Which English are we actually working on?
“Help with English” covers several different projects, and naming the right one is most of the work.
English as a school subject
Grammar, comprehension, written expression and oral practice for English as taught in a French collège or lycée. Assessment here rewards accuracy and structure as much as fluency.
The baccalauréat and European sections
Comprehension of authentic documents, structured written expression and oral work — plus, for students in a European section such as those at Lycées Carnot and Bristol, a subject partly taught in English. These have their own conventions, and marks are lost to form as often as to content.
Confidence in speaking
Students who read and write reasonably well but freeze when they have to talk. This is a distinct problem with a distinct solution, and it responds quickly to the right practice.
How the lessons are built
Allma, a native English speaker, teaches with a personalised methodology: each lesson starts from what the student specifically needs — vocabulary, grammar, spoken expression, or preparation for a particular exam — rather than a fixed programme applied to everyone.
- Identify the actual gap
Not “English in general”, but the specific skill that is costing marks or confidence.
- Work on it directly
Vocabulary and structures put immediately into the student’s own sentences, spoken or written.
- Attempt it under real conditions
A short performance close to the actual exam or situation.
- Correct one thing well
Feedback on a chosen difficulty, then reuse of that correction in a new situation.
Preparing for the baccalauréat
Allma’s teaching experience is built in particular around preparing students for English in the baccalauréat: understanding what each exercise actually rewards, structuring a written answer, and rehearsing an oral presentation and discussion. A typical correction turns a French calque such as “it permits to discover” into “it lets us discover” — then asks for a new sentence with the same structure, so the correction is reused rather than just noted.
