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Courses for seniors
In many countries the number of retired people is growing rapidly but they are certainly not characterized by a desire to sit sleepily by the fireside in their slippers.
Hello again,
Retired people have time on their hands that they want to use productively. They may enjoy travel, some undertake voluntary work so that upcoming generations can benefit from their experience and they want to keep their minds active by learning new skills or they may find the classroom a place to meet new friends. English language courses...
...are definitely on their agenda as being able to speak English is an enabling skill for many of their other goals. Language Travel Magazine quotes an agent:
As Agent, Mary McKay VilΓ©n at Canada Live in Switzerland, points out, "There are still a lot of adults who need to make up for what they did not learn earlier in life, [and] with an increasingly active population of retirees, there's every reason for them to be looking for language programs."
So whatβs the best way to cater for this market? It is certainly possible simply to try to attract the older age group to your existing courses as there is no pressing need to treat them as a separate type of learner. But you will probably have greater success by mounting tailored courses that look at their specific needs and learning styles. For people who may have become unused to a learning environment, working alongside younger, more confident students might be off-putting. They may also have lower expectations and prefer to go at a more leisurely pace. Perhaps too they will want to work to different timetables, afternoon lessons or just twice a week. To quote Language Travel Magazine again:
In contrast to most other sectors of the language teaching market where, top of the list for many students is squeezing in as much language learning as possible, the opposite is often true for seniors where a slower pace of learning is usually desired.
I'd really love to hear from schools that are running courses for the older learner.
Bye for now.
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Comments
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J. Ward Says:
January 3, 2007 01:56 AMDear Mrs. HALL, In reading your post your right seniors Wanting to get involved in writing. I am a senior,five years ago I wanted to learn to write my memoirs. The senior center here was starting clases, two hours a week for six weeks. Not having much education I joined the group. My life stories were as close as I could write them. The group except myself was well educated. The lady teaching gave us ten minutes to write a story. I had no problem in writing a story. making out my writing, when it came my turn to read my story,I remembered word for word. I looked at the story And read it as I wrote it by memory. I enjoyed writing and reading in class after the first day. I make a lot of mistakes, But one day I will put all my stories together in a book for my children and grandchildren. I would love to join your class but you are too far away. Thanks for giving me this moment to express myself. Yours Mr. Ward Ontario, Canada.
Juliana Says:
October 10, 2006 03:35 AM
Interesting post! I teach at a community center and have students from age 15 to 75 in the same class. Seniors are a lot of fun to teach because they tend to be more excited and group-oriented then my younger students. It is nice to see students of all ages come together and help each other. Though, at times, younger students can become impatient with their older classmates. If I had enough seniors who were interested, providing them with their own class might be beneficial.