📘 Part 3: Teaching and skills

This episode's vocabulary

Early adopter (noun) - someone who is one of the first people to start using a new product, especially a new piece of technology.

Concrete (adj.) - clear and certain, or real and existing in a form that can be seen or felt.

To engage (verb) - to become involved, or have contact, with someone or something.

Readily (adj.) - quickly, immediately, willingly, or without any problem.

Sole (adj.) - being one only; single.

Avenue (noun) - a method or way of doing something.

To master (verb) - to learn how to do something well.

The former - the first of two people, things, or groups previously mentioned.

To plug (verb) - to provide something that is needed, because there is not enough.

To get the hang of something (phrase) - to learn how to do something, especially if it is not obvious or simple.

Tailored (adj.) - made or changed especially to be suitable for a particular situation or purpose.

To pick something up (phrasal verb) - to learn a new skill or language by practising it rather than being taught it.

Attention span (noun) - the length of time that someone can keep their thoughts and interest fixed on something.

Prior (adj.) - more important.

Self-directed (adj.) - making your own decisions and organizing your own work rather than being told what to do by other people.

-

Questions and Answers

M: What practical skills can young people teach old people?

R: Just about any skill connected to technology such as using smartphones, tablets and computers and young people are usually early adopters. They could also impart a lot about social media and new trends and cultural phenomena.

M: Do you think showing is better than telling in education?

R: Well, in general showing can be a lot more effective as it allows learners to see and experience something for themselves. And that can help to make the material more concrete and memorable but also allow the learner to engage with the material in a more active and hands-on way with visual cues.

M: Do people in your country like to watch videos to learn something?

R: Well, I couldn't say with any accuracy. Although videos probably play some roles, since they're readily accessible and provide visual demonstrations, which we just discussed. I'm not sure it's the sole avenue they'll take, though, especially if it's something like a skill as opposed to a technique for a quick fix. You usually need a teacher to master the former.

M: How can we know what to do when we want to learn something new?

R: Well, there are several important steps in such processes. You need to identify a goal so you know what you're aiming for, and work out your current level of knowledge before researching to plug any gaps. And then it's important to get practice and feedback on it to get the hang of it over time.

M: How can we teach the older generation to use technology?

R: It's probably a bit trickier than with younger people. But they'll have the same things in common. I mean, starting with the basics, being patient, providing opportunities to practice and explore with tailored, positive and encouraging instruction. All of these things you use with kids, you probably just do the same thing with adults.

M: Where can we learn practical skills?

R: That probably depends on the individual, though it's not like there's a shortage of options. Online courses offer a wide variety of choices on a similarly wide range of subjects. And there are community colleges, vocational schools and apprenticeships. And of course, you can always pick up a book and read about how to get better at something. If you have the money to burn, then there are also in-person workshops and classes as well.

M: What's the difference between the ways of how children and adults learn things?

R: Well, everyone is unique. But there are a few generalizations that you could probably make, like the speed of learning in children is generally faster, though their attention span is shorter. There are also differences in memory and prior knowledge. Young people tend to be motivated by things like play, whereas adults are a lot more self-directed.

-

Discussion

M: Hey! So, any skill connected to technology. So when we talk about practical skills, young people, old people, any skill connected to technology. So how to use smartphones, how to use, what, tablets, Rory said. Computers, drones. Yeah, and Rory also mentioned that young people are usually early adopters. Adopters. What do they adopt?

R: Well, they're usually the first people to, well, use something or to start using something once it becomes available.

M: Yeah, so young people are usually early adopters. Adopt. So they adopt new skills, they start using new technology, well, usually sooner than older people and we say older people, young people. And you mentioned cultural phenomena. So careful, dear listener, Latin is an action. Remember this Latin language? The Latin language. Cultural phenomena, a lot of phenomena. One phenomenon. It's like criteria, many criteria, one criterion.

R: But that's just things that happen in culture. I'm trying to think of an example off the top of my head, but I can't. Is there anything that's popular in the culture right now?

M: I think... What's popular? I think like kind of like vegan people, vegetarian people, kind of the trend to be healthy. I think this is catching on. And also I think like people are becoming more politically correct. So all these, you know, different pronouns for different people. Yeah, so and more freedom! Showing or telling in education? Which is better? Obviously, showing can be more effective. Yeah? It allows the learner. So the person who learns things, it allows, it lets the learner to see and experience something, but also actually doing. So it's not just like showing or telling. It's just letting the person do things for themselves. You can actually answer this question like doing is much more effective. And Rory told us make the material. Material is what is being taught, I teach you something. So this is the material. Make the material more concrete and memorable. Concrete? What did you mean? Specific?

R: Like solid, and you can see it and have a better understanding of it than if it's just something that somebody says to you.

M: And making things more memorable. Yeah? Maybe by using jokes, or some images, so make it more memorable. And it allows the learner to engage with the material. So to engage with something that other people teach them. To engage with, to remember to learn the material. To engage with the material in a more active way. And also more used in a more hands-on way. So what did you mean like hands-on way?

R: Well, hands-on is another way of saying like, they can do something with what's being taught to them, rather than just sit back passively and listen to how something is done. So it's more practical, it's more real or realistic for them.

M: So in a more practical way, in a more hands-on way. So we learn things in a more active and hands-on way with visual cues. Visual like pictures, images. Cues, kind of like hints. What is a hint? Like, help. Visual help, or visual cues.

R: Or support.

M: Support. Oh, yeah, visual support, right. People watch videos to learn something. Obviously, on YouTube, it's on YouTube or somewhere else. Videos are readily accessible, so you can access them easily. They're readily accessible. Videos provide visual demonstrations. So visual cues, visual demonstrations, but then Rory said that, I'm not sure it's the sole avenue. So videos, yeah? Is it the only place to go to when you learn something? I'm not sure it's the only avenue. Avenue is like a street. What does it mean? The sole avenue?

R: It's just the only way of doing something.

M: Yeah, it's not the sole way to do this. It's not the sole, the only avenue. I liked it when you said for a quick fix. A technique for a quick fix.

R: Yes, but that just means doing something really quickly when you have limited time and resources.

M: And then you master something. You master a language or you master doing something. So when you master something, you do it really well. For example, I mastered the English language. Rory didn't master Russian.

R: Not yet. Hasn't. Hasn't. I'm not finished yet.

M: Hasn't. Yeah, okay, okay. Hasn't mastered Russian yet. When we learn something new, we need to identify a goal. A goal is a purpose, your aim. Your aim, your aim. Your aim. Identify your goal. And then you know what you are aiming for, to aim for something. And then you need to identify your current level of knowledge. So you want to prepare for IELTS, you do need to know your current level of English. Your level now. Your current level of knowledge, before researching something. Before researching to plug any gaps. Ooh, Rory, tell us what did you mean by this.

R: Well, any gaps in knowledge, so a gap in knowledge is a space where there's nothing. And ideally, if we're talking about knowledge, you want to plug the gap, you want to fill it with something useful. So you're doing research to fill this gap to make the knowledge complete.

M: And then Rory talked about practice. When you learn something new, surely it's important to practice. So three P's. Practice, practice, practice. You should do your three P's. To get the hang of it. Oh, this is so natural. This is super cool. So you should get the hang of it. You should practice to get the hang of it. How can you paraphrase this?

R: You should practice to develop your understanding of it, so that you can do it better.

M: So if I get the hang of cooking, am I good at cooking?

R: Well, yes. So, yeah, if you get the hang of something, you're good at it or at least you can do it.

M: Rory, did you get the hang of driving?

R: I did. I passed my test. It was great.

M: Yeah, we need pictures. We need videos, Rory behind the wheel.

R: Nobody wants to see that.

M: We do. Half of the world does. Can you imagine, dear listener, Rory is... Driving. Honking. Opening the window. Like, where the hell are you doing? This. Can you imagine like... Wow, I can't imagine, I need visuals.

R: That is very similar to, well, no, it's not similar at all to my driving experiences. I'm a very relaxed driver, shall we say.

M: Aw, we teach the older generation to use technology. So it's older people, older generation. And it's a bit trickier than with younger people. So it's tricky. It's trickier than with younger people. Start with the basics. Start with the basic. The basic information, start with the basics. And then you should be patient. So kind of calm, calm down, and provide opportunities to practice. You should provide, give people opportunities to practice things. What did you mean by tailored, positive, encouraging instruction?

R: Well, something that fits the person you're talking to not all kinds of instruction are going to fit all people. So for example, some people like a really hardcore intensive experience, no good humour, nothing like that. Whereas other people are like, oh, it'd be nice to have some positive feedback, some chit chat. So you change it according to the person that you're talking to.

M: And in education, it's called instruction, right? So kind of, I teach you, I give you instructions, and my teaching is instruction. It's not just like some instructions you read when you want to use a device. Learn practical skills. So where can we learn practical skills? Online courses offer a wide variety of choices. So you can use a wide variety. So lots of different choices on a wide range of subjects. A wide range, like variety of subjects, and Rory doesn't use variety twice. So first, but he does use wide twice, but that's okay. A wide range of something or a wide variety of choices.

R: But I said similarly wide. So I used an adverb to modify the adjective, just to give myself a little bit more room. But that was difficult to come up with.

M: You can always pick up a book and read about how to get better at something. This is like the super duper advice. You know, the best advice. Like how can I learn practical skills? Pick up a book and read about it. Yes, Rory Duncan Fergus...

R: Oh, never mind.

M: Yeah, Rory is giving super advice. Advice, not advices. Okay? Advice. So Rory did use a phrasal verb. Not just to take a book. But you can always pick up a book, which means to take a book, if you have money to burn. That's a nice idiomatic phrase.

R: Yes, it's just talking about spending money on in-person workshops and classes. But these are very expensive. So you will basically be like burning money.

M: Yeah. If something is really expensive, and usually individual classes. One-to-one classes are more expensive. So if you have money to burn, if you have lots of money, if you're loaded, you can go to in-person workshops. So face to face workshops, or individual classes. And a classic question, how do children learn? How do adults learn? And this is a very good strategy you've used here. Tell us about like generalizations.

R: Well, I wanted to draw attention to that, actually, because for part three, your answer should be generalized answers, they shouldn't be about you. So I've used phrases like in general, or here I've said everyone's unique, but there are probably a few generalizations you could probably make, such as, or like.

M: Generalizations about like all children or like some children, some adults.

R: So it's things like generally speaking, in general, to generalize and then launch into your answer, because you really should be talking about things in general, not from your personal experience.

M: Yeah, like not like, oh, as for me, I prefer to learn. No, no, just like in general. And we make generalizations. Okay? You can talk about and you should talk about a short attention span. When we talk about children, children tend to have a shorter attention span. So they like keep their attention for shorter periods of time than adults. That's why you should change the activities. You should change visuals, pictures, like, do this, then do that... But actually, for adults, it does work as well. And also there are differences in memory and differences in prior knowledge. Prior. What synonym can we use? Like previous knowledge?

R: I don't know if we can say previous knowledge. And differences in what they know before they start to learn.

M: Yes, it's not like previous knowledge, yeah? It's prior knowledge. Prior, what happened before. So prior knowledge, because children may not have any prior knowledge of a topic, but adults might relate to the topic because they have experienced it before. Young people tend to be motivated by things like play, like games, whereas, while, but. So we make a contrast. Adults are more self-directed. What did you mean by self-directed?

R: Just that adults can make themselves do things, whereas children usually have to be led to do things.

M: So kind of as an adult, I direct myself, right? So I motivate myself usually. Not always.

R: Do you?

M: Yeah. Oh, actually, yeah, I do. But sometimes it doesn't work. Yeah. Hopefully, we motivate you, dear listener, to keep going and to keep listening to our premium episodes. Do read our scripts, do choose collocations, words, phrases, adjectives, verbs from the script. No need to learn all of them. Choose like from this group, for example, choose five phrases you want to remember. Just five. Okay? Five phrases in a sentence, in context, that you want to remember and use in your IELTS test. Okay?

R: Yes.

M: Thank you so much for listening!

R: We'll see you next time. Bye!

M: Bye!

-

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi