Global English: Learn English as a Second Language

Lesson one of the Global English series is intended for non-English speakers as well as native speakers wishing to brush up on their English skills.  The series is expected to go from beginner to expert in a step by step fashion with interactive lessons.  Taught by Alissa Olgun, this first-class covers the alphabet, consonants, vowels, capitalization, the verb “to be”, personal pronouns, articles, and “not”. Olgun is an engaging and expressive teacher who enunciates letters and words clearly and tutors in a friendly manner. She shows each letter of the alphabet along with a picture to help with the sound of the letter. Next, Olgun teaches the vowels using pictures that express the long sound; she does not cover all the short or other sounds vowels may make in combination. Both capital and lower-case letters are shown. While Olgun does not define a noun, she shows how the first letter of the sentence is capitalized and mentions that names, places, and titles may also be capitalized. End of sentence punctuation symbols is illustrated. Olgun describes personal pronouns and uses each of them in a sentence. She illustrates personal pronouns in sample sentences using the present tense of the verb “to be”. Lastly, Olgun covers interrogatory sentences and using the word “not”. Pictures accompanying letters of the alphabet could be more consistent-- such as only using nouns to express the letters. In providing examples for pronouns, using clearer illustrations for “we” or “they” would improve comprehension. With more titles expected in this series, this video offers a good start in teaching English as a second language. Strong Optional. Aud: E, I, J, H, P. (T. Root)