English School

shunch said:

Hi all. My spouse and I pay for our friends 12 year old to go to English school. We've been told come Sept she can speak English. I just tried having basic, very basic simple words and conversation she could not understand.
Does anyone know of good English school in Puerto Plata city?
We are not rich so cheap would be great. We just want her to have opportunities.
Thanks in advance.

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Is this in addition to her regular Dominican school ?

The only way to become proficient in a language is to actually speak the language. Daily instruction is great, but if the person doesn't go home and use English words it'll never stick. This student needs to be in an environment where they speak English in a casual conversational setting everyday. If no one at home speaks English it will be a long haul I think.

Right across the street from Jose Luis, the original is a school called Languages Institute. I don't know the prices, but am aware of some people who had a monthly income of 12,000 pesos going here.
As much English as there is all around one here it is possible to learn if one applies herself. I like to give kids the assignment of finding English words in their environment. The milk carton says Milk on one side and Leche on the other.
A 12 year old girl won't see this, but in the parts department at Nissan dealership for example most of the products displayed were in English.
Der Fish

I would suggest getting an English tutor for a few hours a day...I send my stepdaughter to the Impact English school over there by the Mercado Nuevo now for 2 years and she can hardly speak any English at all. The textbooks they use do not have proper English spelling or phrases and the English Professors can hardly speak English. I have interviewed them for call center agents and they can barely speak good English...but I am an English teeschur

web said:

I would suggest getting an English tutor for a few hours a day...I send my stepdaughter to the Impact English school over there by the Mercado Nuevo now for 2 years and she can hardly speak any English at all. The textbooks they use do not have proper English spelling or phrases and the English Professors can hardly speak English. I have interviewed them for call center agents and they can barely speak good English...but I am an English teeschur

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I was presented with a first year English book for children. The first page showed a picture of a puppy and said "I have a poopy." The next page had another pic of the same dog and the words were "Your name is Snoopy." There were 64 pages in the book and more than half were wrong! I don't know which school was using this book, but one couldn't learn a lot from that!
Der Fish

I have a friend who has a nine-year old who can't read---at all---so I have been trying to think of things I might do to help. I was thinking of buying the "Dick & Jane" books on line (they're not expensive) and translating the "run, Spot, run! Funny, funny Spot" myself and working with him on those. But you're right: if it's not reinforced daily, in casual settings, it doesn't stick.

When I was learning Spanish (still a work in progress), I took Post-It notes and wrote the words for everything (nevera, fregador, mesa, silla, etc.) and stuck them on. I also wrote out verb charts IN BIG LETTERS of 3 tenses of the verbs I used every day (hablar, hacer, necesitar, etc.) and was constantly spinning around to check them.

Nobody ever said it's easy, but with a good tutor (and I agree about the tutor over a class), there are so many tricks of the trade to make it fun and so that the learning is organic rather than pedantic.

Learning a new language can be reduced to two basic activities: (1) learning the words and (2) learning how to use the words.
There are four basic divisions: understanding, speaking, reading and writing.
Vocabulary can be learned easily by using flashcards: English on one side, Spanish on the other.
Pronunciation can be studied by hearing recorded word and parroting them. There are computer programs that allow you to repeat and then compare what you said with a native speaker.
Basic sentences and typical responses can be studied with flashcards as well.
It takes concentration and practice to learn a language.
Like playing a musical instrument or singing, it can be much easier for some than others.
It is easier for an English speaker to learn Spanish than vice versa, since English has between 42-45 different phonemes and Spanish has 21-23. Spelling in Spanish is very close to phonetic, but English spelling is much more difficult.