Dear Reader,

  Sorry, I haven't written a newsletter to you in a while. I've been
  very preoccupied with my school (preparing summer classes and hiring
  new teachers) and my baby, Chloe (5 months old now). Both are
  growing happily and healthy. Don't worry. I haven't forgotten you,
  my dear JacksonFive family. I have so many things to share with you
  in this issue.

  In the previous issue I wrote about Ray and Toastmasters (issue 61).
  I talked about how our students are so eager to use their English in
  public. This is because we teach them in such a way so that their
  motivation to learn comes from within themselves. They like
  learning and using English because it is fun and not because they
  are forced to. How they are motivated is important. If it is
  something within themselves, it can stay with them their whole
  lifetime. If it is something forced on them from the outside, once
  the pressure is gone, they start forgetting what they have learned
  (the case with most adults in Taiwan).

  Since issue 61, I have taken more and more students to Toastmasters,
  http://www.toastmasters.org to give them more public speaking
  experience. I must be honest with you; at first I wasn't sure how
  my young students (3-8th graders) would react to an organization
  full of adults (teachers, doctors, etc). With my encouragement and
  support, I am very pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm to go
  on stage and speak English in front of a group of strangers,
  http://www.jacksonfive.com.tw/Students/Seeing.htm#Public_Speaking.
  What I noticed most is that our students do exceptionally well in
  "impromptu" speeches (speaking without preparation). Even for
  native speakers, "impromptu" speeches can be very scary. For our
  students however, they seem to speak very naturally and comfortably
  in front of crowds. I am so proud of them and their improvement from
  one speech to another is very noticeable.

  This brings us back to my original comment about motivation needing
  to come from within. Though our teaching mandate is about lifetime
  benefits of English and not short-term tests and competitions; when
  they are self-motivated, doing well in competitions seem to be an
  indirect benefit. Our students have taken first place and second
  places in many English contests. Still, what amazes me most is the
  drive to use English comes from within and that they have absolutely
  no fear about using English. It seems to them, English IS their
  mother language, just like Chinese or Taiwanese.

                                                "Drive from Within!"
                                                  JacksonFive

THIS ISSUE's FEATURED TOPIC:

    "Misconception #4: The bigger the better. Big, famous schools
                                 equal good schools."

  There are many big and famous schools in Taichung. All of them have
  beautiful exteriors and looks great. Standing in front of one of
  these, it is easy to understand why they are so popular to
  "unsuspecting" parents.

  Most of these schools have the greatest of intent when they started,
  but in the drive to expand, they have lost their focus, "children".
  You see it often. The original founders of these schools have a
  "dream" to create a good school. They are focused on "children" so
  their schools grows quickly. After their schools gets bigger, these
  early founders find the administrative work too tedious and pass
  management roles to the next generation; usually their more
  business-minded, but less education-minded partners. With a new
  captain at the helm, the school changes irrevocably from the inside.
  Slowly but surely, the school becomes less focused on "children" and
  more focused on $$$. So when it comes to English schools, bigger
  doesn't necessarily mean better.

  So what does this mean for you? What I am saying is try to look
  beyond the "hardware" (building, size) of a school and try to
  understand the quality of its "software" (teachers, philosophy,
  curriculum). After all, learning result is determined by the
  "software" and not by the hardware. You would be surprised at the
  number of big and famous English schools that don't have qualified
  teachers.

  P.S. If you want to learn how to pick the right "software", read
          issues 58, 59, and 60.

NEXT ISSUE's FEATURED TOPIC:

    "Misconception #5: Schools can't change personalities"