“Should I use his technique?”
My student was talking about A.J. Hoge.
A.J. is an online teacher, but unlike the sea of other English teachers on the internet, he’s the only one I recommend to students.
Like me, he agrees that the old methods are bad.
Plus, he has years of experience, he’s very positive and entertaining, and he’s just a good teacher.
But I told my student “No.”
Why?
“Because it’s too complicated,” I said.
Well, she tried it anyway.
For a day.
Gave up because it felt like work.
Then went back to my method.
And that’s one thing I do better than A.J.
You see, I have private students, and he doesn’t.
Even if his techniques are perfect, he doesn’t know if students actually do them.
But if I ask three student to do something and none of them do it, I know I made a mistake.
Either my request was too complicated, or too difficult, or too long, or I didn’t communicate the benefits well enough.
But if I give a student a suggestion, and he does it, and enjoys it, and it becomes a habit… then I’ve succeeded.
And THAT – taking action, getting results, learning to love using English… — that’s what’s better than perfect.