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I was not looking for any language lessons, but I was so impressed by your video that it made me contact one of your Silent Way teachers to enquire about lessons. Thank you

A wonderful learning experience! I watched it with my son and we were definitely hooked, couldn't wait to see what's next. 👏👏👏

What a great lesson!!! I wish I were your student, Don!

I feel it is an effective way, but sometimes I find it necessary for the teacher to speak and guide the students in the target language, which will help them acquire more useful phrases, words, and pronunciation

I can see clearly that you are getting more fluent. I know this is the final version of each sentence, but you can say each final version better than you could just a few weeks ago.

（日本語のフィードバックが英語の後につづきます。） I’ve just finished watching all of Laurence’s videos, including ‘Mending Sitars,’ ‘Today My Hand and Leg Hurt,’ and this series. Over 207 hours of lessons, he has made remarkable progress. I want to explore what contributed to it through his reflections and my own findings. Two of his comments stood out to me. The first one is, “In class, we keep spiraling around things we’ve already worked on.” When practicing something new, he always used what he had learned earlier, which resulted in forming a solid foundation. The second comment is, “No one is giving me any rules. If anything, I was creating rules just by my experience.” Unlike regular language classes where new grammar rules are introduced at the beginning of a lesson, Laurence explored the targets through practice, ultimately discovering grammar rules through his own experience. Knowledge was not presented as the starting point; instead, it came naturally as he practiced. As the class progressed, Laurence's use of functional words became notably accurate. I realized that when functional words are correctly used, sentences were clearly understood. It also has a positive impact on students’ understanding of spoken Japanese. His reflection 'being able to understand sentences to some extent without knowing specific nouns' is quite understandable. I assume he also learned the functional words without knowledge of the rules. My findings focus on how the student learned and how the teachers helped him learn. First, Laurence was taking full responsibility for his learning process. When creating phrases and sentences, he carefully selected appropriate words to express himself, monitoring his production and correcting himself as needed. This happened because the teachers gave him space to do so without jumping on his mistakes. They expected him “to express what he wanted to say”. I thought those aspects led him to feel responsible for his learning with confidence and a sense of security. The step-by-step development: progressing from basic practice using rods to talking about daily life, and writing what he said, was carefully conducted. Without a textbook, the teacher conducted class based on what the student has learned and what needs to be learned next. The importance was put on applying the things learned previously to what he was trying to express. I observed such moments. In the last video, he discussed two reasons why he wasn't nervous during a concert. “First, (ひとつめは)… Second,（ふたつめは）…” This reminded me of previous lessons where he practiced these expressions by describing rods. His previously learned targets allowed him to discuss a wide range of topics. In summary, during my exploration of this video series to find out what contributed to his progress, I found the following points. 1. As the student used previously learned targets while learning new things, his learning becomes consolidated. 2. Without learning grammar rules, the student was able to create correct sentences through practice. 3. The teachers refrained from interrupting the student's independent activities, such as correcting his own mistakes. Simultaneously, they expected him to express himself. These two aspects may have helped the student to become responsible for his learning. 4. The teachers conducted the class step by step as the student progressed: beginning with practicing using rods, talking about his daily life, and then moving to writing about it. While there are many other aspects I could discuss, such as the avoidance of memorization, I have highlighted the most significant findings here. Thank you very much for proving us with the videos. I am grateful for the opportunity to witness the Silent Way's effect on language education. ……………………………… Laurenceさんのクラス動画「Mending Sitars」「Today My Hand and Leg Hurt」そして、このシリーズを見終えました。207時間のレッスンを通して、彼の大きな進歩を目にし、何がそれに貢献していたのかを彼の言葉と私の気づいたことを通して探りたいと思います。 Laurenceさんのコメントで、以下の2つが特に印象に残っています。1つ目は、「授業では、これまでにやってきたことにスパイラルのように繰り返し戻りながら取り組んだ。」というものです。新しいことを練習する際にも、常に以前に学んだことを使ってきたことで、堅固な基礎を作ったと言えるでしょう。 2つ目のコメントは、「誰も私に（日本語の）ルールを説明しないし、あったとすれば、自分が経験からルールを導き出していた。」というものです。通常の言語クラスでは新しい文法ルール（知識）がレッスンの最初に紹介されることが多いですが、彼は練習の中でターゲットと向き合い、知識ありきではなく、自然に身につけていったとわかります。 クラスが進むにつれて、Laurenceさんの助詞などの機能語の使い方がとても正確になっていきました。機能語が正しく使われていれば、文は明確に理解されます。これは、日本語の聞き取りをする際にもプラスになります。「特定の名詞を知らなくてもある程度の文を理解できる。」という彼の言葉は、うなずけるところです。機能語の学習もルールを覚えるのではなく、たくさんの練習で身に付けて行ったものと思います。 私の気づいたことは、生徒がどのように学んだか、そして教師がどう彼を助けたか、にあります。まず、Laurenceさんは自分の学習に責任を持って進んでいました。フレーズや文を作る際、表現したいことに適切な単語を慎重に選び、自身の言っていることをモニターし、必要に応じて修正しています。これは、教師が彼のミスを即座に直したりせず、彼が気づき、訂正するのを待ったから出来たことです。そして、Laurenceさんが言いたいことを表現するのを基本としていました。自信や安心感を伴って、彼が学習に責任を持つことにつながっていると感じました。 段階的な発展：棒を使った基本的な練習から徐々に日常生活について話すようになり、それを書く練習の材料とする。このような歩みが注意深く進められていきました。テキストなしで、教師は彼が学んできたことと、次に学ぶべきことをもとに授業を展開し、Laurenceさんがその後のクラスで既習の事柄を活用することに重点が置かれていました。 そんなシーンの一つがあります。最後の動画では、彼がコンサート中に緊張しなかった理由について2つの理由を述べています。「ひとつめは… ふたつめは…」これは、以前彼が棒について説明する際に練習した表現です。既に学んだ事を様々なトピックについて話す時に応用できていることがわかります。 まとめとして、このビデオシリーズから見える彼の進歩に貢献した要因には、次のポイントがあると思います。 １． 以前に学んだ事を使いながら新しい事を練習していくことで、これまでの学びが確固としたものになる。 ２． 知識としての文法ルールを学ばなくても、生徒は練習を通じて正しい文を作れるようになる。 ３． 教師は生徒が自分で出来ることに介入しない。（自身で間違いを直すなど）。生徒が主体的に言いたいことを使った授業をする。この二点は生徒が自身の学習に責任をもつことにつながる。 ４． 教師は一段一段、生徒の進度に合わせて練習のレベルを上げていく。生徒が出来ることと次に学ぶべきことを見極め、既習の事項をくり返し活用しながら。 他にも「記憶に頼らない学習」など触れたい点はたくさんありますが、ここでは最も大きな気づきに焦点を当てました。 学習を観察できるビデオを提供して頂きありがとうございました。言語教育に対するSilent Wayの効果を見ることができました。

Is there anywhere I can find out more about the progression framework that's mentioned at the end?

I feel it is worth mentioning that following what the students do in this lesson, they eventually work on non-referential ‘there’ and a couple other things to create descriptions like, ‘There is a table in front of a chair. Behind the chair is a floor lamp.’ I feel it is also worth mentioning that the students all eventually do pairwork with a file folder propped up between their desks, one student given a photo of a furniture configuration and the other student given the rods to create the configuration on the photo described to them by their partner. Finally, I cannot help but note that all this stuff I do in these videos is either outright stolen or inspired by my many mentors, like Fusako Allard, Roslyn Young, and John Beary. And I encourage others to steal, and more importantly improve, whatever they see here.

One of the many things I like here is that the Silent Way teacher is clearly aware that if they're not actively engaged, his students won't improve their English speaking skills. So, he works on crucial aspects of the English languages, but he does so making sure the students are always on the edge of their chair, paying attention to what's going on, and trying for themselves.

Brilliant, brilliant work! The students' comments show they've had awarenesses about the language AND there was self-awareness, so there was learning taking place. A big thank you to the filming & producing crew :)

The way these three follow on from each other is super! The word 'ready', repeated as it is from the previous one to this one makes the follow-on absolutely clear. The subtitles make these much better. This is now a very good series.

Brilliant! Can't wait to see what's next. This is getting to be a bit "Netflixy", I could binge on it :)

Ros hits the nail on the head early on with her observation about how 'teacher talk' saps the students energy. Some things that stood out to me in this lesson: 1) the space Yoko allows Piers around 3:30 to figure things out, 2) Yoko accepting a sentence, but then giving an alternative sentence, one that she says SHE might say (around 7:00), and 3) love how Ros draws attention to sentences from the beginning, middle, and end of the lesson to show how the students progressed. Thank you to everyone involved in this wonderful lesson.

What a fun journey of discovery I just watched. I wanted to join in. Some pretty sophisticated language here, if you ask me. And Ros hits the nail on the head in her comments at the end about how the students really come alive and become more adventurous once they know the teacher will help them along in their adventure.

This video shows the end of the competition between two teams started in video 08 in this series (czcams.com/video/FHhwZtdvLuA/video.htmlsi=-9GjOqMO0VNemTH-). You'll see Don having fun with the students about who won ... and this moment illustrates the strength of the relationship between teacher and students that they have built.

Fantastic lessons! 👏👏👏 This way of working (building and adding new things progressively and constantly recycling the vocabulary and structures used in previous lessons) and the pace make it very easy for a present viewer to understand and follow the lesson even if they don't know any Japanese. I'm among those who know as good as zero Japanese, but because of words such as "sofa" or "slippers" and thanks to the English subtitles I was surprised that after some time I began to make out the surprisingly beautiful and "weird" word order Japanese has. A delight to watch such lessons!

The sentence Laurence works on in minutes 2 and 3 sounds SO Japanese to me, and sounds like something you might not encounter in a traditional textbook lesson. Yet it's so so Japanese, it feels to me, and so easy to learn.

What a great teacher. Pays such careful attention, gives such subtle guidance. The narration is so enlightening. Really brings the lesson to life by peeking into the brains of the students.

Inspiring!

Another masterclass... What I see is the plural introduced, said several times, but not as a drill, then one person tries, then fingers - 'This sentence requires 8 fingers, so your sentence has to take 8 fingers. Do it in pairs'. That way, they can discuss the changes that the plural might require. Very smart!

This shows masterful class management as well as interesting content! This very basic construction in English is so foreign for Japanese speakers that it requires pinpointed work for these students. What a way to run the competition! Counting twice, once to establish the order, then once again, with unspoken numbers encouraging the students to count with him. Feedback by taking out or not taking out a straw. Giving time for practice (and incidentally, time for students to talk about the challenge.) I learn so much by watching you!

It's good to see an example of the actual time it takes to work on these kinds of things, and how students can go from being clumsy with the language to being at ease with it over that period.

Many valuable takeaways for teachers here, but the one I'd like to point out is Piers' silent but visible engagement while Laurence is speaking. It's clear that there is intense internal work going on inside Piers. What commonly happens in mainstream language classes is that unless the student(s) are answering a teacher's question or reading a text out loud, they sit in their seats passively and often absent-mindedly. A stark contrast to what we see here.

Ros knows exactly what to do with them 😉

Feedback techniques in action, feedback then & there. Marvellous 👏👏👏

Committed to the lessons till the end, till close to catching the bus. I love that! Hope you caught the bus and the train though :)

Fascinating! Thank you for posting this 👏👏👏

Still, it's impressive what they learned in just 5 days!