STUDY GUIDE INTERVIEW WITH - OWEN FLATLEY

FORCE ENGLISH PEOPLE TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU
DON’T TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY

‘The Study Guide Interview With’ starts with Owen, teaching an advanced class(8-11am) and a writing module class(11-12am) daily. An ‘excellent’ teacher Owen, leading the editor’s class, started teaching English 4 years ago and has been teaching at Malvern House for 11 months. Now let’s listen to his story and his special tips on studying English effectively.

(E: Editor, O: Owen)

E: Why did you choose to teach foreign students?
O: I find it extremely exciting, experiencing so many different cultures in a small place, learning more about people who have different experiences and concepts from all around the world. And also I love English and I love being able to pass a little bit of my knowledge… And it gives me great pleasure to hear extremely good spoken work from my students.
E: And you can learn how to say ‘close the door’ in lots of different languages?
O: Yeah.(laugh)

E: What do you think of Malvern House students? What’s your impression of them?
O: I think they’re very ambitious…can be extremely hard-working, can be slightly lazy. But otherwise, they’re very receptive to new ideas and quite easy to engage in teaching so that I can enjoy teaching.

E: You are the one who suggested the publication of this Malvern House magazine. What was your motivation?
O: The motivation was to establish a form of communication in which students could demonstrate, not only to any other people but also to themselves, the progress they’re making, the language they’re learning and the new levels of their communicative abilities. So the motivation was to find a method that really motivates students and actually gives them the opportunity to really use their languages for a purpose. It may be useful for the way they realize their purpose. It’s more a stage of communication, I think, communication with the real world.
E: Do you have some special expectations on this magazine, for example, what do you want this magazine to be and continue like?
O: I don’t care what it turns out to be like as long as students involved are interested in what they’re writing about and the magazine shows a good quality of literacy. Hopefully, this would become the students’ independent thing and in the end I won’t have much to do with it, because it will be a student-led magazine.


• OWEN’S TIPS ON STUDY
 READ A LOT. Read everything you can get your hands on. Everything, anything. Fire escape notices, magazines, signs on the train, anything.
 FORCE ENGLISH PEOPLE TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU. Make them interested in you. Just talk. Find mutual understanding and share interests. I’ll get another person to write a guide how to make English friends.
 DON’T WORK AS A CASHIER OR AT A SUPERMARKET. It may make you extremely tired and you won’t have the opportunity to use much English. Just check. Try to get into English-involved environment as long as possible.
 LISTEN TO RADIO EVERY DAY. Just little short snippet like 1 min radio. Play it again to yourself until you understand that.
 KEEP REVISING. Keep looking at words everyday and revise it. Keep trying to use it in as many contexts and situations as you can.


E: Finally, are there any final thoughts you’d like to mention?
O: The most important thing in learning a language is not to take yourself seriously. Be happy and comfortable with making mistakes. Don’t be stressed and be happy to make yourself learn English.

Editor: Ji-hye Park

Note: Pleas e-mail us your own tips on study or contact us at owenflatley@hotmail.co.uk to let us hear your study and deliver your valuable tips to many students thirsty for English. Any students and teachers are welcome.