Why videos?
Videos are a great way to learn. Personally, I find it easier to copy what someone is saying than read instructions in a book. This is an interesting idea that connects to the notion of Mirror Neuron.
In a typical English class the students play games together which help them to practice new grammar and vocabulary. The teacher has a choice in the way they present their game. At the beginning, does the teacher read a list of instructions to the students or do they model? Instructions are very helpful, but sometimes they are hard to understand. However, when a teacher models what to do, somehow the students understand very quickly, just by copying. So what is modelling?
Modelling
A teacher can give an example of the game, they can play a little bit of it or start a conversation with a student. Although they don’t realise, the whole class is watching how to do an activity. After the teacher has modelled, they can ask a student to repeat what they just saw. The student almost always does the activity correctly. After that, the whole class knows what to do without realising that they just received an instruction. Basically, they are learning copying. This is a really useful way of teaching, and it actually goes all the way back into evolutionary past. How?
Evolution
Humans evolved in the wilds and the desert plains long before languaged existed. But how is this possible? How did people learn tool-making or hunting or other survival techniques if words didn’t exist? The answer is: they learnt by copying. This is what mirror neurons allow human beings to do – to copy the actions of other people so that we can learn. So why is this necessary? The same thing applies to watching videos. Watching a teacher speak, pronounce and create rhythm in English is a great way to improve. You can copy what they say and do, and it is so much easier than using a book. And so we have created the LVC School Videos.
Happy watching!