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English Lessons for a Filipino Maid

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 13:28

Wondering where I could get some English lessons for my lovely Filipino maid. She is wonderful at her job but we regularly have these long roundabout conversations where she cannot understand me or vice versa as a) she learnt American English whereas I am British and b) she only arrived in the UAE in December so basically never used the English she did learn till then so her vocabulary is very limited. I think some English lessons would really help her and me. I would ideally like a Filipino or Tagalog speaker to teach her as it's hard enough learning another language without having it taught to you in language you don't fully understand. Any suggestions?

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2

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 18 March 2011 - 09:46

My taxi driver told me there are free English classes at International House Dubai almost every month (it's with trainee teachers on their University of Cambridge CELTA course) and they have it in afternoons and/or some evenings. The only thing is that she'd have to attend regularly cos that's how they choose students when they're oversubscribed. Otherwise you can always find private teachers on Dubizzle if you want more control over times/content.

47

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 March 2011 - 12:29

You could try online learning, when I lived in Dubai my maid did it in the afternoons or evenings through Eton language school I think. It did cost a bit though but her English really did improve, she was very motivated though. I think they use the Rosetta stone style. I also had some English books from work I gave her to work through, you could probably pick some up from Magrudys or the like. Good luck!

1184

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 12 March 2011 - 09:45

that is what i meant, whenever real life brings up a new word eg. "water kettle" or "pillow case" you can repeat it a few times and she will remember. more efficient from your point of view than sending her out 2 afternoons to a place where she learns sentences irrelevant to her current daily life. it was not a joke.

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 12 March 2011 - 09:37

Thanks for all your replies, we are actually going away for a couple of weeks in April and was thinking I could get her started on some lessons then as she won't have anything else to do and seems to get quite stressed when we go away! Then I could help her with what she is learning with her teacher rather than teach her myself. I will try the Phillipines Embassy, I would like her to get some formal lessons first before I try to teach her.

202

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 22:40

when my maid arrived from sri lanka she sopke no english. i ended up doing what marycatherine said, but not that deliberately. if i wanted tea, i said tea please, and pointed to kettle etc etc. im mean, most cleaning tasks etc arent exactly rocket science, and as time went on she picked up more and more up and she watchd tv and when we had kids, her english improved exponentially because i suppose we spoke to the kids in simpler language and she worked her way through all the kids books and things its been 4 years now, and her english is good. not great, but good. she is naturally very shy though and has resisted my attempts to get her to go to computer classes or english lessons or anything like that. she doesnt even like getting a taxi without me! i kind of felt about it, as long as we understood eachother enough to get the things done i needed, i was good with that. will probably get flamed.............but i found the language barrier quite useful really as it meant that we stayed employer and employee even when living in such close proximity. at least the first couple of years, now its a bit differnt hope this helps

1759

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 22:21

"just teach her yourself.... at least she gets the vocabulary you use, not some random sentences out of a textbook. every time when there is a new word/ sentence, make her write down, repeat 5 times aloud, and then carry on with her work, make her say the word aloud a few hours later again. tell her you expect her to remember, but if she doesn't, make her write it 20 times. I'd be interested in a professional language teacher's view about whether this highly enlightened method is more effective than language classes!! " Enlightened???? You're kidding right??? right? This is rote memorization, not learning. While I agree repetition is a very important part, it is important that it take place in context, not as a parrot. Would suggest to OP you have brief conversations with her about different tasks and chores - play both parts and DEMONSTRATE both roles at the same time - then get her to play both roles as well. Then take turns. Just do one thing a day (washing dishes, then the laundry, etc) Writing down new vocab - perhaps with a picture (hand drawn or cut out of a magazine) is also helpful. This is assuming you are willing to take on the role of teacher - if not, do as another poster said and contact the Philippino Embassy and other Pinoy organizations that assist in the community for assistance and advice.

68

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 21:49

Wondering where I could get some English lessons for my lovely Filipino maid. She is wonderful at her job but we regularly have these long roundabout conversations where she cannot understand me or vice versa as a) she learnt American English whereas I am British and b) she only arrived in the UAE in December so basically never used the English she did learn till then so her vocabulary is very limited. I think some English lessons would really help her and me. I would ideally like a Filipino or Tagalog speaker to teach her as it's hard enough learning another language without having it taught to you in language you don't fully understand. Any suggestions? So great to read this, we used to live in Malaysia and taught our Indonesian Maids English. They were taught by a Malaysian lady married to an English man. We still have contact with our maids and because of their knowledge in English they both have a good job in Indonesia. We shared the lessons with a max of 4 maids, and it was so nice to see them doing their homework because they wanted to be the best in their group. Very good initiative.

1617

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 20:27

just teach her yourself.... at least she gets the vocabulary you use, not some random sentences out of a textbook. every time when there is a new word/ sentence, make her write down, repeat 5 times aloud, and then carry on with her work, make her say the word aloud a few hours later again. tell her you expect her to remember, but if she doesn't, make her write it 20 times. I'd be interested in a professional language teacher's view about whether this highly enlightened method is more effective than language classes!!

2222

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 15:06

Do you have children? Perhaps get her to read to them in English - half an hour a day, get the children to explain the words.....

1184

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 15:01

just teach her yourself.... at least she gets the vocabulary you use, not some random sentences out of a textbook. every time when there is a new word/ sentence, make her write down, repeat 5 times aloud, and then carry on with her work, make her say the word aloud a few hours later again. tell her you expect her to remember, but if she doesn't, make her write it 20 times. more effective than language classes and she does not have the trouble going to somewhere. if she has enough self-motivation, make her read in english, eg. gulf news.

2

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 March 2011 - 14:47

In Philippine Embassy they have some courses offered like ENGLISH, COMPUTER and others on every friday try to call the embassy...

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