Did you guys miss me? I bet you did. Thank you so much for all your loyalty. It’s incredible how many emails I got from loyal followers just asking me when the website is going to be back up. Well, there it is.
The website has been re-designed and now looks completely different. Parts of it have not been changed but unfortunately, I lost some of the media content in the process. I will gradually produce more of it, don’t worry.
However, I have changed my online pronunciation program completely. Previously, students were able to book anywhere from 1 to 20 lessons and book the lessons anytime they want without a time frame or an expiry date on the lessons. I found this counter-productive to learning. Now, I offer a total of 13 units. Each unit consists of 10 1-hr sessions. Online students can choose to complete each unit in 10, 15 or 20 days. Fees depend on what option the students choose and the amount of support they want to get with it. That is better for learners who have different personalities and learning styles. Some learners like to finish sooner, faster and pay less, others need more time, flexibility and self-study materials and they pay a bit more for it. One thing learners will not be able to do anymore is book a session and go away for a month before they finally take it. This way is better for everyone.
I am also in the process of planning my return to Australia. Hurrayyyy! Boy, do I miss it or what? Not that I don’t like Japan, on the contrary, it’s one of the best places I’ve ever seen, and the people are just great. I will miss Hyogo and Osaka where I have now been for about 3 years. I have a lot of stories to share with my Japanese students in Australia and I definitely look forward to doing just that.
ELIT English Coaching has been re-branded and re-named as ESLAN (English Speak Like A native). That is the best way to describe my work or how I teach, I train my students to mimic native speakers of English, NOT just to make them sound like native speakers, but rather to build their vocabulary, improve their fluency and of course pronunciation. Mimicking native speakers is the method. That’s the name of the game. To successfully mimic native speakers of English, you’ve got to do three things: Hear the sounds right, process the sounds right and say the sounds right. For you to do that, you’ve got to get your ears, brain and mouth to work together nicely again. Before you start learning English, the lovely trio, the ears, the brain and the mouth, has a wonderful relationship among each other. They’re like old buddies. They get along beautifully. The moment you start learning a foreign language, their relationship takes a bad turn. The way I see it, I’m the guy who helps the trio to kiss and make up! That takes a massive amount of work though.
I am happy to be back and I hope you guys are too. I will write more and more and expect more information on my blog soon. In the meantime, if you feel like commenting, sharing or liking this news, by all means, go right ahead! Ciao.