景园bridge班

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      编者按：2012年7月15日，加拿大枫叶小熊幼儿园景园校区迎来了第一届毕业生，经过两年的浸入式英语教学，孩子们的英语倾听、理解和口语表达能力基本上达到了英语国家同龄人的水平。为了孩子们能够在原有良好的基础上继续发展英语的各项技能，景园引进了枫叶小熊小学英语培训课程---bridge.此项课程是一个很成熟的、针对母语是非英语国家的小学生的业余英语培训课程。并且在韩国等国家的枫叶小熊已经有多年的教学实践，深受学生喜爱。下面文章是由现任bridge班的主讲老师Ryan对于课程的简介。

                                               Introduction to Bridges 
 
     The Bridges program is designed for children who are between 6 and 11 years old and are attending a Chinese school during the day. Students will only have time to come to us after school for a short number of hours per week so the time that is spend it utilized to the fullest extent. By the time we receive these students they have some basic knowledge of the techniques used to learn reading and writing and the Bridges program uses those learned techniques to facilitate learning of English. The Bridges program then is designed to give students a quick introduction to English and very quickly evolves into what we call “English Language Arts.” These are strategies that are used in Maple Bear and in Canadian schools to further develop the language skills of children. The program focuses on natural speaking, on reading and writing, and on developing reading a writing skills through a focus on literature. This literature is used, in turn, to help the children build their oral conversation skills by having them respond and then develop in their own mind questions based on the material.  
 
     At Maple Bear we don’t like to rely completely on the traditional method of teaching ESL, what is called rote learning, essentially word recognition and repetition. This type of learning is used mainly as a means of introducing vocabulary and from there we build on that foundation. We want the process of learning to be creative, and authentic but most importantly we want the process to be enjoyable. 
 
   We know that children have limited time in the Bridges program and we want to create the opportunity for them to develop natural language skills. In addition to the structured program of Bridges, we incorporate a lot of extra activities that the children will be able to participate in. These are activities that will be of a high degree of interest to the students. Specifically these extra curricular activities will be active endeavors where they will be able to interact with native speaking teachers in a way that will build upon the skills they learn in Bridges. The students will build on these skills which will develop progressively to allow for more natural and extended conversation. 
 
     The curriculum is an important part of the Bridges program but time is also an important factor. For the after school program, when the children have already been to their regular school, it’s a challenge for them to devote the time that’s required to really master a language and to be fully motivated. The truth is there is no magic way to learn English; it’s a lengthy process that takes time, patience, hard work, skilled teachers and devoted parents, students and family.The answer to learning English proficiently is to have a carefully structured language program which then gets enhanced through the use of literature and informal, engaging activities. The priority is to utilize artistic endeavors or free language experiences where students have interactions with their peers and the teachers on a more informal basis. 

Bridge课程简介

     bridge课程是为6至11岁孩子设计的业余班课程。因为孩子每周完成学校课程之后，只有短短几个小时的时间来学习这个课程，所以bridge课程的安排十分紧凑，这样可以充分利用课堂时间。我们所接收的孩子都是已经掌握了一定的英语读写技能的学生，bridge课程将充分利用孩子已经掌握的这些技能来促进孩子的英语学习。Bridge课程的设计是快速地给孩子介绍英语，并且快速变成我们所说的“英语语言艺术”。无论是枫叶小熊还是加拿大学校都是利用这种方法来发展孩子的语言技能的。课程注重自然的口语、阅读和书写，通过对课本以及其他相关英文读本为素材的学习来发展孩子的阅读和书写的技能。孩子们通过对课本以及其他相关英文读本的回应，他们可以建立起口语技能。以课本以及其他相关英文读本为素材，他们可以发展自己思考问题的能力。 
    在枫叶小熊，我们不采用传统的方式教授第二语言，比如死记硬背，机械记忆和反复诵读。这种学习方式主要是为了词汇的介入，也是我们学习的基础。我们想要学习的过程是真实的和充满创造性的，但是最重要的是充满乐趣。 
    我们知道孩子在bridge课程上话所花费的时间是有限的，我们又想要给孩子发展自然的语言技能的机会，所以除了bridge固有的课程结构以外，我们还编入了很多其他的活动让孩子参与其中。孩子们对这些活动都极度感兴趣。尤其是这些额外的课程活动将会让孩子和母语是英语的老师积极互动，在互动的过程中他们会练习应用在bridge课程中学过的英语技能。这些技能将逐渐帮助孩子学会更多更自然的内容，更广泛的会话。 
    对于bridge班来说课程是很重要的一部分内容，但是时间也是一个很重要的因素。对于一个业余班来说，当孩子们已经在学校呆了很长时间之后，依然要求他们积极地、完全地去掌握一门语言，这真的是一种挑战!学习英语其实也没有什么神奇的方法。它是一个漫长的过程，它需要时间、耐心、勤奋和有方法的老师、全力支持的家长。熟练掌握英语的方法在于：一个周密详细的语言课程，并且课程要通过文学作品和非正式的，吸引人的活动得到不断加强。首先要考虑的是利用艺术活动或者自由的语言表达，这样孩子可以在非正式场合与同龄人和老师们进行互动沟通。

                                                             翻译：carol

                                                             校对：Alice