Teaching a second language can be such a difficult undertaking if you don’t know how to be creative in sharing knowledge with another person. Teachers attend language workshops to improve their methodology and learn new strategies on how to teach a foreign language effectively.

The workshops are designed to improve the teachers’ capabilities with new techniques on how to connect with their students and ensure that they stay on the course and acquire the necessary training. The TPRS Method developed by Blaine Ray of Eagle Mountain, Utah in the 1990’s is proven effective to keep the students’ interest and make language acquisition a fast and enjoyable experience.

Language school teachers using Blaine Ray’s Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling Method find that the comprehensible input-based system is more effective than the traditional way of teaching language classes. In TPRS, the teachers provide comprehensible inputs in large quantities but are not pressured to learn the words until they are ready to use it.

Essential Steps in Learning TPRS

• Establish and verify the meaning of a target word or phrase. At the start of the session, the teacher provides a word or a phrase in a target language and in English if it is the main dialect. The words may be written in colorful boards or handmade shapes strategically posted around the classroom. The teacher uses the words or phrase in an engaging manner that would make the class alive and participative.
• A story develops using the words that are already comprehensible to the students. The teacher starts with a statement and asks the students to enrich the story with their own ideas. The story evolves as the teacher asks circling questions while anchored on the given phrase or words. The students can act out their responses or reply in a creative way such as dancing or making funny actions around the classroom.
• Third step is reading. The teacher may prepare a story before the class starts or use the oral story that the class developed. The students may get tired of this type of reading after some time and the teacher can shift to another style of reading.

It is important that the instructor is keenly observant and receptive to the responses of the students to avoid boredom and loss of focus. By attending language classes for teachers, the TPRS method is enhanced and teaching skills are honed.