Our English project, the Silk Road English Centre, is well known for its quality teaching and fantastic results. But what is it that sets us apart, and how does it all work?

There are many English schools around, but SREC tries to augment the English services available; we start our courses at a higher level, to build on other local courses. Classes usually cover one level in six months, with a semester every two months, although there are a variety of specialty classes as well, such as academic writing or public speaking.

The curriculum used at SREC ensures that all skills are covered: listening, talking, reading, writing, and grammar. But it isn’t just the curriculum that makes the classes at SREC stand apart. The teaching style at SREC is participatory-which means students can’t just sit back and watch the teachers teach. Instead, classes are interactive, with plenty of pair and group work, role-playing, and practice time.

Having such participatory classes can come as a shock to some students, who are used to rote memorisation or more hands off teaching styles. But at SREC, taking a participatory approach to language learning is seen as important. Language is something that needs to be used, not just learned. With participatory classes, students have the opportunity to produce the parts of language they are learning while they are learning them. And, as all of our teachers are native English speakers, students can ask questions about what they are learning with confidence.

Want to learn more? Check out more SREC stories here, or check out our other work in Education here.