Hi
there. I own English Adventure, a one
teacher school in Okaya, Nagano Prefecture. For
the first time two of my students took the YLE Starters exam at Luna
International last October.
They were a
little nervous on the day of the exam, but the friendly atmosphere at Luna soon
made them feel better. Afterwards they
both smiled and said, “Fun!” (even though the Reading & Writing section was challenging).
When
they got their results, they looked really excited, and their mums were very
pleased too! One of these students
sometimes lacked confidence in his English ability, but it was great to see how
much taking this exam boosted his confidence and made him realise what he could
do.
I
think this is one of the best things about YLE – students can have fun AND
improve their English. The YLE is
well-designed, too, and children can understand the point of the
questions. Even though it has lots of
pictures and fun activities, it is a reliable, high quality exam that is also suitable
for children who are not suited to taking more traditional exams yet.
Moreover,
unlike Jido Eiken (Junior Step) or lower levels of Eiken (STEP), it examines
all the four skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing, and it
contains more natural English.
Like
Jim, I hope that more school owners in Japan will embrace it and realise that
integrating it into your school can make it more special and eye-catching.
Magnus
Magnus,
ReplyDeleteAn absolute pleasure to have your students join our YLE session.
I totally agree, the experience has to be fun, achievable and transparent. Pictures & colouring totally relevant to young learners, as well as the flashcards in the speaking test. I still remember the first time we ran YLE in 1999; very stressed Yuki & Jim but the kids bounced out of school afterwards! Knew it was a winner right then.
Besides allowing children to show what they can do in all four skills, it allows them to show what they can do against a global benchmark. They have succeeded in the same exam with the same criteria as young learners in Argentina, Turkey, Indonesia etc...truly a very different standard.
Delighted the results were met with as much enthusiasm as their on-the-day experience. Thanks for your help, and really looking forward welcoming more in October this year.
And thank you for helping our pre-schoolers get up to this exam at such a tender age. Well-impressed!
Jim