are instructed to have grammar subject every 2 lessons. Also, the vocabulary part is extremely important and students need to memorize a certain amount of words each week. Urania also found some other“北一女中”classmates who choose to go the traditional after-school class, they usually repeat what school taught and use the test papers to review. Due to the practice is all on the paper, those students tend to be weak on the speaking part. Because of their poor and unnatural pronunciation, their English speaking accent is often referred as Chinese English.
Urania now feels her speaking expression is fluent and easy for foreigners to understand. Through countless and helpful conversation with the foreign teachers, Urania's listening skill has improved greatly. It's especially useful when the tests at 北一女中 have listening sections. When doing the tests, Urana usually scores full mark on the listening part where some of the classmates have difficulty understanding entirely. She said if the foreigner speaks in a normal speed, she finds it easy to understand. Urania also commented on William Language School system, “It is an English environment where you can interact with foreign teachers and have fun!” The teaching style in William Language School does not only take place in the classroom or only focuses on conversation, they always hold the Halloween or Christmas party and make students get into the big family of William Language School. These numerous activities are played in English, but using the fun and lively ways to inspire everyone to use English practically.
During the learning period in William Language School, Urania also had an opportunity to test her English ability. Around 3rd grade in primary school, William Language School took some students as a group to attend the GEPT beginner exam, and of course Urania passed it. She says, she almost got full mark on that exam and she only got 1 to 2 percentages of wrong answers, even better than other older classmates which made her really happy. Learning plus examination equals rich result, it is the 6 years learning period in William Language School. Until now, Urania still enjoys the success from the rich result.