190. Why don’t they teach English Root Classes for 2 years instead of teaching English for 15 years?

190

Why don’t they teach English Root Classes for 2 years instead of teaching English for 15 years?  

P. S. Remesh Chandran
 
Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

  01. Article Title Image 1 By Olga Ozik. Graphics: Adobe SP.

The main thing about teaching English to adults for two hours per week is most of them will be coming after work, assuming the class is in the evening. There is no rule they will be refreshed in mind and body at that time. They will also be expecting to be refreshed through the class! It doubly makes not only the teaching but the understanding of it also rigorous. Years back, I felt the same hardship with the same kind of learners with the same type of time. We cannot teach them indefinitely for years in these adult classes, or expect them to read books extensively to compensate for what they lost in their lives, before they become able enough to apply and use what they get in these classes. 

My suggestion is, teach them all the Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes which are in the English language as a crash programme, including those Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes added from Greek, Latin, French and even from Indian and other Asian languages which fortunately do not come above a hundred, by applying them in informative and memorable sentences which also conveys a bit of useful general knowledge which it would a thrill to repeat. Leave everything else behind and formulate and follow these ROOT Classes as a syllabus, because time is short for them. It is the reverse process for beating time in adult classes. Once they learn how to coin words from roots, they will make words on their way exactly the same way the words were built by the people of the world in the past. That is why it is the reverse process. All this will not take more than one or two years to complete and after that a new batch could be admitted and led to proficiency in English. You may ask why the world universities and schools do not do this and follow this method- they do not wish to lead English teachers to worldwide unemployment.

02. Article Title Image 2 By Casyani. Graphics: Adobe SP.

Not only for adult continuing education but for regular academic learning in schools and colleges also Root Classes are the most effective. What we still cannot understand is why they don’t teach English Root Classes for 2 years at the early-school level instead of teaching English for 15 years. A teacher from Bangladesh, Mr. Didarul Islam, said it sounds interesting and asked could the process in detail and also some materials as well could be shared. He says he is aware that ‘this method is basically taught to Arabic learners because there are some concrete rules for word and sentence formation in Arabic, and however, he’s excited to see how it works in English’. I searched my archives for papers of my old notes and shared as images the first two pages to illustrate how it is done. These were just the draft notes, and there may or may not be errors in them, and the illustrative sentences may not be suitable for all countries. Do not anyone follow them blindly. In class, these notes were dictated orally, roughly following this draft.

  
03. English Root Classes Page 2 By Sahyadri Archives.

I ran this class for students who had completed graduation years before but admitted they knew nothing much about English. In my knowledge there is no such syllabus existing. I improvised. Others in this field who have gone far ahead sharing what they developed would be beneficial to the teacher and student community. The first batch of mine consisted of 15 students, all rural, and they were given rest and time for recuperation after one year when only one third of the course had been completed. They have not yet returned after many years, and when interviewed later said what they already had got would carry them on through the rest of their lives!

 04. English Root Classes Page 3 By Sahyadri Archives.


Written in:
First published on: 20 March 2020

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Image Courtesy: Sahyadri Archives
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01. English Root Classes Page 2 By Sahyadri Archives.
02. English Root Classes Page 3 By Sahyadri Archives.
03. Author Profile Of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Tags:
 

English Continuing Education, English Root Classes, English Roots Prefixes Suffixes, Free Student Notes, Lifelong Learning Retraining,

About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran:

05. Author Profile Of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single.

Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/psremeshchandra.trivandrum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSRemeshChandra
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bloombooks/videos
Blog: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/
E-Mail: bloombookstvm@gmail.com

Post: P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam, Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.