As the course is already ending tomorrow, I was thinking that I could share some of my thoughts concerning it before it actually ends. Without further ado, here we go:

-TBL, TBL, TBL. If you got it, it’s fine, because it is a huge part of the course. The lexical approach is also a big chunk, but definitely, Task Based Learning (if job experienced learner, if he/ she is a pre experienced learner, a text based learning) is a must do when it comes to teach Business English.

-The learner can be your teacher. You provide your knowledge of a language, but you are not a walking dictionary; it’s okay to ask them to explain. It’s even better, actually!

-They need to speak! Speaking is a huge part of teaching IBE (International Business English) and we must provide, as teachers, a lot of speaking activities. Presentation, PPT, whatever, they must speak.

-Cultural awareness is a huge part of teaching IBE. That means having a good culture, but also to be able to switch roles for a moment, and not to be just a cold distant teacher (which you aren’t, I bet) but also a colleague, someone who can provide advice on real life.

-International English is not about natives or non natives teachers. English as a Lingua Franca is not about that precise point: there is a huge percentage of chance that your learner won’t ever talk to a native speaker. Make them listen to several accents and work on the pronunciation: the whole point is the intelligibility, not if they sound native or not!

-The learner must be autonomous. If he/she doesn’t work by himself/herself outside the classroom, it is not going to work. It’s easy to work around authentic materials, but it’s easier to show them where to find those articles. Don’t give a man a fish, teach him how to catch a fish!

-Use authentic materials. This is real life, so using only course books isn’t appropriate, but using articles, pictures, clips, whatever, it must be real and authentic. Realizing that you can decipher a authentic article from City A.M (for ex.)  is more rewarding than read about an invented situation on a course book.

-It may be only two weeks, but it’s intense. It’s not CELTA intense, but still, there is a lot of information, and a lot of thinking around different case studies or specific questions. Be prepared, and check your accommodation, mine has been a nightmare and that rubbed off on my revision.

I will write more about the CertIBET course, notably on the learner autonomy part and the English as a Lingua Franca part, which I really enjoyed. Of course, it’s technically not over, since I have to hand over an assignment to get my certificate (I also have to survive tomorrow, which will be another story considering that I went to see Young Frankenstein tonight) but still, tomorrow is my last day in International House London, and I really enjoyed every minute of it. (More that I enjoyed Long Day’s Journey into the Night, despite Jeremy Irons. 3 hours, in bad seats, come on!)