OK Nyelviskola
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OK Nyelviskola (or OK Language School in English) was established in early 2002 in Budapest, Hungary to deliver English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services.
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[edit] Methodology
The very strong emphasis placed on developing speaking skills in lessons rather than dealing with tasks students would be able to perform at home, e.g. improving reading, listening and writing skills, is characteristic of OK Language School, and something which shows in its achievements.
The rule of thumb used by them as the basic principle throughout its curriculum and methodology is that students should, and in fact must, practice speaking during the prescious time spent in lessons since that is the only time and place they can efficiently improve their communicative skills.
[edit] Theory practice ratio
Their pattern of teaching, they claim, can be easily followed by teachers and students alike.
A brief explanation of about 10 to 15 new words (in a vocabulary or subject area lesson) or one or two grammar rules (in a grammar lesson) is always the first step. Thus, having understood the new information, it is easy to see what is to be practiced in the rest of the lesson. The teacher also shows example sentences illustrating how the new words or grammar is used by native speakers. This method is called "using collocations" which is the most advanced yet simple way of getting students to use English in a manner that will seem natural to native speakers.
A lesson ratio of 15 minutes spent on introducing and demonstrating the new data and of 30 minutes spent on drilling the new information (practicing it verbally in pairs) is considered optimum, according to their methodological writings.
Homework consists of further drilling the new information in writing (meaning that students are required to write many example sentences until they are comfortable using the new words or grammatical rules) and reading so-called Simplified Readers which match their level of English and listening to the CDs included with such Readers. These CDs contain the audio version of the texts so students can listen to them as many times as necessary to develop their listening skills to the point where they can hear everything they have read in the texts.
[edit] Providing TRINITY ESOL examinations
In early 2003, they decided to apply for a registered centre status to TRINITY College London so that they could now provide an internationally recognized ESOL examination. TRINITY accepted the application. Soon, they also received recognition from the Hungarian Examination Accreditation Board as an accredited examination centre.
Ever since hundreds of students have passed TRINITY's user-friendly examination, and OK Language School has been one of the best centres in Hungary with an average of over 95 per cent pass rate in the spoken part of the examination.
Out of their 18 exam periods up to 2007, their students have produced a 100 per cent pass rate in 10 examination periods.
[edit] English Language Teaching Programme Accreditation
Achieving such results, they decided to get their full English language training programme through the so-called programme accreditation process offered by a branch of the Hungarian Ministry of Education. Final recognition of the OK English Language School training programme came in late August 2005.
[edit] Providing LCCI English for business examinations
Considering the demand from their students wishing to take a Business English examination instead of, or rather in addition to, TRINITY's general purpose ESOL exam, they contacted the Examination Board of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which established a branch office in Hungary at that time, just starting to deliver its accredited qualifications, specifically the English for Business (EFB) examination.
In late 2005, OK Language School was granted the right to operate as an LCCI centre as well. In 2006, more than a dozen students of theirs obtained LCCI Business English certificates.
Though a small and independent private organization in the adult education sector, OK Language School and its predecessor organizations have served thousands of students.
