Hi, We’ve been teaching via Skype for the past year and would recommend it as a way of connecting with students who mainly want to practice conversation (and some written English).

Their written work is emailed to us to use as a discussion tool, and then homework is emailed back to the students, so you have to be fairly organised and build in the time needed for the paperwork, typing and emailing.

It does have its limits (dependant on broadband connection speeds) and not for everyone (both students and teachers). However a lot of people like to learn and work from home, when it suits them!
It would be nice to hear from anyone else working in this way and their methods - there are some very good sites out there!
I’m fairly new on this site so it would be nice to hear from other teachers.
Hasta Luego,
Lioness

Is there anyone out there using skype to teach english? It’s been a week since my posting and I was hoping to exchange tips and ideas…...

no problem, I enjoy visiting spainexpat just to read the posts and will keep it light and breezy.  Its good to have the social contact 😊

Hi Lioness,

We also use Skype to teach some conversational English classes. It works really well. The classes are normally a bit shorter than the usual face-to-face classes but it’s a useful tool for the students to have classes. Skype is getting things organised a bit more too with their Education service: http://education.skype.com/.

I think the next thing will be to try and really make the best use of Skype and make classes a bit more interactive maybe with quizzes or test somehow?

It’d be interesting to hear any ideas for other developments and how you’ve overcome some of the problems of teaching over the net. Have you taught any group lessons?

Joe @ Oxbridge
http://www.oxsite.com / www.oxbridge.es

Hi Joe, I’ve found that most of my students are already on courses and wish to improve their pronunciation and understanding of grammar. 

They also want individual assistance with aspects of their courses that they feel they are failing in. Many classes have 15-20 students and so they leave at the end of the class, feeling as if they have missed areas of study, and there is no time to question the teacher. 

I ask them to email their practice test papers/course outline, and I then ask them to read the questions and answers aloud. 

I correct their pronunciation faults (within reason), and assist them to choose the correct answers (with explanations - in english and spanish) and if I detect gaps in their learning, I email them with further info - eg. prepositions (one word a week) and their relation to nouns… to help the student slowly build up their vocabulary and linking of sentences. Although we focus on their courses, I try to set some time aside to cover the information I’ve sent.  Most students also feel more confident speaking via video to an individual teacher, so I try and build on that and get them talking whenever possible.

I’m also preparing some cds of the news in english to help with their listening skills! using youtube links might also be an option, but may also be a distraction….
I haven’t taught group lessons since leaving England (and not as yet on Skype) but prefer to work individually at present, since I feel that I can make a real difference with each individual.

When teaching individuals on Skype there is a lot more preparation, writing up and emailing, but thats the ethos of the website - student-centered learning requires the extra effort from the teacher.  I only intervene and become directive if I feel they have ventured into a ‘dead end’ in terms of their identified needs and aims. They still have to pass their courses!

Thanks for your reply, and lets keep in touch regarding teaching methods and skype, kind regards, lioness