Alan M L Jones - English teaching for lawyers

	I have already taught at major law firms in Frankfurt, Kiev, Luxembourg and Warsaw. All the firms have appreciated my work very much and indeed some have asked me to visit them again. Visiting teacher service I come to your offices for, say, four weeks. You nominate the students. I teach each on a one-2- one basis. Total “contact” time – up to six hours a day (minimum three hours – you don't have to keep me occupied all the time). Taking into account preparation time, I will in fact be working for considerably longer. Possibilities. There are many. See following examples. A) 4 students. Each lesson is 3 hours. Mon, teach A and B. Tues, C and D. Wed A and B … etc OR each lesson is 1 ½ hours. Each day, each student has one lesson. B) 3 students. Each day each student has a 2 hr lesson OR each student has a lesson every other day and I have one half day off every 2 days. C) 8 students. Each lesson is 1 ½ hours. On Mon, I teach A, B, C and D. On Tues, I teach the other students. Wed, A, B, C and D again … etc D) As above but with a couple of group sessions on legal writing or particular areas of difficulty for native speakers of the language spoken in the country I am visiting. I have taught in Frankfurt, Kiev, Luxembourg and Warsaw and my experience and comments from clients has made me realise what a useful service I provide. In particular after my visits I have given detailed feedback which highlights and corrects the errors made by the lawyers I have taught. Because of “native tongue interference”, these have mainly been the same errors and thus my feedback is of use not just to the students I have taught but also to other lawyers in the offices concerned. My approach I carry out a Needs Analysis. This is done by a combination of a) an email sent to the student a few days before the first lesson and b) discussion at the first lesson and indeed during the course of the lessons. I then prepare a Programme for the Student (“S”). This is not “set in stone” and will change as the lessons progress. Some spontaneity is better for the S and for me. I will probably prepare Notes during the lesson and give these to the S at the end of the lesson. Examples of a Programme are attached as Appendix 1 Another approach is to use materials which the student has produced in the course of his work. We look at these, discuss subtleties of meaning, look at alternatives and if necessary amend. This method is particularly beneficial when the student has some fairly standard letter(s) of advice or slides for a presentation he has to give often. In addition to the benefit of discussing the piece of work which in itself is a very good exercise, the student ends up with a “master” copy of the advice / slides which he can use / adapt for the rest of his career. Further, I haven't had to guess what might be relevant to the student in his work-the student has produced a real life example. What could be more relevant? Why these approaches? Your lawyers are individuals. They will be different in terms of a) where they‘ve been (experience of learning and using English to date) and b) where they want to go (things on which they want to work which will depend both on “where they've been” and the sort of work they do). Individually tailored programmes will lead to greater progress. (To make progress, Ss need to make mistakes so I can correct them. In some cases, lawyers may be reluctant to make mistakes in front of colleagues). Minimising disruption to work. I realise that ultimately this is for you to judge. However, compare six hours a day Group Lessons for eight lawyers for a week with individual lessons for a month. In the latter, a S's absences from his desk will be fairly brief, planned and predictable and, if something urgent crops up, lessons can be rearranged or, in extremis, skipped. Back to Typical Services

I have already taught at major law firms in Frankfurt, Kiev, Luxembourg and Warsaw. All the firms have appreciated my work very much and indeed some have asked me to visit them again.

Visiting teacher service
I come to your offices for, say, four weeks.
You nominate the students.
I teach each on a one-2- one basis.
Total “contact” time – up to six hours a day (minimum three hours – you don't have to keep me occupied all the time). Taking into account preparation time, I will in fact be working for considerably longer.

Possibilities. There are many. See following examples.

A) 4 students. Each lesson is 3 hours. Mon, teach A and B. Tues, C and D. Wed A and B … etc OR each lesson is 1 ½ hours. Each day, each student has one lesson.

B) 3 students. Each day each student has a 2 hr lesson OR each student has a lesson every other day and I have one half day off every 2 days.

C) 8 students. Each lesson is 1 ½ hours. On Mon, I teach A, B, C and D. On Tues, I teach the other students. Wed, A, B, C and D again … etc

D) As above but with a couple of group sessions on legal writing or particular areas of difficulty for native speakers of the language spoken in the country I am visiting.

I have taught in Frankfurt, Kiev, Luxembourg and Warsaw and my experience and comments from clients has made me realise what a useful service I provide. In particular after my visits I have given detailed feedback which highlights and corrects the errors made by the lawyers I have taught. Because of “native tongue interference”, these have mainly been the same errors and thus my feedback is of use not just to the students I have taught but also to other lawyers in the offices concerned.

My approach
I carry out a Needs Analysis. This is done by a combination of a) an email sent to the student a few days before the first lesson and b) discussion at the first lesson and indeed during the course of the lessons.

I then prepare a Programme for the Student (“S”). This is not “set in stone” and will change as the lessons progress. Some spontaneity is better for the S and for me.

I will probably prepare Notes during the lesson and give these to the S at the end of the lesson.

Examples of a Programme are attached as Appendix 1

Another approach is to use materials which the student has produced in the course of his work. We look at these, discuss subtleties of meaning, look at alternatives and if necessary amend. This method is particularly beneficial when the student has some fairly standard letter(s) of advice or slides for a presentation he has to give often. In addition to the benefit of discussing the piece of work which in itself is a very good exercise, the student ends up with a “master” copy of the advice / slides which he can use / adapt for the rest of his career. Further, I haven't had to guess what might be relevant to the student in his work-the student has produced a real life example. What could be more relevant?

Why these approaches?
Your lawyers are individuals. They will be different in terms of a) where they‘ve been (experience of learning and using English to date) and b) where they want to go (things on which they want to work which will depend both on “where they've been” and the sort of work they do).

Individually tailored programmes will lead to greater progress. (To make progress, Ss need to make mistakes so I can correct them. In some cases, lawyers may be reluctant to make mistakes in front of colleagues).

Minimising disruption to work. I realise that ultimately this is for you to judge. However, compare six hours a day Group Lessons for eight lawyers for a week with individual lessons for a month. In the latter, a S's absences from his desk will be fairly brief, planned and predictable and, if something urgent crops up, lessons can be rearranged or, in extremis, skipped.

Back to Typical Services