METHODOLOGY - Our methodology is firmly based in a balanced communicative competence approach.

This means that we go beyond grammar and translation exercises. In fact, you could know a lot of English words, phrases and grammar but still not be considered fluent. Communicative competence means that you can achieve your goals in many different situations by listening, speaking, reading and writing accurately in English. To help you achieve communicative competence, our methodology includes the following strategies and activities:

• Lexis - Language items or vocabulary items: The word forms, expressions, idioms, and set phrases a person uses in situations and functions of everyday life.
• Pronunciation and Spelling - How language items sound in conversation and appear in writing.
• Grammar - The patterns and rules of English we use to communicate with others, including word order, parts of speech, tenses, regular and irregular forms, etc.
• Language Skills - We help you to develop communicative strategy by learning, practicing and perfecting English in each of four skill areas: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
• Situations and Functions - The events and challenges one meets in real life, and the things we do and say in these situations to achieve goals.
• Social Language Use - Formal vs. informal expressions, spoken English vs. written English, and the use of appropriate tone when speaking with family, friends, associates, bosses and other people.

We help you learn to use words and phrases rather than just memorize dictionary translations and meanings. We know that words are never used in isolation, so we teach vocabulary as used in situations, functions and social settings. Most of the time, academic grammar rules are not a good representation of the patterns we hear and use in actual conversational English. However, to be perceived as educated and competent, one must observe the elements of style in formal speaking and writing situations. Finally, with regards to pronunciation, written English is not a very good representation of the sounds of real conversational English. We teach you spoken English rather than a verbalized form of academic written English.

LESSONS - Our lessons match our methodology strategies, giving you a chance to observe, practice and master the topic of the lesson.

• Observation - We start off by presenting the topic of the lesson with examples, including teacher presentation, pictures, sound recordings and so on.
• Practice - Next, we take extra time to help you practice the topic of the lesson. During this time, you can ask questions, get extra help.
• Performance - Then, since we need to be sure you have learned the topic of the lesson, we give you a chance to demonstrate what you learned, so we can check your progress. Again, you can ask questions, get extra help and try out different communication strategies.
• Homework - We know that working on your own is important. Also, it is not cost-effective to have you do exercises during class. So, we give you homework assignments to allow you to work at your own pace.

A class always starts on time and ends on time, but we always save time before and after to get to know the teacher and share learning experiences. We want to help you learn during class and afterwards, so you can IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH wherever and whenever possible.