teachingGNG globish

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Teaching Globish with GNG and Skype

by David Hon

This book is owned by the writer. Any unauthorized copying in any media, including publishing on the Internet or giving out by other means, is forbidden and protected under international copyright provisions. US Copyright Registry Case # 1-603560081

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Preface (in Globish)

I am writing most of this book in English for English teachers and for administrators who want to understand the ideas of Globish and of hybrid courses. It is also for students of English who would like to show their English teachers how to structure a hybrid course in Globish. It is only the first part of a longer book to come, but I hope it explains some useful directions.

Combined with online distance learning and student study with self-paced lessons, this method can give language skills faster and better. It can be done less expensively, in small or individual classes at any time, with no need for traveling to a school

classroom. The end product will be students who have more sureness because they are using -- and speaking -- more correct English.

What does Globish look like?

The Preface you are now reading and the next -- Beginning -- part are written in Globish-level English so that the first thing you see is that Good Globish is Correct English. If you wish to see more Globish, Globish The World Over is the first book ever written completely in Globish, and GNG (Globish IN Globish) is the first language course ever written completely in Globish.

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Beginning (also in Globish)

If you are a student, have you ever wished you could avoid a lot of cost and travel to attend very small language classes? Would you like to attend class whenever the time is good for you: after your work or perhaps when your children have gone to bed? Have you ever wished you could take a language course for only about 6 months and have just enough to travel or do business?

And if you are a teacher, have you ever wished you could teach small classes after your regular work, and never travel from home? And have you wished you could help students work on well-defined areas of English that let them get what they need most quickly? And have you ever wanted to offer a short fixed group of lessons, rather than an endless process, to the new students? As a teacher, you may want to offer Globish (or Globish-English, which is the same).

If students complete this Globish-level English with you, it will also form a solid basis if they want to take more English at a later time.

Globish offers a closed system of English. It makes basic English students quickly able to communicate with other English speakers like themselves around the world. It will be correct English, but not extensive English. In other words, their Globish-English will be enough English to get things done.

That is why the teacher of Globish does not need to be a native speaker, and often it is better if the English teacher is NOT a native English speaker because:

1. Explaining things in the student's native tongue is important at early stages, 2. Sympathizing with students lets a teacher design better learning experiences, 3. Available sound materials let any teacher demonstrate many ways of talking, 4. Some teachers who have learned English as a second language may be

bbmuch better-educated in English grammar, linguistics, and teaching methods. 5. A teacher living in the student's country will have reasonable hourly rates. Globish IN Globish offers a complete learner-centered environment based on 26 lessons of Globish. The user is "immersed" in Globish from the very start. No student can start Globish IN Globish unless they can already read at least 350 of the most common words in English. That is where they begin with Globish.

Skype offers the last piece, a way for the online student to get the direct value of having a live teacher. We are finding that teacher is needed at several points in the learning process -- but perhaps not as often as most schools require.

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If you are a student, GNG presents a total course for you to give to any English teacher, when you ask them to teach you Globish-English. With Globish IN Globish, they will know all they need to know about teaching you Globish in 6 months.

However, you may need only a few hours of class with a teacher for each lesson. It is up to you to request this Globish choice, and this Skype method. Then you can have the values of a Hybrid course -- little or no travel, and classes when your time is best. With it, you can learn "enough" Globish - English to talk with the world.

If you are a teacher, you can offer students the course they have wanted -- enough English but not Endless English -- using the Globish limitations. You can present the few helping classes with each student whenever you both choose. You won't have to always worry what you are going to do in the next lesson: you and the students will already know. And finally, you will be able to begin each student at exactly the level of his or her ability.

As a teacher of English as well as Globish, you can make sure that their good Globish will make them understandable to English speakers, and will give them simple but correct English to build on. If they do decide to proceed to more complete English, Globish as they learn it in GNG will give them a level of BI in the Council of Europe's Framework of Reference for English. So Globish is a worthwhile use of English for most travel and business purposes. Globish is also a valuable base if they choose to study more English.

This book tells you what you need to know, about Globish, and GNG, and Skype. It could change the way you teach, and perhaps even change your working life.

Technical Words (to make Globish fit into your life..☺)

Idiom - a special colorful way of using words -- but very difficult for the

beginning speaker to understand.

Lesson - a part of a course. There are 26 lessons in Globish IN Globish.

Hybrid - with two different parts. When a course -- like GNG -- with computers

and with teachers, it is a Hybrid.

Immerse - having something all around you. When we swim, we are immersed in water. Linguistics - the study of language

Grammar - rules for the structure of thoughts and relations between words in a language. Preface- a short note about the subject in general before beginning to discuss the subject in

detail.

Administrator - someone who manages a school or company

Author's note: Now that you have read these first two examples of Globish in

the Preface and Beginning, I now continue the rest of this book in English, with the idea that mostly English teachers will be reading it.

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Chapter 1 - Teaching the English That Adult

Students Want

Adults who study English are investing in their future. They see that some use of English will be important to their global business, but to now it has been very unclear how much English they would need. Of course the English-teaching establishments will answer that everyone should aspire to being absolutely fluent in all aspects of English. However, the adults -- with families and business pressures taking so much of their time and energy, are perfectly correct in asking "How much English is

enough?" Globish tries to provide an answer.

Because this is such an ever-present question, it creates a dilemma in the mind of the adult student. For that reason, a study was conducted in a graduate school in

Hungary that tried discovering the motivations of adult students of English and stating them in measurable way. Because they are only aware of English and not Globish, these findings were based on what they know at the time. We are allowed to share that study here, and thank its author, Krisztina Dlugosz for letting us show a short synopsis:

---

Learning English Forever?

What are Private Students’ Purposes in Studying English?

By Krisztina Dlugosz, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

The sample group is 100 Hungarian students at a private language school in Pécs who study English. The aim of Dlugosz study was to elicit data on what motivation those students have, how much time they would like to spend on learning English, and what they think about the role of English in their lives. Her methodology was to ask these questions and put their combined answers into observable data. These were the questions, with specific answers reflected in graphs:

1. What is your purpose in learning English?

2. How do you feel about English?

3. How much time would you like to spend on learning English?

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Summary of Findings:

#1 (What is your purpose in learning English? )

50 % say they are learning English in order to be able to work abroad. This is as much as all the other reasons combined. Other job-related reasons add another 20% for a total of 70% of the sample is taking private English lessons for some reason relating to their profession. This correlates closely with the number of working adults who are in the courses. It also correlates with the 90% in question # 3 who consider it a tool.

#2

(How do you feel about English?)

90% is Clearly the overwhelming majority of students from the full sample, say that English is being studied because it is a tool and not as a culturally broadening experience. They do not care to be as fluent as a native speaker. It is the most striking finding in this study.

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#3 (How much time would you like to spend on learning English - @4 hours/w ?)

Both 6 months and 1 year had 37% of the respondents, for a total of 74%. Those would felt 9 months would be an appropriate length of time studying English were another 10% (and this figure may be an anomaly with connotation on pregnancy cycles.) This makes a convincing total of 84% who do not intend to spend more than 1 year improving their English. Those who anticipated it might take 2-3 years were only 6%. And those who felt it would take more than 3 years were 10%. The latter two sets may indeed reflect the percentage of students who were beginners and had no use of English at all. To those, indeed the road may look much longer.

Conclusions:

1. English is perceived as a job-improvement tool.

It is apparent from this sample of 50 students in a private English school that they consider that learning English is a tool for greater success in work, and for many that success in work may currently include opportunities working abroad. Nothing in the study indicated whether they felt "abroad" meant Anglophone countries only, but it is a safe assumption that it would mean Europe and other parts of the world where English is becoming a strong necessity in global business despite the mother tongue of the company or country involved. Indeed, this set of answers reflect that students consider the common language of English a common ground for their professional pursuits abroad, and a useful "tool" in their work in Hungary as well.

2. English is an investment of both time and money with a perceived payout.

Each person has his or her own personal "investment" in English, so another interesting finding was in how much they felt they should have to invest in this "tool" for such rewards as they might anticipate. At four hours per week, this could translate easily into a time-money equation (15 forints per hour X 12 months (52 weeks) X 4 hours per week of classes = 3120 florints. This

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could then be put into a cost-benefit question in each student's mind. (If a better job here or abroad made 20% more in pay, how long would it take the investment of approximately 3000 forints to amortize out. (To complete a sample calculation, a student now making 6000 forints per year would hope to increase it by 20% to 7200 forints per year by virtue of and added capability in English. Thus in this student's calculation, it would take five years of the increased earnings to pay out the investment of one year of English-learning. Obviously no one guarantees these results, but they are clearly the "investment-thinking" that many wise students make when apportioning their time and resources toward a better future.)

3. Private English Schools should attempt to shape a "product" that matches the 90% student expectations of having English as a "tool": If Conclusions 1 and 2 are true, and in large part they seem to be, then it would follow that the most successful English teaching schools in future should be able to define an "amount" of English that fits the timeline of "under one year". The school would then attempt to determine if that amount of current methodology and result was indeed enough, or if one year was an unrealizable demand, or new and creative methods -- some obviating old logistics with new technology -- could yet satisfy these expectations.

4. There will be a conflict between Academic and Business definitions. The "shaping" of a product to meet student expectations will require a clear-eyed view of the adult student's professional needs rather than traditional academic definitions of "curriculum" - much of which was designed in the past century to reflect logistics and standards of the university community which were not necessarily attuned to those of adult professionals who have moved beyond the academic environment.

5. There is probably a common denominator of "enough" English that can emerge from this dialectic situation.

Conclusions of what that might be are far beyond the scope of this paper, but the Council of Europe Framework of Reference for languages could be one starting place. Its definitions of language behaviors indicate that most people could be functioning well -- if not perfectly -- in English at the B2 or High-Intermediate level. Add to that that much of the English may be used in non-English speaking countries with non-native speakers, and a different set of standards may emerge, for instance a lessened emphasis on idioms and perhaps a core set of statistically most-used words in English to form the core of the learning.

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6. Private English schools and tutors should tailor their English courses to the "investment" expectations of the student and the true requirements of English usage in businesses at home and abroad.

This would then give high value to the students and to the society as a whole, for the least time and money invested by the student. With this standard known, obviously certain schools could say we help you reach your goals "better" or we do it "faster", both with that clear standard in mind, and both capable of more or less rigid evaluation by students who have engaged in that new system of English learning. Ideally, this 6-12 month English learning would have a designation that would assure a person of certain capabilities attained after that investment, and those new methods and definitions could be tested against all sets of expectations. This English curriculum by and for professionals would, of course, would require another study, or perhaps several.

--- Clearly there is a desire in non-English speakers to achieve the maximum use of English with the minimum amount of time, and money, given. The adults in this study know what they want, and it is not cultural enrichment. They want jobs and they want prosperity for themselves and their families, and sometimes an Endless English seems to be standing in the way of it. As you will see in this book, if you are able to work with these students on Globish-level English, using Globish IN Globish and facilitating it with Skype or a similar method, many more of them can achieve their goal of "enough" English.

And here is one more thing. The teacher of Globish will not insist on an accent like a native speaker, or any "perfect English accent." And the teacher of Globish will not be trying to explain every different idiom from the U.K., America, Canada, Ireland, or Australia. And on the matter of pronunciation, they probably already have enough sounds to make Globish work, if they concentrate on stresses in words and sentences.

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Chapter 2 - The Value of Globish - English

Most people reading this have some idea of what Globish is, because they have heard it mentioned, or have read about it. However, many people still feel Globish is difficult to explain, because it is often thought of as a very general name for using "a little English."

Basic Thoughts About Globish

Jean-Paul Nerrière travelled extensively for 30 years in numerous marketing executive positions, including as the Vice President in charge of International Marketing for IBM USA. He did business in all European countries, though out South America, in the Middle East, and in the growing nations of Asia. His business was computers, and people wanted to talk about computers. Though he liked to speak his native French,

the language everyone could use and understand was

English -- except when native English speakers were

present. Then no one spoke but the native English

speakers. Everyone listened, but the main thing

they understood was their second-position because of their

limited use of English. When non-native English speakers spoke with each other, however, they communicated rather well because they knew each others limitations. So early this century, Jean-Paul Nerrière did three things that were quite unusual: (1) He identified a specific and limited use of English among non-native speakers of English. In effect, he "draws a line" around something that is already happening all over the world, millions of times a day.

(2) He codified the major limitations that he observed in many countries with people of many mother tongues. This created an actual set of limitations to the use of English, which could become useful rules. He felt that if actual use of English could be defined, then learning "enough" of that language would help everyone to learn it quickly, and communicate it effectively.

(3) There were so many kinds of "simplified English" -- with so little definition every given to them -- he decided to call it Globish so that it was a clear path to the use of the language.

(4) Nerrière published a book in French called Don't Speak English, Parle Globish! It was a best seller in Europe. However English speakers didn't want to hear of it, so it has never been translated and published by an English-language publisher.

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Globish The World Over, which has now been translated into numerous world languages.

Now many citizens of the world want and need a common language, but they do not want the English culture with its special customs and idioms for various countries and professions. Also, they do not want their use of English to make English speakers feel superior or as if they had "won" any battles. In fact, many other nations which do not speak English are growing more quickly in business and other kinds of world power. To have "English" remain the standard appeared wrong. Now, with Globish, people all over the world can communicate with each other as equals. This is the power of the name Globish.

As a teacher, you may want to offer Globish (or Globish-English, which is the same) to students who have a basic English background - perhaps from school or elsewhere. They have entered the world of work, perhaps have families, and perhaps spend a lot of time perfecting their profession. And yet they want "enough" English and they want it quickly. In some cases, though you may not offer it, a student will ask you to limit your English teaching with them to Globish.

The Territory of Globish

For both you and the student, it is helpful to know what the "territory" of Globish is, and is not.

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-- Globish is not the very basic English that many students have already. This small amount of learning does not make them able to understand nor communicate any but the simplest of thoughts. That is why Globish includes a large "middle range" of English, but excludes the idioms and verb forms that would only be necessary in countries where English is the major language.

-- Globish does match quite well with the Council for Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in its B1 category. The CEFR concentrates on observed behaviors with language:

Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.

Can produce simple connected text on topics, which are familiar, or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

The above would define a B1 level of Independent User. Many Globish users can also operate at the higher level, B2, of that same C.E.F.R. Independent User standard:

“Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.”

- Globish is not "broken English." That is why a good teacher can help the student to learn correct English by teaching correct Globish.

- Good Globish is correct English. If students feel they wish to go on with higher levels of English, especially if they wish to go to Universities in English-speaking countries, then Globish will not hold them back. Rather, Globish will be a level of confidence that they can retain while learning more advanced English.

Outlines for Globish Teaching

Obviously more is written about Globish elsewhere, most currently in Globish The World Over (2009) a book, written totally in Globish by Mr. Nerrière and this author. It has also been translated into many languages recently.

There are now some Business English teachers who feel that a "pared down" English is necessary for global business. Many companies in emerging nations to feel their

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workers must use English to achieve a global outreach, but the demands of a full English curriculum are beyond the means of most people.

Some university English teachers in non-English speaking countries are saying that the number of English words a student knows are not so important as how well they can communicate with some important words.

Globish now offers this middle way:

1. The student learns 1500 most-used English words, but also learns how these words can be changed in to others by combinations, by affixes and other simple word changes, and by collecting phrasal verbs and other common word combinations. Also these 1500 words include the most common irregular verbs.

Globish itself is one of those words, changed from the word "global."

2. Globish admits extra "Technical" words, which vary by profession or area of study. When you use the word "verb" or "noun" and "tense" you are using "Technical" words with Globish because you and the student are in the area of language.

3. Globish admits "International" words such as "OK," and "Police" and "Pizza" because they are known in most of the world already.

4. Globish must, of course, admit Proper Names and Titles.

5. The student learns no more than 10 verb tenses, and learns to recognize, if not occasionally use, the Conditional Mood and the Passive Voice.

6. The student learns to pronounce the 1500 words in an acceptable fashion, with proper stress on the strong syllable, and learning the few sounds that cannot be brought acceptably from his or her mother tongue.

7. With Globish, the student does not learn a large collection of idioms, have any English jokes explained, or use any but the most necessary and universal of analogies. The lack of "figurative language" is one of the rules that make Globish easier for the learner.

8. The "relationship" of two Globish speakers (especially if one is a native English speaker) is different. The responsibility for communication is with both parties, and consists of their finding common ground in language. The body language, pictures, and other extra tools in communication are almost always part of the Globish communication.

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9. Because of this "relationship" of two speakers, the native English speaker does not have a superior position in Globish. Rather, he or she has even more responsibility to discover where the listener is capable of understanding.

Controversies Around Globish

As with any common ground, Globish will never appear perfect to everyone. The native English speaker will find it "not nearly enough" while the person with no English at all will find it is "too much." The English school or English teacher will worry that its students will "finish" and go away too quickly. The Polish business person -- with too little English for the presentations he or she must give next month -- may feel Globish takes too long.

Native English speakers may feel Globish is "too artificial." The few Esperanto speakers in the world certainly feel that Globish is not artificial enough. The linguists will say we can never find a middle ground with a "natural, changing language" and the researchers will say "we clearly have not done enough research."

Many good English speakers will say "Why not just call it English?" They feel that English is theirs to keep safe. However, millions of non-English speakers, in countries and cultures they are proud of from birth, will understand exactly why it is more comfortable for them to own Globish. Globish offers a fairly complete approach to a simple, useful language, but it also gives us a name that means it belongs to all of the world.

A lot of cultures can feel better about using Globish-English for travel and business, where it is just "enough." There is no threat from English to their mother tongue, because Globish will not be enough for much of their lives. Truly, Globish speakers can still enjoy their own familiar cultures, and their wonderful movies and literature and songs, with family and countrymen, in the rest of their lives.

So Globish is just a tool. When Globish is followed, and everything is more understandable to more people, then no one has a problem with Globish any more. It is a tool that works for us all.

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Chapter 3 - What is GNG (Globish IN Globish

TM

_)?

- Globish IN GlobishTM is a complete course in Globish. Students can

use GNG in a Hybrid course with a teacher/facilitator, or by themselves, interacting with a computer, with no teacher at all.

- Globish IN GlobishTM is also the most

complete description and collection of Globish available online. GNG has all of the 1500 Globish words and their pronunciations and all of the sentence forms a student will need to understand and use Globish.

- Globish IN GlobishTM is also the first

full Internet language course -- for any language -- that is totally "cross platform." This means that students can use GNG on any computer or any kind of mobile phone that reaches the Internet.

You can go through two complete

GNG Lessons at www.globish.com

- Globish IN GlobishTM allows any student of

English to learn at any level where they are comfortable. GNG can also be used by any native English speaker to learn to use the principles of Globish in just a few days.

- Globish IN GlobishTM requires students to

use Globish in their learning, from the start and always in every lesson. That is why the student must be able to read at least 350 words of English to begin GNG. Studies show that, due to songs, films, the Internet, and other sources, a tremendous

number of people, even the ones who did not ever take English at school know 350 English words. A simple Pre-Test lets them know they can operate at that level, and GNG carefully builds their abilities from that point.

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Building Globish Ability Lesson-by-Lesson

There are 26 lessons in Globish IN Globish, A-Z. In both words and grammar, GNG moves from the easiest words and sentences forms, adding a little difficulty with each lesson. For instance: Lesson A -- in both the Grammar Music and the Words uses only 350 of the most common English words, which is the starting level. Then, in Lesson A, GNG adds 44 new words, and presents the easiest kind of sentence, the sentence with no action: I am happy, you are happy, etc.

Each lesson has two basic parts, Grammar Music and Words. Students working alone can choose to complete either side, or both, in any order. Students working with a teacher will decide which area needs the most attention.

Grammar Music:

In lesson A students learn to make sentences with adjectives such as happy, and to make negative sentences such as: I am not happy. Then we learn to use a noun, as in

He is a teacher, He is not a teacher. Then the student learns to make simple questions

like Is she happy? and WH questions like Why is she happy? There are interactive exercises to allow the student to build each kind of sentence.

QuickAnswerTM: Several lessons have interactive QuickAnswer

exercises in the Grammar Music part, where the students practice with the expected timing of their understanding and answers.

Words:

Stories: Every lesson adds 44 more words in the order of "most used" in English. This means that whatever level students attain in GNG, they will take away the most useful words they could have. This way, they will have the best chance of communication success -- however much time they have put into GNG. Every lesson will have a story which can have the audio read with it and extra pronunciation of words at the end. That way the student can hear every word, and every sentence, and hear the new words again, isolated with pronunciation.

Each of the 44 new words is highlighted where it is used in the story, and the student can click on the word for a simple Globish definition.

(From Globish IN Globish)

Lesson G - 44 new words (most-used 616-659)

bad blow oil blood touch mix team wire cost brown wear garden equal choose fit flow fair bank collect save control gentle woman practice separate difficult doctor please protect noon locate ring character insect period indicate human history effect expect crop modern element hit

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Say-ItTM: This is a pronunciation-builder given with each Lesson up to Lesson Q. The

student can hear the audio and repeat after the speaker, but can also see visually ideas like stress, and the use of schwa in non-stress syllables.

From Say ItTM:

WordMakerTM: 1500 basic Globish words become much more useful when the student

can understand, and often use, words that are combinations and with affixes, as well as words are used in phrasal verbs, and single words that we often use as nouns and verbs and adjectives. The goal is not to have the students create all the possibilities of

words themselves, but to quickly recognize Globish

words that have been transformed. This will give

them over 5000 words rather than merely the basic 1500.

Moving Around in GNG

The basic structure of GNG allows either the computer user or the mobile user to go anywhere in the course, and step back to more general locations before proceeding. For teaching purposes, each lesson has a Password Quiz that gives a very quick assessment of a student's ability based on the previous lesson. The teacher, in his or her, judgment, can have the student bypass the Password Quiz by simply clicking on the picture.

The Hybrid Learning Situation

Although it is clear that students could complete GNG on their own, studies show that most students like the availability of a live teacher to help them with difficult parts. The presence of online delivery methods such as GNG offers the "best of both worlds." Using both a live teacher, and the completeness and flexibility of GNG online, a "hybrid" learning situation can offer the best of both worlds. More specifically:

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1. The Globish IN Globish course can be completely available to any level of student 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is quite inexpensive for a complete course of study, and solves the "materials" part of learning for both the teacher and the student. They are always on the same page.

2. The teacher and the student do not have to establish a continuous standard class time. Each can prefer times to be together and that -- as well as teacher-cost -- can be their decision together. Some students will want to be with the teacher more; some will need the teacher only to answer a few questions and work on specific areas of difficulty, with only a few hours a week. The teacher may also devise adjunct exercises or questions to use with the students in these Skype "classes."

3. The teacher may operate in several ways: at a location the student comes to, by traveling to the student's home or place of business, or by operating live via Skype or another mode which has instant interaction with voice and video and text. It is not unusual for teachers who use Skype for the live sessions to be in another city, or even another country. "Live" can now mean many more things than "in person in front of a class."

The Technical Value of GNG's Cross-Platform Learning System

It is, of course, not necessary that the teacher be a technical expert in Internet delivery systems, but for those who want to know everything, there is a short list below. Note especially that GNG is very low bandwidth which means the time it takes to load a new page, on either a computer or mobile phone, is extremely quick. This allows the interactivity to benefit the students in exercises and generally using the course on their computers or mobile phones.

So you non-techies may ignore most of these, but someone will want to know, so here they are:

Benefits of Seamless Design

1. Converts instantly and seamlessly to all screen sizes.

a. Mobiles and sub-notebooks highly variable

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a. MAC, Firefox, and IE computer browsers all totally compatible b. All carrier, manufacturer mobile browsers remain compatible 3. Allows original HTML resizable windows for all sizes of screens.

a. Students may use of dictionaries, audio controls side by side b. Note taking by students is encouraged in computer mode.

4. Requires no special programming, no constant probing and updates by server. a. A constant problem confronted for many years and continuing

b. Makes changes and updates more transparent

5. Active vs passive = Focuses on content and interactivity rather than graphics, graphic layouts, and special effects.

6. Extremely Low Bandwidth for highest speed and international compatibility. 7. Sound downloads to either computer or .MP3 capable feature/smart phones.

You can go through two complete GNG Lessons on your

computer or mobile phone, at www.globish.com

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Chapter 4 - Why Use Skype to Teach GNG?

(First of all, Skype

TM

_{is free!)}

SkypeTM is the name of a major tool on the Internet, with which users can talk live to

each other, text in seconds to each other, and see each other as they are talking together. There are apparently over 500 million Skype user accounts, according to Wikipedia, so it is very possible students and teachers have used it already with their friends or family.

The word Skype will be used here more as a general name for the many services that also offer live voice, instant texting, and live video of both sides of a conversation. It has even become a verb in common usage ("We can Skype tonight!") SkypeTM itself is

free (at this writing), so it can be available to almost everyone who has a computer on the Internet. Other services are free, or cost money, but all must offer live voice, live video and instant texting to be referred to here generically as "Skype."

Sometimes these are called "Video Collaboration" tools as well. Microsoft's NetMeeting and now Windows Live offer similar services, and numerous others present more-controlled paid systems which a number of companies use for exclusive meetings. However, to repeat: when we refer to Skype in this book, it will be referring to the kind of computer program the teacher and student are using together over the Internet to get live voice, live video, and instant texting. This is a general use of a brand name, much as people do when they call a soft tissue a "Kleenex" or a copy machine a "Xerox."

Whether the Internet program is SkypeTM or another program with live audio, video,

and text, the student and teacher must both have the same program.

Besides being used for learning, is also useful for talking with others in job-related conversations, providing information to someone who requests it, and seeing and talking with family and friends in other locations around the country or around the

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world. The uses are unlimited, and the program is free, so it is very possible that students will have it on their computers. That plus a headset and a camera, are all that a student and teacher will need to interact live.

It is much easier if the student and teacher use the SkypeTM system with other types of

calls before they actually have a class, so that they will both have experience with using it, with texting and calling and bringing up video. Not all of these programs work the same, but it might be valuable to show basics of SkypeTM here, so that you

can see how easily it works.

1. Downloading SkypeTM from Skype.com

The program is free, but you will have to tell it what kind of computer and browser you have, such as PC and Windows XP. You will also have to give your e-mail address, and create a simple SkypeTM address for yourself. With those two addresses,

anyone from almost anywhere in the world can find you and talk with you over the Internet. There are now even mobile phones which accommodate SkypeTM .

2. Easy steps for setting up:

The down load instructions will step you through putting SkypeTM into operation on

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3. And when you finally have it operating, you can do other things as well as classes. This is your operating window in SkypeTM. The

small picture in the upper left is just a still photograph of you, but you don't have to put one if you haven't got a good one.

On the right are two videos, a small one of yourself, and a larger one of the person you are talking to.

Different versions of SkypeTM have these in different places, but you will always be

about to see yourself at the same time you see the person you are speaking to. And as you can see you can conduct a class with more than one person and see up to four if the sit back from the camera.

Camera and Sound Quality on SkypeTM

You may choose to buy very high quality microphones and speakers, and a production quality camera, but these don't add a lot to the SkypeTM experience.

You own mind is better than expensive technology for the basic communication experience. Here are two things that will help a lot, and they are lowest cost:

1. Headset: An inexpensive headset is the very best way to be heard well and for you to hear the speaker well, because it shuts out noise from your room. (You may not look quite as beautiful with a headset on, but you can talk with people very well, on even the lowest priced headsets).You should adjust your audio microphone and speakers, which are often in one headset. The SkypeTM program can identify many

headsets, so you may see yours mentioned in the box while you are adjusting.

2. Video usage: When you go on SkypeTM you are a TV performer whether you like it

or not. But here are a few things the best TV directors know that you can use to look:

honest, equal, and well-rounded. Honest: Try to look

directly into the camera at least 50% of the time. If you look into the camera and then off to one side a

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Equal: Try to place your camera so that you are looking straight into it, not upward

with it sitting on the top of a monitor, or downward at it sitting on the table. This causes the viewer to see you as looking down at them or looking up at them. Either is not as comfortable as straight on. One very good trick for both honesty and equality, where you are looking almost into the camera, is to place the visual of the person you are talking to as close to the camera as possible. Then it will look like you are talking straight to them. There are cultures, of course, where more or less eye contact is appropriate, but you will know about that.

One very good trick for both honesty and equality, where you are looking almost into the camera, is to place the visual of the person you are talking to as close to the camera as possible. Then it will look like you are talking straight to them. There are cultures, of course, where more or less eye contact is appropriate, but you will know about that.

Well-Rounded: First the Renaissance painters, and then the early photographers, and

finally movie and TV directors, all wanted to make the people they were showing appear more 3-dimensional. For them, this is one of the oldest tricks. They each did it by bringing light from the sides and the back of the figure. Think of this circle as the head of the person you are talking with:

If you start to watch for these things in the photos and video that you see, you will become more able to create the best effects for yourself.

There are many more things to learn about the Skype environment which will apply to most other formats as well. For teaching, you may want to learn about voice recording, so that students can read something and stream it too you. Or you may want to show them the spelling of a new word in the text box.

Evaluation of Students on Skype:

It is usually agreed that there are four critical areas of learning that should be tested if at all possible, to assure that the student can perform all functions with the language. Generally, those functions are agreed to be:

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1. Reading for comprehension 2. Listening for understanding

3. Speaking to answer, and to express ideas. 4. Writing to answer, and to express ideas.

In the Skype environment -- and especially with GNG -- these functions can be taught, and then evaluated, through the same medium by the same teacher.

1. Reading for comprehension: Send them a file to read, or an assigned reading from

GNG or elsewhere on the Internet. Then ask them a series of questions, either orally or in writing in the text box, where you can watch the timing and the writing mistakes as well.

2. Listening for understanding: Have them listen to short recordings, perhaps from

GNG stories, and then answer in speech or again, in writing in the text box.

3. Speaking to answer, and to express ideas. The person will be answering your

questions directly. When asked to express ideas, you can evaluate their immediate sentence construction, their word selection, their pronunciation and stress, and their overall sentence rhythms as well as the quality of their response.

4. Writing to answer, and to express ideas. Everything from e-mails to longer letters

can be shown through the text box, or the instant sending of files that may have been prepared as homework.

The instantaneous response to both spoken and written communications is what makes this methodology ideal for both teaching and evaluations.

We'll have more ideas about using Skype-type technology later as the book develops, when we apply it directly to a few teaching situations.

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Chapter 5 - Skype+GNG = The Hybrid Classroom

...

There are two other things that most adults -- and most students -- want: (1) a teacher, and (2) language skills they can use immediately. These two can work together quite well in a new kind of learning -- in a Hybrid classroom.

(1) Let's examine why students feel they need a teacher. Why is that? After all, some few people are capable of learning from a book at the library. A larger number of students than that are capable of learning from an interactive computer course. And perhaps a slightly larger number than that can learn alone from the internet. But studies show, over and over again, that most students want the presence of a teacher. Why is that?

There is not an easy answer, but people have been trying to discover why the teacher is needed -- and what makes a good teacher -- for a long time. A long time ago,

parents and family members were the main teachers, especially when a craft -- such as hunting or fishing or farming -- was necessary to the family's survival. When societies got larger, young people became apprenticed to craftsmen, and learned a set of skills for a lifetime. Even later, schools were established, and because books were very difficult to obtain, the teacher became the person who carried all the knowledge for the school in his mind. Only very much later did students get books and much much later, mobile phones and computers.

You knew this. But what may not be so apparent is that at every step human society created way to educate more students with fewer teachers. The first way was when mothers and fathers gave over some of their education responsibilities to their

parents, who began to live longer. Human beings are apparently the only species that have grandparents, and that benefitted the longer time needed for the education of children with bigger brains. A grandmother could show several children how to prepare food for eating or storage.

When the community was able to spare one very good communicator, that person was able to teach all the children of a village things they need to know as the grew up. That saved parents a lot of time, and was often better than a forgetful grandmother. In addition, these first "teachers" developed skill both in teaching and in testing whether students were finally capable. In other words, if students could build a fire after watching the teacher do it, then they passed the test.

Schools -- and then books -- dramatically increased the number of students who could learn skills that the society needed. This is certainly one major reason for the wealth and progress and growth of "civilized societies." More of the jobs that needed to be done could be filled on a predictable basis by students who had proven through education and tests that they could step into the work of the society.

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The book expanded the knowledge that could be offered students, and expanded the reach of schools beyond the "carried" knowledge of the teachers. In some cases, in remote communities, very intelligent students could educate themselves.

With Computerized Instruction, it became possible for students to learn completely alone, in remote locations, by themselves with no help but the interactive program. It will happen a lot in this new century, as workers need to absorb new skills quickly to catch the new opportunities which appear. But a strange thing happens: even with time and money advantages, many students would rather go to a school. Computer Instruction specialists have suspected that perhaps it was the social nature of a class with other students, so that you could learn from others mistakes. But in the end, it was merely the teacher they felt they needed. But why? Did they need a mother? An example? An information manager?

Whatever the reason, most these new kinds of students, who can learn from a book or from a computer, still prefer to have a teacher, and feel they learn better with a

teacher. But how much teacher and how much computer are needed? We believe that the more interactive the course, the more the teacher becomes needed as a helper, rather than a source of the information.

We believe that with GNG, the student needs the teacher only a few hours a week -- to answer questions, to give examples, to ask questions about readings, to make

conversation, and in general to give the student confidence in what he or she is learning online. And when it is done on Skype, everyone saves travel time, saves trouble finding the book, and saves money by studying online, and only using the teacher for practice and parts that are unclear. The teacher's role in this Hybrid Education system is to give the student more confidence with the GNG lesson while saving time overall. Often this will be a one-on-one class, where the teacher can quickly help with a student's individual problems.

The Hybrid Class and Immersion Learning

(2) The second thing adult students want is immediately useful skills. In a language course, ideally they would walk out of the class and immediately be able to

communicate something useful in the language. Globish, and the GNG course, and the Hybrid Class and "immersion learning" work together to accomplish this.

Globish uses only the most-used 1500 words, and the most-used verb forms in the

English language, so that the smallest bit that students learn in a lesson will be among the most useful things they could know.

Globish IN Globish takes that a step further, but offering the most useful words in

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being added each lesson, so the students and teachers always know exactly where they are, and how useful what they are learning will be.

Hybrid Classes combine the structure of Globish In Globish with the individual

perception and guidance of the knowledgeable teacher, who knows the path of GNG and guides students along it in fewer hours of class, and a lot less time and money invested. At the same time, the teacher can not only help, but evaluate the students progress each week because the teacher spends time live with each student.

Immersion Learning - If the adult student wants the language to be immediately

useful in the world of work and travel, then that student must first overcome the fear and the feeling of being lost inside English, before he or she can walk out and use what has been learned. It is the teacher who can help with learning everything inside the language you are learning, like children do. It is the teacher who can be the guide inside the language, while the student becomes comfortable learning inside it.

Immersion is both the oldest, and the newest philosophy of learning a language: become immersed in only that language, with the best guide you can find to hold your hand occasionally until your gain confidence to learn more on your own.

In the next chapters we will go into detail about how the Globish In Globish course is structured in learning increments, so that the student learns a little bit more that is logical and useful each time, and builds a total understanding on what has been learned.

Again, those increments of learning are the way that both the teacher and the student know exactly where they are, and where they want to proceed to, and how useful it will be when they accomplish Globish IN Globish.

The next Chapters will be about the Structure of Globish In Globish, so that you the teacher can use it well with your adult English students by means of Skype.

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Chapter 6 - Immersion with "Most Useful" Words

For some students, the thing they are afraid of the most is being "lost" inside a strange new language. But at some time, that is the only way they will learn to be comfortable understanding and using Globish. So we begin with "immersion," like being thrown in the water and learning to swim -- with a teacher.

Globish In Globish makes "immersion learning" easier in a few distinct ways:

1. It begins with 350 of the most-used words in English:

The basic 350 words in Globish (Most-Used Order follows Alphabetical)

a about above act add after again against air all also always and answer any appear area as ask at back base be before begin best better between big bird black body book both boy build but by call can car care carry cause center change city class close cold color come complet e country cover cross cut day differ direct do dog down draw during each early earth eat end enough even ever every example eye face family far fast father feel few find fire first fish follow food for form friend from get girl give go good govern great ground group grow half hand happen hard have he head hear help her here high him his hold home horse hot hour house how I idea if in interest it just keep kind king know land large last late lay learn leave left less let letter life light like line list listen little live long look love low main make man many map mark may me mean measure might mile money more morning most mother mountai n move much music must my name near need never new next night no north notice now number of off often old on once only open or order other our out over own page paper part pass pattern people person picture piece place plain plant play point port press problem product pull put question rain reach read ready real red rememb er right river road rock room round rule run same say school science sea second see seem self sentence serve set several she ship short should show side simple sing size slow small so some song soon sound south spell stand start state step still story study such sun sure table take talk tell than that the their them then there these they thing think this though thought through time to together too top toward travel tree true try turn under until up us use very walk want war watch water way we well west what when where which while white who whole why will wind with wood word work world write year you young

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350 words in order of Most-Used: the of to and a in it you that he for on with as I his they be at have this from or by hot word but what some we can out other all there when up use how each she which do time if will way about many then them write like so these her long make thing see him look more day go come number sound no most people my over know water than call first who may down side now find any new work part take get place live where after back little only round man year show every good me give our under name very through just form sentence great think say help low line differ turn cause much mean before move right boy old too same tell set want air well also play small end put home read hand port large spell add even land here must big high such follow act why ask change light kind off need house picture try us again point mother world near build self earth father head stand own page should country answer school grow study still learn plant cover food sun between state keep eye never last let thought city tree cross hard start might story far sea draw left late run while press close night real life few north open seem together next white begin walk example paper often always music both mark book letter until mile river car care second group carry rain eat room friend idea fish mountai n once base hear horse cut sure watch color face wood main enough plain girl young ready above ever red list though feel talk bird soon body dog family direct leave song measure product black short class wind question happen complet e ship area half rock order fire south problem piece pass top whole king size best hour better true during rememb er step early hold west ground interest reach fast sing listen table travel less morning simple several toward war lay against pattern slow center love person money serve appear road map science rule govern pull cold notice

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2.

Pre-Test shows if student can read 350 words

The Pre-Test uses only those 350 words. If students can read the Pre-Test and select the best answer for each question, then they are ready for Lesson A. Usually the student who takes this 20 question Pre-Test thinks it is fun. If the student experiences a lot of difficulty with the Pre-Test, he or she probably does not have the world level or basic reading ability to begin GNG.

3. Lesson A adds 44 new words -- they are next most-used words.

The student reads the grammar part of the lesson in 394 words, and clicks where it says to "click" and completes interactive exercises. If the teacher is present, the teacher can help with these. If not, it may become something that the teacher and the student discuss. The main thing is that the student, by reading the lesson first and trying to learn from it, is "experiencing" Globish at its simplest, but in a way that is more difficult at first. Each new grammar lesson is made from the words in the lesson before PLUS the 44 next-most-used words. So all of Lesson B will have only 438 of the most-used words in English.

4. The Grammar also goes from simplest to next-simplest.

The patterns start simply and are built in as regular and expected a way as

possible. Beginning with present static verbs of to be, the student concentrates on

I am, You are, He is, etc first with positive adjectives: I am happy. Then the

student learns to make a negative: I am not happy. Then he changes the adjective for a noun. Peter is a teacher. And then begins simple questions: Is Mary happy? and finally ends with Wh questions: Why is Mary happy? Where is Peter? Who is Tim?

5. Lesson A Story comes from the 350 words PLUS 44 new words.

In the same way the Grammar portion is built incrementally from the next-most-used 44 words, each story adds 44 words. In the stories, each new word is

underlined and the student can click on it for the meaning, and return to the story. The student can both read and listen to the story if he or she chooses. After each story, the list of 44 new words in that lesson are pronounced.

---

This structure, through 26 lessons -- A-Z -- means several things to the students: A. They will have a certain number of words to learn, and these words will be the most useful words they could have in English or Globish. That means that the students always know they are learning the most important things first, and

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that there is the highest probability that they will hear them and even use them if they are in that language environment.

B. The most common words will often be used in the next stories, and that will reinforce their learning and make their immersion, listening and reading, easier with each lesson as they see words they know again, like old friends.

C. They will begin building useful sentences immediately and interactively by click selection. There are no penalties: they just keep clicking until they build the sentence. Once again, the immersion method has them thinking inside the

language while they are learning.

D. As they learn to move around in the lessons, they will have to decide where to go and how to get it. They will become "conditioned" to making decisions inside the language, and being instantly rewarded if they are good decisions.

How the Teacher Can Help with Immersion Learning

The first few lessons will be the most difficult in the immersion process, where the student must become used to reading and listening and thinking in simple Globish. Although the best use of the Hybrid course system will be for the student to go through the lessons first by himself or herself, in the first lessons it can be important for some -- and perhaps most -- students to have a friendly guide.

For that reason, you may want to plan for a few hours with the students on the early lessons, but be ready to give them a few extra hours if they need to gain confidence. You will be the one telling them that does make sense, and that they can do it. Ideally this will only last for a few lessons. In the rest, they will ask you questions about what they have done in the lesson, and you will ask questions and converse with them in Globish, having the subject matter of the lesson always as the basis.

These early lessons will also help the teacher learn about the student and the ease or difficulties they might have with various subjects. If the teacher notes that the student as special problems with pronunciation, then that teacher can -- and should -- give extra time to that skill, until the student is comfortable with the lesson. Once again, the structure of GNG makes only the certain areas in the lesson the things to be learned, and not everything at once. The teacher can help keep those things straight for the students as well.

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GNG as a Method of Learning Intermediate English

There will be people who are not sure they want to begin Globish because they are afraid that it will make their English "broken" and that it will be difficult to proceed with more advanced English if they work for an English speaking company, or live in an English-speaking country, or wish to go to a University that requires a higher level of English, especially for reading and writing. As a teacher of English as well as Globish, you can assure them that good

Globish will make them understandable to English speakers, and will give them simple but correct English to build on. If they do decide to proceed to more advanced English, Globish as they learn it in GNG will give them a level of BI in the Council of Europe's Framework of Reference for English. So Globish is a competent use of English for most travel and business purposes. Globish is also an excellent base if they choose to study more English.

For purposes of testing, more advanced English will require a few more complex verb forms, a lot of idiomatic usage, about 2500 more words, and a lot of reading in all forms of English current and past literature. It will require much more experience speaking and writing in English.

The main point here, however, is that Good Globish is Correct English, and it provides a plateau they can use for a tremendous amount of communication with the world's English speakers. They will also have an excellent point to start again on more advanced English studies should their needs change.

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Chapter 6 - Why 1500 Globish Words?

At times just the simple concept of using only a limited number of words is troubling to those native speakers who have limitless vocabularies. They do not equate extra words with extra money and extra years from one's life. Also, most of them have never thought of saying something in the simplest way using the fewest words, although many English writers such as Hemingway have

demonstrated that such a "simple" approach can be highly effective.

There are 5 kinds of arguments that English speakers sometimes give against learning the exact 1500 Globish words:

Argument 1: 1500 is not enough words to say anything of value.

Answer: 1500 words has resulted in the book Globish The World Over and several articles and plays. Many English teachers want their students to do more with fewer words, seeing that as a mark of intelligence. In addition, the ability to use words in many ways and to change them with affixes make the true total of words over 5,000 which can be made from the 1500 basic Globish words.

Argument 2: 1500 is more than the number others have used, such as 1000 and 800 (by Ogden and Richards early last century.

Answer: Clearly GNG begins with 350 words, and if you are careful, that can get communication started with even that small number, as GNG

demonstrates. However, it is clear that below 1000 words certainly the speaker is very constricted in what he or she can say. However, in searching many collections of the most used 1500 words, we found that the major variations begin to occur between 1350 and 1700 words. That would mean that at that point, there begin to be many competing possibilities between words, and thus between how to say things. It

would follow that beyond 1500 words the usage reflects less necessity and more style variation.

Argument 3: A language is a living, changing thing and should not be constricted with any limitations, especially in its words.

Answer: This is true, most of all for poets and other impressive writers. It is not so true for the person who very soon -- and badly -- needs this limited Globish-English as a tool to do business, or to travel across the world.

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Argument 4: This will limit the thought processes of the person using Globish, and he or she will always feel inferior to the fluent English speaker.

Answer: There is quite of bit of conflicting research on how language affects our thinking. It is clear that in English speaking countries, class structure is often demonstrated by patterns of language and selection of words. Whether this in turn means that higher classes think better is certainly open to much discussion. What is not open to discussion: The whole world is NOT an English-speaking country, nor will it soon be.

Argument 5: The person who just learns Globish does not learn all the values of the great English culture.

Answer: This is true. What is also true is that most of the people who learn

Globish may never set foot in an English speaking country, and may never work for a British or American company. In fact, in future, much of the world may be part of a new global economy that can at times ignore English-speaking countries. However, it will be extremely useful to

communicate in a common Globish with millions of other people, none of whom could care at all about the "values of the great English culture."

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Most-Used Words vs "Root" Words

The 1500 Globish words are not just the most used words from English, but the most-used form of that word. For example, "global" comes from the word "globe" but globe is not as commonly used as "global" so "global" is one of the 1500

Globish words. On the other hand, the Globish word "child" can add an affix and become the father of the word "childish." Part of learning Globish is learning how the 1500 words can actually become 5000 words or more. Globish also has dual pronunciation words like record - an action and record - a thing. Finally, Globish -- like English -- can use the same word for several parts of speech. Example: in the back - (back is a noun), in the back yard - is an adjective, and if I back your suggestion (meaning I agree with it) then "back" becomes a verb. A surprising number of Globish words work that way.

There will be a whole Chapter on WordMaker which discusses these in depth.

Proper Nouns, Technical Words, and International Words

Another reason that "only" 1500 Globish words can give you a lot to work with,