It all began when I moved to the States, without knowing any English. I had to LEARN FAST as my visa depended on whether I pass the TOEFL and enroll into College or not. I was so thrilled to be in New York, I really wanted to stay. I remember inserting my new vocabulary words into stories and connecting the sound of the word to its meaning. My stories helped me pass the TOEFL with flying colors (I got over a hundred) and stay in New York, graduate and become an educator. But this course is NOT about me, it's about you!
A few years later, I started to actively use "my stories" again.
When I work with clients who struggle with or lack VOCABULARY knowledge, I can't just advise them to "read more" or "listen to NPR" (National Public radio). When they come to me, they want results FAST. They often have 2 - 3 weeks before the test and learning 5 - words a day is not going to cut it. To help my students learn a TON of vocabulary fast, I decided to use my "stories" method again.
I compiled a list a 150 high-frequency words that often show up on many standardised tests and divided it up in word families.
Each session, my students would learn 3 - 4 word families [connected with stories] which was anywhere between 30 - 50 words.
This course is a true work of love and fascination with memory. I love the look on my student's faces where they manage to remember so much in a short time.