AOK Basic Skills Project
Portland, Maine
E: kirkjohnb5@gmail.com
W: www.aokbasicskills.gratis
2021-11-20
RE: Free training & Internet Resources: “English Clubs A1- B1 for Teaching and Learning, with the European Language Portfolio (ELP)”
Dear Director:
I’m John Kirk, Director of AOK Talleres and a semi-retired English as a Second Language (ESL) professor. I have a Master’s Degrees in ESL and Education and received about 1,000 informal evaluations for my workshop presentations in Ecuador before the Pandemic. AOK is my personal retirement project. It is not an organization.
There is no cost for the trainings and/or workshops, as they are presented in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) for Quality Education and Zero Hunger for 2030. (Please see “Start” listed above.)
Recently, I have been working on a training course for teaching adults how to teach English to themselves through participation in English clubs, Zoom & study at home. I would like to ask if you would be interested in my presenting it to your staff through the Internet.
Training Summary
“English Clubs for Teaching and Learning” can be presented in 10, 15 or 20 hours. It has two sections: Section I is for beginners and Section II is for the advanced beginner through intermediate levels. Both sections include an introduction to using a large selection of websites for learning the basic skills. Section II also includes instruction in writing business emails.
The training has three overall objectives: (1) to show the club members how build and run an English club that’s beneficial to all levels of speakers and their families, if desired, (2) to teach them how set up individualized study plans using part of the European Language Portfolio (ELP), and (3) to teach them how to access free English courses and supporting materials on the Internet.
The English Club training material is designed to be useful for both during and after the Pandemic. It can help both those taking an English course and those studying English on their own. The course curriculum is made up of a 100-page English-Spanish handbook that contains an organized collection of free English Language Learning websites with instructions on how to use them.
The training is based on the ELP, which is the system used for teaching foreign languages in Europe. It includes an individualized learning system for adults with distinct levels of accomplishment that can be used for career advancement.
The long-term purpose of “English Clubs A1-B1 for Teaching and Learning”
The long-term purpose of the ‘English Clubs training’ is to encourage the UN to provide a similar program with a supporting Independent Language Learning (ILL) website. The UN would do this in support of its 2030 SDG 4: Quality Education. In this regard I will ask the English Club training hosts if the participants could complete voluntary and anonymous workshop evaluations. Please find copies of the evaluations for Sections I and II attached.
Conclusion
Because the language study materials I use in this training are written for non-commercial purposes and the overall intent includes helping people of low economic means to help improve their English skills…
Sincerely,
John B. Kirk
kirkjohnb5@gmail.com