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willridgard · 6 years

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THE ‘A TO Z’ OF MY AMERICAN ADVENTURE IN WORDS AND PICTURES

Did I really live in America for 15 months?

Yes.

Yes I did.

But, after more than 18 months since moving back ‘home, from Richmond, Virginia, I frequently ask myself the above question.

More than 4,000 miles away from friends, family, and home comforts, I must have been mad when I think about it. But I did love it! Experiencing a different culture and way of life was superb and I’m really glad I was brave enough to do it.

I haven’t written too much lately, but I’ve been inspired by my ‘American adventure’ and plan on providing my committed readers with A to Z ramblings and pictures on all things ‘Merica. So here goes…

Alcohol - They love it! Yep, it’s true, some Americans cannot drink, but then some Brits cannot either! There are some lovely local ales and ciders to choose from. Oh what I’d give for a Bold Rock Cider or a Vienna Lager right now; Virginia’s finest! Bud Light was like water over there and there was nothing better than a visit to the local alehouse or brewery on a Sunday afternoon filled full of sunshine, live music food trucks, and good drinks. ‘Tailgating’ was fun; you basically eat, drink and play games in/by your cars until you are ready to go into the event you are waiting for. It’s also almost impossible not to get ID’d in the States; you literally get ID’d every single time. In Walmart they have a ‘Challenge 40′ policy. Strict or what!? Pints come in the form of ‘fluid ounces’. You can pick from 16, 24 and 32 fl oz. 1 imperial pint = 17.5 fl oz. It’s fair to say that the 32 fl oz ‘growlers’ (which keep your beer cool & fresh) are the most popular…’Tipping’ is a must. A lot of employees make most of their money from tips; anything less than 10% is frowned upon, but not illegal. I recommend tipping at around 20%, and in cash…We partied pretty much every weekend (we even did an all-nighter in a Ipswich v Norwich themed party in respect of the 1-1 draw in September 2016) and I learned all the ins and outs of popular drinking games such as Chesticles, Flip Cup and Beer Pong. #BYOB

Baseball - ‘Take me out to the old ball game’ was a song that I had to get used to during my stay. I took a while to warm to the popular sport, but actually rather enjoyed it in the end. I found it quite relaxing and similar to cricket, but some fun interlude activities, after every inning, such as t-shirt shooting, mascot racing and a firework display made it worth the admission price. The Richmond Flying Squirrels were my local team (I even got a selfie with ‘Nutsie’), but I was fortunate enough to watch a Major League Baseball game between Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. In prime seats, it was fantastic to experience the pace, skill and professionalism that these major players display. Unfortunately, I never really gave hitting or pitching a go; Year 11 Rounders was where my talents ended! #ItsAHit

Cornhole - Cornhole is amazing! Basically, either on your own or with a partner, and against another individual/pair, you have to chuck bags of corn (effectively beanbags) onto a board from quite a distance. You score one point if your bag stays on the board and three if you manage to throw it into the hole towards the top of the board! However, if, say I was to throw my bag into the hole and then little Jimmy, on the other team, did as well, our scoring points would be cancelled. The team who scores 21 points first is the winner. Technique and mental strength is everything. Some people loop them. Some people fire them in. I was obsessed, but I wasn’t as good as your average American… I might make a couple of boards now and turn it into a UK craze…#NiceToss

Driving - God. Where do I start? Turning left at traffic lights is a nightmare. You can turn right on a red light, which actually makes things on the road a lot quicker…if you don’t crash into the back of someone (cough, Daryl). Turning left is slow and takes forever. Daryl and I also took two hours to get from work to our apartment (a 10-minute drive) on our first day…it was fun trying to work out where to go and on the wrong side of the road! Trying to buy a car, as a ‘foreigner’, was even more fun. After literally the longest day in the world, with lots of technical difficulties, I finally managed to get my hands on a Hyundai Elentra. Fortunately, obtaining a Virginia Driver’s Licence was far easier, although I did have to take practical and theory tests. Now, it’s no secret that I spent quite a bit of time and money getting a UK licence, but, ironically, I had no such problems getting a Virginian one. After smashing the theory test, adapting to all the different road signs, my practical test was literally a 15-minute drive around the block to make sure I could control the car! Oh how I laughed. American driving licences are handed out via states, only making them valid in that state, so it’s all very confusing when someone from Florida drives in Virginia for example…Automatic cars are also very popular out there. Nine out of 10 cars are automatic. I’m not a fan myself; you approach a junction and all you have to do is brake, but it felt like you should have more to do! I was more of a ‘stick’ fan. Stick to what you know. There were also lots of monster trucks, with wheels as big as elephants. Don’t mess with those. #MyRideOrDie

Experience - If you’re thinking about going to work/live abroad, even if it’s for a short/extended period of time, go for it. Different places bring different experiences and ways of life. If you don’t like it, you can always come home! #JustDoIt

Food - Oh my god. It was amazing. It’s easy to put on the pounds…and not so easy to lose them. Americans love their food. They especially enjoying ‘grilling out’ - the equivalent of a BBQ - with an unlimited array of meats, pastas, and salads. They literally ‘grill’ all day (often by the pool and with a ‘cooler’ packed full of beers) and everybody brings a dish until it’s all cooked and eaten! Fried food is massive. McDonalds is monstrous. Chicken wings (mostly devoured at Buffalo Wild Wings) are most popular and the portion sizes will blow your mind. I made history when I walked through a Chinese drivethrough (I had car issues) on July 4…They’d never experienced that. Chipotle was the best. I had countless amounts of it; I could eat it forever. Double chicken. White rice. Black beans. Medium sauce. Grated cheese. Sour Cream. Sweetcorn. Chips & dip. Unbelievable. Still, I did miss a good ole Sunday Roast. #BurritoBowl

Golf - There are some lovely courses, with some beautiful views. If only I was a bit better…However, I did make Oasis Sports Park history with a tee-off that skipped across the pond on three or four occasions before plonking right next to the pin for a birdie. Well, birdie opportunity…You know what they say ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’… Footgolf, at Windy Hill Sports Complex, was a lot of fun too and was the permanent fixture of the annual Wynn Lane competition. I did convincingly win it in 2016…#Fore

Hiking - There are some amazing views in Virginia. It took me a while to get used to that hike life, but I actually really enjoyed a good ole Sunday morning stroll up the mountains. Hiking is kinda scary you know, but fortunately I outfought several bears and managed to avoid any catastrophic slips off the top of the mountains. Better to be safe than sorry… #HypeToHike

Indoor soccer - So much fun. It’s fast, it’s feisty, and it’s really competitive. Indoor soccer is played professionally across the pond and I found myself working in a place that specialised in it. XL Sports World provides 24/7 soccer. Every night of the week, hundreds of players and teams, of all ages, sexes, and abilities compete against each other. From U6 up to the 40+ age range, every day was different. In the ‘Winter season’, when there is no ‘outdoor soccer’, the XLSW facility is absolutely heaving; it opens at 6:30am and often closes somewhere between 2 and 3 am, with both ‘fields’ fully occupied through the duration! Crazy. Indoor is played on a pitch with measurements of 180 by 75 feet. Solid walls all the way around lead to a plethora of rebounds and pinballs! Let me tell you that indoor is bloody exhausting and you need subs more than ever! In such a tight area, toepoke shots were so effective, yet so annoying to watch as a football traditionalist. I loudly disapproved at the start, but actually used them quite a lot in the end as goalkeepers didn’t expect them and nobody knew where the ball would end up! This is not just your casual game of five-aside by the way…there is a whole book of unique rules (including the controversial three-line rule among others), with match referees, who have to be certified. Games consist of two 25 minute halves and you can get blue, yellow and red cards! Blue card = two-minute time-out. Yellow = five minutes. Red = whole facility ban plus a trial with the disciplinary committee (basically FIFA). Working and playing there was challenging at times as you wanted to win, but you also didn’t really want to upset customers/referees that you have to build relationships with. It’s a fine balancing act, but I think I got it just about right and only received one blue card(hand of God) in hundreds of games played. Once the ‘regular season’ is over, the play-offs occur, with the lure of ‘half-price beer’ for the winners often inspiring the teams…XLSW is the biggest seller of beer in the whole of Richmond. Impressive! Indoor Soccer is fantastic and I’d love to play and be a part of it again. Partizan Richmond United were my outdoor team and we were decent (I think we finished as runners-up). Roachy = absolute Scottish legend. #Helen #GoalsBusiness

Jamaica - I loved living with a few Jamaican lads. We had such a laugh living and working together. FIFA was on repeat. The nights out were great and we all played footy together too. Their cooking was sublime. Hopefully King Rusty has got a bit better at sh*thead by now… #BobsleighTeam

Kickers - Richmond Kickers were my local professional soccer team. Kickers played in the third tier of professional soccer (The USL) and the standard was quite impressive. On my first visit to City Stadium, I saw them narrowly lose 2-1 to a West Brom side that saw one of my heroes in Gareth McAuley play! In the summer of 2016, Kickers went one better and shocked a strong Swansea side by deservedly beating them 2-0. Both games were delayed by major thunderstorms, which was certainly a new experience for me and the English sides (Tony Pulis did keep his hat on). After settling into my XL Sports World job, I broadened my journalistic horizons and the Kickers were fantastic for me. They took me on in a part-time intern basis, and as the 2016 season progressed, I often found myself in the Kickers’ headquarters, writing articles and becoming part of the team. I even helped out the retail team once and sorted out the club merchandise! It was great to see how a professional club operates and I was very thankful to be a small part of the journey. I was very impressed with their ticket promotions too; prices were cheap (often $10) and there were stacks of drinks deals for paying customers too. Kickers’ average gate was around 4,000 when I was there. Impressive. #RVAIsRed

Lifestyle - You can do what you want really. I had so much freedom and lived a very relaxed life. All I really did was drink beer, eat food, play football, and hang out with friends. Perfect. I hit the gym a bit, I dived in the pool a bit. Concerts were epic (Milky Chance being my favourite), but you had to be careful of the crazy rednecks which were also in abundance at other events I attended such as NASCAR and the Rodeo. The Rodeo was a strange one; it’s something I can say I’ve been to, but I’m not too keen on it. Being a sport fanatic, I also put a lot of effort in to see live American Football, Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball matches. All of which were fascinating and very different. I must say that the hype, the electric atmosphere and the interval entertainment significantly adds to the value for money of attending American sporting occasions. They make you feel involved and you cannot take your eyes off the spectacle. I often went line dancing (LOL. Hopefully there is no video footage of my amazing dance moves out there) at a local bar, and loved Rugged Maniac which consisted of a 3-mile run littered with challenging obstacles (fire, barbed wire, tunnels, etc) and mud up to your waist! Paddleboarding was bloody immense…once you could do it. I did fall over a few times initially, but it was brilliant thereafter. I shot a few guns (Walmart was full of them) and, like everybody else, got hooked on Pokemon Go. The English accent drew a fair bit of attention too for some reason…#ILoveYourAccent

Mates - I was very fortunate to have such a close group of friends during my stay; they were really friendly, fun and made my experience all the more enjoyable. There are too many people to individually mention, but I made a lot of good friends I still keep in touch with. Most of these friends came from working at XL Sports World. I think it’s fair to say that I received a lot of ‘banter’ for my British roots, but elephant fan ‘Harry lad’ (fellow Brit) and I certainly gave as good as we got! Drinking games and hanging out with the likes of Justice, Wankathon Ian, Cheeky Keeky, Jesstice, Creechy, King Rusty, Coach Katy, Tommy Tuch, Syd the kid, Carlos Mohammed, McGinn, Daryl and big man Otto et al were always good value and lots of memories were made. I left them all supporting Ipswich Town and becoming experts at Sh*thead and Drenthe…#AlrightMate

Newspaper - After getting involved with the Richmond Kickers, I proceeded to write several match reports for the local newspaper: The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Being referred to as a special correspondent (!!), I covered games against teams such as Charlotte Independence, Bethlehem Steel and Louisville City, with my RTD front page on a thumping 4-0 Kickers win remaining my biggest achievement in journalism. I loved the challenge of writing for an American audience, using phrases such as cleats (boots), on frame (on target) and offsides (offside) with a hint of disapproval in my face… #SportSells

Opportunity - I am so very grateful for the whole opportunity. Ultimately, I grabbed this opportunity after working for the same company in England. My first involvement with XLSW was during a university placement that saw me lead American groups on sports tours around the UK…We visited places like Wembley and Wimbledon to mention a few, and my job was to show Americans the sights and take them from A to B. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well it’s a bit harder when you do it with a broken ankle..! Hard work and determination got me through that tour (I did get a first in that placement) and future opportunities rose from it as I was invited out to Virginia. XLSW now have bases in Florida, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. They, alongside soccer, are growing all of the time. #GoForIt

Patriotism - You wouldn’t believe how proud I felt to be British out there. I think I got the patriotic bug as Americans are so proud of their country and to ‘be American’. They love celebrating their country and indeed others’ as they go absolutely mental for St Patrick’s Day which is something we barely even celebrate in England! Thanksgiving and July 4 (Independence Day) are also massive and are just excuses to drink loads of beer and eat loads of food to be honest. England should have more days like that. ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ national anthem was absolutely everywhere! It seemed like it was sang at any excuse. From sporting occasions to the rodeo and NASCAR racing, every single American would standup, remove their hat, and belt out ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’ very seriously! If you didn’t sing, or at least stand up, it was very frowned upon! Fortunately, Richmond possessed quite a large English and Scottish contigency out there, so that helped me keep sane! #StandUpIfYouLoveTheAmericans

Queen - Our Queen is a legend. Americans love her. We love her. What a woman. #GodSaveOurQueen

Richmond - Richmond is a cool place. Very artsy. Very cultural. It has a bit of everything. There are loads of great bars and places to eat. Richmond is definitely not shy of an event either, with half marathons, mud runs, live bands and gin festivals on every street corner. Soccer is growing all the time out there. You can watch more live football there than you can in England. It’s crazy and is probably why I loved my time there so much. #VirginiaIsForLovers

Skunks - Ahhhh, our Social Coed team consisting of all the lads and ladies in our friend group. What a team we were; I think we won the trophy four times! I’ll never forget my Skunks debut when I scored a ‘girl-goal’ (there is alternate scoring in Social Coed). Quite a few people laughed at that. We played good football, had a good team spirit, and drank loads of beer afterwards. Our girls, alongside a lot of other females that played at XL, were very decent by the way. I can see why the US are so dominant in the women’s game; they love it more than the blokes! I believe the Skunks have sadly dispersed now, but am also led to believe that my number 32 shirt has been retired in honour of my motoring arms and legs. #Champs.

As well as Social Coed, I played for several teams in the Men’s Open, which was a different ball game. I think I lost two or three ‘A’ finals with ‘Leicesterlona’, which was gutting as we had a great team who moved the ball well and rotated well. Conor Sammon’s (ex-Ipswich) best friend played for us as well! I never thought America would link me to the former Kilmarnock striker; football’s a funny old game! Underdogs Ian FC, captained by the inspirational Ian Robinson, also lost a final, in the ‘B’ division, after scoring three goals in the last two minutes of the semi-finals to spark absolutely wild scenes! I will never forget Marc Gohlke flopping around on the floor like a fish while trying to save a shot. Good times. I also need to mention that I scored five goals in an ‘A’ game once. #WillRigsOnFire.

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153940691018232/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153907826768232/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153890752158232/?type=3

Travel - USA is one of the biggest countries in the world, so it would have been rude not to have done a bit of exploring. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit all 52 states, but I did manage to tick off Florida, Washington DC, and both the Carolinas. DC was amazing. I loved it. I saw all the sights, where the history of the US presidency is well-celebrated. Florida was hot. So hot. Lots of lovely beaches there, with the white sand squeaking with every footstep. I wouldn’t recommend getting stuck in Boston airport and sleeping on the floor though. That’s not so fun. #Explore

Uber - Uber is extremely popular out there and is pretty much used to and fro all parties. However, the Jamaican lads and I did get stung one night when an Uber cost us $300 for a 25-minute drive. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry in the morning. I think that was my last Uber tbf. #AToB

Vote - I was in America the night of November 8, 2016 when Donald Trump was elected as the president of the United States of America! I was deported a day later. Lol. JK. I returned home a month later. It’s cool to say that I witnessed this significant piece of American history though. I sat up until the early hours with a six pack of Bold Rock and watched it all unfold. Virginia was 50-50 for the record…#DonaldTrumped

Weather - It was extreme. The humidity was relentless. The sun continuously baked.The rain was torrential. The thunderstorms were enthralling. The snow was extraordinary. I’d say Virginian summers saw temperatures average around 32 degrees celsius (90 fahrenheit). Florida was something else, I think it got up to 43 (110) at one point. Outrageous. The snow locked me inside my apartment for a whole week. My Elentra had to be rescued by a snow plough. Sadly, I never got to drive one. I absolutely loved the extreme thunderstorms. They were petrifying, but awesome to watch (especially with a beer on the balcony). #StormChasing

XL Sports World - XLSW was where I spent the majority of my time. My role was very varied and I enjoyed all of the challenging elements that went with it (mostly). I did a bit of coaching, which I really enjoyed. I did some marketing and PR work, and was especially prolific when co-promoting and setting-up our Open House project, pushing and driving our Youth programmes through. I wrote weekly newsletters which differed in content and I drove the social media to new levels. I managed the facility most evenings, checking teams in and co-deploying an effective payment system that was well-respected by teams, referees and players (eventually). I established excellent relationships with current and new customers - consistently attracting a host of new team$$, while maintaining current customers’ business. I scheduled league games (which is harder and more time-consuming than it sounds). I introduced cricket to XLSW. I ordered food. I pulled pints. I cooked food. I cleaned toilets. My role certainly varied and it was brilliant to do for just over a year. Social media is massive, but word of mouth is still the most effective news source there is and I think I did a lot for XLSW and their customers. It wasn’t all fun and games though. People moaned. Referees were abused. Fights occured. I had to call the police once. When it boils over, it boils over. It was uncomfortable at times. #PlayTheXLWay

Youngsters - My American adventure all started through the Summer Camps. For three months, alongside Daryl, I coached ‘soccer’ to hundreds of kids. It had its challenges and was extremely tiring, but I had a cracking time! There were some excellent players and some amazing kids. Some weren’t so good or nice, but, collectively, we all had a great summer coaching them. The Summer Camps certainly prompted me to work with children as you can have such a positive influence in their lives. #JustPlay

Zoo - Z is such an awkard letter, but Richmond has a zoo. I didn’t visit it, but I did think about it. It’s quite good apparently. Maybe next time. #ZooLander

So there you go. There is my A to Z analysis of my time in America. I do miss parts of it. I had a cracking time and it played a big part of my life and led me to where I am today.

Did I really live there though? I’m still no clearer…

#america #americanadventure #atoz #britsabroad #travel #explore #lifestyle #richmond #va #virginia #footballislife #summercamp #godsavethequeen #submission

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artlang-gr · 6 years

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Η Ελληνική “Proficiency Mania”

The Greek Proficiency Mania

When people come to Fullspate and confess that they are thinking of doing a proficiency exam in English we often tell them to sit down, take a deep breath and think again. In Greece, where we are based, hundreds of thousands of families are absolutely sure that their kids MUST get the proficiency. Little Nick and Maria down the road got the proficiency, so it becomes a matter of family pride to prove that their kids are just as good. Unfortunately, the chances are that these parents know almost nothing about either the content or the aims of the proficiency exam. Perhaps if they understood a bit more about the proficiency exam, and a bit more about how kids can improve their English, there wouldn't be this nationwide panic. (Hey! Shouldn't schools be doing more to inform parents?)

Let's not forget the aims of the proficiency exams. The new European framework for these exams states that language learners at this level (the top level - level 5) should be "approaching the linguistic competence of an educated native speaker." Let's put that in block capitals: APPROACHING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF AN EDUCATED NATIVE SPEAKER. And by the way, we're not talking here about hip-hop, break dance, emo, iPod English. We're talking about the sophisticated English used in seminars and tutorials at university.

Similarly, the handbook for the Cambridge proficiency tells us that candidates should be able to handle abstract ideas and concepts in a mature way, and they should be able to "advise and talk about complex, sensitive or contentious issues, understanding colloquial references." Does that sound like you, or do you think you need to carry on with your general education a bit more before you attain that level of intellectual maturity?

In a nutshell:

1. If you want to teach English, your priority should be to do a degree in English at university. One of the proficiency-level (C2) certificates would be a useful addition to your portfolio, but still there is no need to rush things.

2. The certificate might be an essential qualification for a job, but if it is really necessary, you don't want to take the exam more than one or two years before you apply for the job. An employer that really wants you to be a fluent English speaker will not be satisfied with a ten-year-old certificate.

3. Should you try to run before you can walk? What's the big rush? Enjoy walking first, and when you feel confident you can start a gentle jog.

4. Use it or lose it. Unless you are going to do a degree in English or get a humble job in the office of an English firm at the age of 18 you are probably not going to use the language much until you finish university in your early 20's and then get your military service out of the way. By that time you will have forgotten so many of those lovely proficiency words and phrases that you spent so many long hours back in your teens trying to remember (words like "exacerbate", "ameliorate", "procrastinate", and "obfuscate"). Isn't it a shame to sacrifice so much of your youth learning stuff that you are going to forget before you really need it?

5. High school students in Greece are unbelievably overburdened with extra lessons in the evenings at what we call cramming schools (where they try to quickly cram as much information as possible into the very limited space between your ears). University students have much more free time, and because they should have a clearer idea of what they are actually going to do with their English they should be more motivated to sit down and learn the 50 or 60,000 words and phrases which top-notch proficiency candidates ought to know.

6. Where are the poets and the painters of modern Greece? If teenagers had more free time, it might be possible for a few more of them to discover that they have a talent for things like poetry and painting.

Does that mean I should just drop out of the cramming school and play more footy in the street with those guys my mum calls 'losers'? Definitely not. The point is not to turn your back on your education, but to find enjoyable things to do to maintain and improve your English language skills without worrying (before there is any real need) about exams that almost half the candidates will fail.

Fun stuff to do out of school

Instead of panicking to get the proficiency when you don't need it, our advice is: chill out. The overwhelming majority of kids in their mid-teens don't need anything more than the FCE with an A or a B or a clear pass in some other B2 exam like the ECCE. If you have a good B2 certificate in English at that age, you have all you need to start to understand and appreciate movies, lyrics, websites and books in English ON YOUR OWN. Find a subject you are interested in, like wargames, lovemetal, body art, bikes, web design or whatever, and start reading lots of stuff in English and finding places on the internet where people chat about that kind of stuff in English. Without doing a single multiple choice question your English will improve, and if you really do have to do another exam in the future it will be a piece of cake.

IELTS: the way forward

If you are really stubborn and insist on doing another exam now, we advise you to do the IELTS. This is the grooviest exam on the market at the moment. And what's one of the best things about it? Check this out: EVERYBODY GETS A CERTIFICATE. Each section begins with slightly easier questions and they become progressively harder. When you get your certificate it will give you a mark from 1 to 9. If you get a 7.5 or 8 you are on the same level as someone with the ECPE (or Cambridge CPE). And guess what: no grammar or vocabulary questions!!! They just check how good you are at doing the things you will actually have to do in real-life English-speaking situations: reading, writing, listening and speaking - which is exactly what you ought to have to do in a good test of English.

It is also worth noting that if you want to go to a British university they would prefer you to do the IELTS exam. Different departments will demand different scores depending on how good they think your English needs to be to do those particular courses. To do an engineering course you might only need a score of 6.5. To do psychology or philosophy, where you need to be more articulate, they would demand at least 7.5.

Bad proficiency results in Greece

Given its glorious past, the education results in Greece ought to be among the best in the world. However, in the EFL business at C2/proficiency level they definitely aren't. In 2009 while countries like Holland, South Africa, Italy, Poland, Ukrane, Sri Lanka and Latvia had 75% or more of their candidates pass the ECPE exam, in Greece only 56% passed (although Greeks can console themselves that they are better than the Vietnamese, of which only 53% passed, and the Turks, who got only 43% of their candidates through the ECPE). The results for the Cambridge CPE are slightly worse. In 2010 one in two candidates came away from that exam empty-handed.

Why the system in Greece has been failing

Costas Gabrielatos has written some very insightful articles about the poor performance of EFL candidates in Greece. Here we pick out a number of points he makes which we think are absolutely spot on.

Although it might be tempting to blame the results on the age of the candidates - saying they are too young - Costas reminds us that the fault lies elsewhere. The surprising fact is that 14- to 15-year-olds have a better success rate than older candidates. If age is not a factor, what is responsible for the failure rate?

A lack of preparation

One problem is that students simply haven't done enough preparatory work to bring them up to the required level. "In other words, most Greek learners sit for the CPE when they should be sitting for the CAE" (the advanced exam).

The exam-obsession syndrome

However, Costas gives less emphasis to the quantity of preparation than to its quality. There are some approaches to English language teaching in Greece which are misguided and which directly contribute to the failure of students. A major problem is the obsession with exam practice. Instead of concentrating first and foremost on improving the students' level of English, too many teachers waste far too much classroom time ploughing through countless practice tests. These teachers seem to believe that the more practice tests a student does, the more likely she is to succeed.

Costas advocates an alternative approach: a student's command of the language should be brought up to the required level before she begins intensive preparation for the exam. If a student is already a proficient user of the language, exam preparation will simply be a matter of becoming familiar with the tasks required, practising different approaches to tackling the exercises, identifying pitfalls and managing their time effectively.

The vocabulary list syndrome

Another dubious practice is the fixation with vocabulary lists. Words are readily taken out of context, put in lists with the translations to the right and set for homework. Insufficient attention is paid to collocations, fixed phrases and the kinds of examples of good usage that are the benchmark for more successful language-learners. We would add that the craze for companions in Greece is another symptom of this malaise - they divert the student's attention away from the way new items of vocabulary were used in the texts and dialogues that they have studied, and they discourage students from developing useful note taking skills.

The coursebook-as-Bible syndrome

The way coursebooks are used is another problem. Students are taken through books from cover to cover without much thought being given to the limitations of the books, their omissions or relevance to the students. As Costas points out, as a consequence "learners don't usually deal with topics or do tasks that are within their interests and needs; instead they are taken through a series of loosely related or even unrelated exercises."

The compartmentalisation syndrome

Costas also highlights what he calls the "compartmentalisation syndrome." "Learners do 'vocabulary' or 'listening' or 'speaking' as if those areas of language were unrelated. There seems to be little integration of the different aspects of the understanding and use of language."

Costas' conclusion is sobering. Assuming that the fault does not lie with an innate inability of Greek students to learn foreign languages well, there must be something wrong with what teachers and schools are doing. "Perhaps we would be wise to reassess our perception of exam preparation and language teaching/learning."

Πηγή: fullspate

#proficiency #english language #english #articles #άρθρα #news #νέα

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