Speak Up’s Unique Approach to Teaching English

At Speak Up, we do things differently. Unlike in public schools where kids learn reading and grammar first, Speak Up’s primary focus is teaching your child to speak English with confidence. Our teaching methodology is grounded in experiential learning and an immersion experience.

Here are five teaching tactics we use to create the best learning outcomes for our students:

• Immersion – Speak Up’s teachers are all native speakers of English. Originally from the United States, South Africa, and England, our teachers speak only in English during lessons so that your child can hear English in use and in full sentences, not in disconnected words or phrases.
• Prioritizing Speaking – We find that the best way to learn a new language is through listening and speaking. This, of course, is how we learn our mother tongues–by listening to our parents and starting to speak as young children. Speak Up’s students will go through a full year of lessons and learn at least 1,000 words and phrases before starting to learn how to read. This is the natural, intuitive way of learning a language that gives students an “ear” for English at a young age.
• Learning through Games – No workbooks here! At Speak Up, we teach language through colorful, kid-friendly learning games like Bingo, memory, and Guess Who. We have a huge learning library with thousands of games that get your child moving and speaking in no time. 4. Students Do the Talking. Speak Up teachers create a safe and supportive environment for your children to speak, learn, and make mistakes. The lesson time is your child’s time to shine and to speak as much as possible. Our teachers aim for student speaking time to be about 70% of our lessons. That way, our students are more confident when speaking English in their public schools, with friends, or when they’re abroad.
• Individualized Lessons – Does your child love Minecraft? We have a game for that. Hate reading, but love comics? We have a plan for that. No student is the same, so why should their lessons be? During our intake session, our teachers like to learn about your child as a whole person, not only as an English learner. We love incorporating our students’ specific interests into our English lessons because it leads to a more engaged and happier learner! Ready to take the next step and sign up for lessons? Fill out our form for new clients here.