AOK Life Skill Workshops
Portland, Maine
E: kirkjohnb5@gmail.com
W: www.aokefle-learning.com
2021-11-20
Re: Workshop – “How to use the Internet to improve your English for your career – with the European Language Portfolio (ELP)” (The ELP is the official EU study system for foreign languages.)
Dear Company Director:
I’m a semi-retired ESOL teacher over 65 and lived in Ecuador for over 10 years before recently relocating to Portland, Maine in the U.S. I am the director of AOK, a charitable educational effort and my retirement project that was connected to my English school in Quito. AOK specializes in teaching life skills. During the past three years, I have written 20 AOK Life Skill Workshops and before the Pandemic presented many of them throughout the Ecuadorian Sierra.
Recently, I have been working on an English learning workshop for career employees that I would like to share without cost. It’s designed for Advanced Beginner A2 level speakers and above. I do not charge for the presentation because the materials I use are written for non commercial purpose and I give it in support of the 17 2030 UN World Goals.
Workshop summary
Today when many universities have new students entering their foreign language programs, they offer a list of free English language websites for both independent study and to support course texts. Many also teach them the ELP method. One advantage of this method is that students can use it to determine how they best study. This learning system is as good for English course as it is for “Independent Language Learning (ILL)”.
In the workshop I do the following: I provide an overview of the CEFR, a popular set of language standards for students that’s used for self-evaluation; I offer strategies to help find CEFR related free websites and briefly explain how the three sections of the ELP work together; and I distribute a free file of more than 200 annotated English language learning websites. I also distribute a number of handouts to support the Power Point presentation. With this information, career persons have a new starting point for their studies.
The long-term purpose of the workshop
A possibility for my presentation is to ask the participants if they would like to complete an optional and anonymous evaluation. One of the questions would be if they are in favor of the United Nations providing a language learning website dedicated to language studies at no cost. The website would be in support of its 2030 World Goal No. 4: Quality Education.
This website could have a table of contents and an index to accommodate the large amount of material and sites available. It could also be organized by levels of English and the four basic skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking, such as the CEFR provides. The free multi-site file that I offer with this presentation is only a small example of what a professionally supported website dedicated to this topic could provide.
Registration
Because the materials I use are written for non-commercial purposes, I do not charge for the presentation. I was registered the National Human Talent Directorate in Ecuador. Please contact me if you are interested in a presentation.
Also, to see the details of this AOK presentation, please refer to the AOK Google Drive Account at … If you would like me to present this workshop, afterwards I would be pleased to share the materials with your programs by providing you with a sharing link.
Sincerely,
John B. Kirk, Director
E: kirkjohnb5@gmail.com