A speech I had made during an online conference for primary school teachers of the Karagandy Oblast in Kazakhstan in October 2013

1. Speech for Online Conference 3-102013
Good morning to all the teachers who are viewing.My name is Theo
Navarro and I am an English Teacher and Methodologist for Study Innovations.
We are a language school that operates in five different cities, and we are the
official representatives for Cambridge University Press and Pearson Publishers in
Kazakhstan. I would like to talk to you about something which is very important to
me. Many teachers I have talked to have expressed concern at the fact that we
are starting to teach English from the first grade.
The reason that I, as the Methodologist for Cambridge and Pearson in
Astana, support the teaching of English from the first grade is that it is needed.
Kazakhstan is moving closer and closer to the international status it deserves;
meaning that Kazakhstan is developing more, and stronger, international
connections than it has ever had before.
In order for these connections to be strengthened, and for the citizens of
Kazakhstan to enjoy all the benefits of this international status, they will need to
be able to communicate with people from all over the world. The fact is that the
majority of people in this country today have a very limited grasp of the English
language, and are beginning to need it for education and work purposes. This is
why language schools like Study Inn, where I teach, Interpress, Langberry and
others are so successful.
Teaching English from the first grade gives children a solid foundation that
helps them later on in their education. By the time these children are 18 years
old, they should be able to speak English relatively fluently. The country’s top
Universities, NUA and KIMEP, require their students to have a level of English that
allows them to complete a university degree in the language.
I believe that students need to learn English from the first grade because it
will make their lives easier in the future. This country’s next generation will have
access to the world’s best education, international jobs and international business
opportunities. I believe that the students of this country deserve to have these

2. opportunities, and that giving them the language they need to do this is taking a
step towards making this easier for them.
The first thing that we, as teachers, need to do is to teach them useful
language. We need to teach them how to react to language and how to
understand it; not to memorize phrases. We can do this in really simple ways. The
simplest way would be to give them a large enough vocabulary to answer
questions in a variety of different ways. Instead of teaching our students that “I’m
fine thank you. How are you?” is the only response to the simple question, “How
are you?” we need to teach them how to tell people that they are great, sad,
tired, confused, excited and more.
We need to use simple classroom language in English. Simple language such
as “open your books,” “sit down,” “stand up,” “talk to your partner,” “sing the
song,” “cut the picture” and other things. This helps them to understand that
English is a language that is used and not just studied in class. Of course, at the
very beginning of their English education, these simple instructions are given with
physical gestures and translations; but children usually learn this type of language
very quickly.
We need to try and include topics that they love in our lessons, topics that
they want to talk about. This will help motivate them, and make them want to
come back to our classes. We need to talk about sports, music, television, video
games; because this is what our kids want to communicate about. We need to
teach them real and authentic communication. Children need to leave each
English lesson a step closer to being able to communicate in real life. If teachers
use their power to choose books wisely, they can have textbooks and syllabi that
are full of material that their students will love.
When we teach them how to read, we need to teach them how to
read the types of things that they will see in real life. Poems and chants are great
ways to have fun in class and to practice language; but we also need to teach
them how to read menus, how to read jokes; how to read dialogue in comic-book
style stories. We need to make sure that what they read is fun, interesting and
motivating, but also useful. Having students act out stories and “Become” these
characters is also a great way of both giving children a reason to practice using

3. the language in class, but it also gives them an opportunity to “Be” an EnglishSpeaker for a few minutes.
Using music and video based activities are also the perfect way to teach
listening. Many of our kids already listen to music in English. Giving them the tools
they need to understand that music is something that they will find both
personally interesting and highly useful in their lives. Using videos like cartoon
clips in class helps kids learn English in a natural way, as well entertaining our
students. Almost every coursebook available today has music and video
components, so materials are not difficult to find.
In the ten months since I first started working with teachers in Kazakhstan, I
have met hundreds of teachers who want to do just this. Teachers who are
dedicated to giving their students the best education possible. I believe that the
hardworking, creative teachers in this country can help these children get access
to the future they deserve; and it is through their hard work that the next
generation of this country will have the tools to improve this country beyond our
wildest expectations.