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A fter 15 years of running a school I felt the real need to set ourselves

apart from our competitors; something students could recognise and

identify with. What appealed to me most about SpeakYourMind is what

appeals to our customers: it’s uncomplicated, practical and enjoyable. For

students it removes a lot of the mystery from learning a language and that’s

something they respond to.

—Susan MorrisSchool Owner, Italy

What’s good for the student is good for the school.SpeakYourMind is a modern teaching method that proves reliable, effective and genuinely popular with a wide range of learners in real-world teaching situations.

Student-friendly methodology – accessible learning for ages 12 to 87

Emphasis on speaking

Reduces learning-time

Complete programme – effective and relevant from beginner to advanced level

Practical English for day-to-day life

For groups and 1-to-1 courses

No homework required

Clear course programme for lesson-to-lesson progress

Tested and proven over twelve years in Europe and Asia

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Customer satisfaction survey,

in compliance with ISO 9001 – 2006-2007,

400 completed questionnaires

93% of students

surveyed believe

SpeakYourMind is

good value for their

money.

How many people study English?How many people learn?Most people want to learn English because they have real needs. Most people want to ‘learn to speak’, and as much as possible to learn easily and to enjoy it. But common experience shows that finding good returns on the investment in their time, money and commitment too often falls short of students’ expectations.

Why SpeakYourMind?“Everyone is different” – who would disagree? But alongside the differences in individual learners there is also a great deal of commonness, both in terms of ‘what’ they want to learn and ‘how’ they can learn – and by focussing on what is common SpeakYourMind sets out to establish clear, general aims, a coherent and relevant syllabus and a practical set of teaching procedures with broad appeal. It’s true – everyone is different, so while we know that SpeakYourMind won’t always be the best solution for everyone we believe it could easily be the best for your school.

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Well, why SpeakYourMind?Basically because of the need for an alternative to the courses and methods that the majority of schools offer. Too often they seem wide of the mark when it comes to what learners have as real priorities.

And what are those priorities? On the whole learners have fairly clear aims. Firstly, they want to learn to speak English. Secondly, people want results for their efforts so a learning programme has to be efficient; and thirdly people want to enjoy learning.

Iain McInallytalks about the

teaching methodhe has developed

Speaking Your Mind

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Sounds perfect. But isn’t that the aim of every course?What often happens in practice is that one of those elements tends to exclude another. There are still plenty of grammar-based courses where speaking has a very limited role, and there are methods where there’s repetitive speaking practice but are too impersonal and shallow for there to be much real learning. And then there is the mainstream of teaching, the communicative approach, which is a huge umbrella. Lots of things can classify as ‘communication’ but that doesn’t mean they fit into a coherent teaching strategy which takes into account students’ overall needs and circumstances. It seems to me that ‘communication’ is an aim, a consequence, but that doesn’t mean you can only achieve it, or always achieve it, through attempts to replicate ‘authentic’ conversation.

So you’re saying that these approaches don’t work?No, it’s not a question of ‘if ’ they can work - but how effective and how appropriate they are. There is a certain amount of ideology in teaching whereby new ideas are ‘good’ and accepted and everything old is ‘bad’ and gets rejected: and vice versa. But I think it makes sense to try to keep a critical open mind and to take advantage of innovations but at the same time take into account what has proven to be good teaching practice and to come up with a pragmatic approach that can work, not just in favourable situations with some people but in real situations with many people.

Is this where your second point about efficiency comes in?Exactly: The reality for a lot of people who study English, especially working people on part-time courses in their own countries, is that they simply don’t have much time, so for them efficiency and effectiveness become definite priorities and it’s the teachers’ and schools’ responsibility to recognise that.

What I really like is that you can have a factory worker, a student and a

marketing executive all in the same class and they’re all learning and

all enjoying it. It’s very open and it treats people like intelligent adults.

—Richard ScottDirector of Studies

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Could you just clarify what you mean by effectiveness and efficiency?For the student ‘effectiveness’ basically means “will I understand this and still remember this in six months’ or a years’ time?” ‘Efficiency’ means how to make the best use of the time that’s available; let’s face it, no one likes wasting time.

How can efficiency be achieved?There simply isn’t time to teach everything, so it’s largely a question of being selective about what, at the bottom line, is likely to serve learners best. It’s also down to providing form and organisation at different levels from the design of syllabus up to course management. The lessons themselves are conversational but they are focussed on learning: there are straightforward guidelines that are there for all to see, so lessons keep a clear sense of direction.

If the course is so organised what does the teacher have to do?We were in a training meeting recently and this was a topic we discussed. One colleague said “the course prepares everything for you: except the people in front of you”; and that’s where the responsiveness and experience of the teacher come into play. Deciding what to teach and how to prepare it is not the teacher’s task, which most teachers see as a huge benefit, whereas making the moment-to-moment decisions on how best to make the language come to life in each students’ heads is; and that’s where the challenge and the enjoyment come from.

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99% of those

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to a friend, 83% of

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Our students are happy with the

SpeakYourMind method – we see that

day-to-day and our very high return

rate confirms it. Our students see their

results and so they trust us.

—Gloria Martinez OrtizSchool Owner, Spain

And do the students enjoy it?I think the appeal of SpeakYourMind to many students is that they learn but lessons don’t seem like ‘school’; there’s a good balance between focussed learning and fun. A typical English school needs to serve a wide cross-section of learners so we’ve tried to find a ‘style’ that most people are likely to respond to well. Learning is often pretty hard work but lessons are always personal and there’s plenty of room for humour in there, so that helps keep people motivated.

So everyone should learn English with SpeakYourMind?No – there can’t be a single best way to learn – there are too many personal and external factors. I believe that on the whole, there is a place for everything. But I also believe that there is a big place for SpeakYourMind.

Making a Choice the advantages of SpeakYourMind

Identity Set your school apart from the rest.

School-friendly Compact, teacher-directed course requiring no special aids,

equipment or additional resources.

Teacher-friendly Does away with time-consuming preparation, homework correction and endless photocopies. Straightforward and satisfying for experienced teachers and novice teachers.

Student Appeal Attract more students with a method that’s simple, effective and

with lots of speaking.

Solid Results Students see the results they get and recognise it as good value for money.

360° From placement testing to course management and teacher

development, we provide a complete package for your school.

Assures standards Students want to know they can rely on a school and the service it

provides – classroom to classroom, year to year. Consistency is key.

Exclusivity Other schools in your area won’t build on your success.

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W e’re part of a British owned international group and English is a daily need. Over the

years we had organised several courses for staff with different schools but progress

was never impressive, interest seemed to run out pretty quickly and many people found it

hard to keep up with the homework. I must say that with SpeakYourMind we soon began to

see improvement. People were starting to take part in meetings for the first time and that

progress has kept going. Our Human Resources Manager notes that the attendance rate is

excellent and the drop-out rate has been very low. The structure of the course and the accurate

monitoring of course-progress is another real advantage.

—Andrew FattoriniDirector of Finance,

Linpac Plastics, Europe

For me, SpeakYourMind is not like going to school. It’s like spending 50

minutes in conversation with friends. Then you leave and you realise that

the words seem to stay with you: what you were talking about, you were

learning. For me this is the great ability of SpeakYourMind.”

—Marina TraniClerk, Verona

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Here is a simplestarting point:

1 To say what you want, you need the right words and know how to use them. SpeakYourMind teaches ‘words’ every lesson, systematically.

2 To communicate effectively you need grammar, and SpeakYourMind teaches the grammar you need at your level and practices it in meaningful contexts throughout the lesson, every lesson.

3 To speak a language you need to feel confident enough to try. SpeakYourMind lessons offer plenty of opportunities to say what you want in a safe and stimulating environment, building up your fluency lesson after lesson.

4 You learn well when your teachers instil confidence and enthusiasm and you can see the progress you make.

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the method

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the designThe complete programme is based on an organised syllabus which presents, in total, 7,500 ‘language items’: lexis, grammatical structures and functional language. Selection and grading of language is based on general needs (giving your phone number is a more likely event than changing a tyre), frequency (‘send’ is more used than ‘dispatch’) and ‘linguistic priority’ (it’s more helpful to learn about plural forms before encounter-ing ‘any and ‘some’ than the other way round).

Learner language grows – a single lesson will not ‘teach students how to talk about their job’ (an un-realistic aim in the first place) but will add words or structures that will blend themselves into learners’ existing pool of language and increase, over time, their ability to communicate ‘more’ and ‘better’ in an expanding range of situations and topics.

The overall design of content with regular re-cycling of language and cross-reference develops awareness of interconnectedness of language which, in turn, enhances learners’ sense of personal learning: they see how what they are learning fits into a pattern.

the ideain lessons language is:1. identified New words or structures are presented by the teacher, one at a time. Students can focus attention on new words.

2. contextualisedNew language is placed in context with clear and accessible explanations and examples. Students can recognise and notice how language ‘fits’ in terms of meaning and grammar.

3. used The teaching material provides a range of questions or prompts which give the opportunity for learners to try out the new language in a series of recognisable and relevant situations. The teacher is there, ready to encourage, correct, confirm.

4. learntFrequency of use. Regular, systematic review of target language in a variety of contexts over the following few lessons and further re-cycling in varied contexts over time ensure that learners can incorporate new language into their store of working English.

the lessonRather than create situations from which new language may or may not emerge, the teacher introduces ‘language’ and then creates around it a series of accessible conversational contexts through questions and cues that are used as the basis of teacher-student and student-student interaction, both immediately following introduction of new language and in successive revisions.

The dialogue constitutes the core activity of the les-son, typically making up 70%-80% of lesson-time, and is the platform for developing listening skills, fluency and accuracy. It’s a learning-rich lesson, covering a wide variety of language and topics. The design of the material assures that lessons are always accessible to learners yet at the same time push at the edges of their knowledge and skills. This balance between the satisfaction of seeing what they can now do well and the challenge of learning more, contributes towards learners’ sense of achievement and motivation.

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t he methodology is set out intelligently and coherently and the syllabus is well designed

and relevant. The teaching procedures are very intuitive and hands-on. As Course

Director of a growing school it was a real benefit that new teachers found it straightforward

to work with at all levels. They also enjoyed the way it’s easy to establish a strong classroom

rapport with students and they were motivated by the rate of progress students made. My

experience with SpeakYourMind was definitely a positive one.

—Steven Bell, (Delta) Teacher Trainer, London

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It’s really difficult not to learn English with the SpeakYourMind Method.

For example; I’m 57 years old and it took me longer to get used to

changing to the Euro from the Lire than it did to begin understanding

and speaking English.

—Giovanni GribaudoManagement Consultant, Milan

all skillsWhile responding to learners’ priority for conversa-tion, SpeakYourMind integrates reading and writing into the learning programme from beginner-level onwards.

The material provides a range of supplementary activities for the teacher to select and use in lessons. Reading and writing activities, grammar and vocabulary exercises, pronunciation or listening activities, discussion: these decisions can be made on case-to-case priorities and preferences.

use it or lose itStudying something today doesn’t mean you’ll know it tomorrow or in two months’ time, so regular review and long-term recycling play a central role. New language is given a clear and compact introduction; this initial contact simply starts the learning process, a process that will carry on as students hear and use new words and structures over time, in a variety of new contexts and with increasing ease and naturalness. Review presents language in a range of contexts, the questions or cues varying lesson to lesson: learning does not involve mechanical repetition or the memorisation of fixed sentences which serve as static examples.

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More than 40%

of our students have

done other courses

with other schools,

98% would do

another course with

SpeakYourMind

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The material is really well written: it helps you keep learners focussed and

involved at all levels and there’s a nice touch of humour which really helps

you get the best out of lessons.

—Ian McCulloch ESL Teacher for 20 years

the materialStudent’s Books follow the programme step-by-step and contain sample dialogues, explanations and ex-amples of all new words and structures. Student’s Books also contain exercises and reading passages for use either in class or at home. In the newly updat-ed versions, CD’s are included with Student’s Books, providing valuable additional listening practice and further learning opportunities.

the teacher Lesson content is all planned and prepared, ready for classroom use. Free of major out-of-lesson decisions and tasks, the teacher’s intuition and experience are focussed on where it really counts – in the classroom. For example, some learners thrive on consistent cor-rection, while others benefit from a more hands-off approach which allows them to develop confidence and ease-of-speech. There are lessons where a matter-of-fact manner suits best and others where a more personal approach brings out learners’ best. Learning and teaching are not uniform experiences and when people observe lessons with SpeakYourMind they are struck by just how, within the same framework of procedure and following the same material, the dynamics and tone of lessons can vary.

trainingIt is worth bearing in mind that, worldwide, the average career of a TESOL teacher lasts 18 months and, especially for schools abroad where regular teacher turnover is a fact of life, the relative simplicity of teacher-training both pre-service and long-term, is an important advantage.

The clear framework of lesson procedures provides the support and guidelines which can quickly get teachers classroom-competent. Our training programme sees teachers in the classroom from the first day and by the end of the seven-day course a new teacher can be ready to take on a regular schedule. Naturally enough, new teachers need to invest time on lesson-to-lesson preparation, but as the teaching material becomes steadily more familiar this preparation time will decrease.

While following the material and the procedures are enough in themselves to guarantee a decent lesson, this is a star ting-point for teacher development, not a goal. The training programme follows teachers through as they broaden their perspective and gain insight into the potential and depth that SpeakYourMind can offer, long-term, in the classroom.

level range and structureSpeakYourMind provides a complete programme from beginner to advanced level. The programme is divided into 18 Units and is linked to the levels of the Common European Framework (CEF).

The structure of the programme:1. Enables accurate placement testing and group formation2. Allows easy setting of short-term or long-term objectives3. Facilitates course monitoring and management

speedLearning a language, particularly as an adult, can be a long and unpredictable process. We don’t promise any magic formula but SpeakYourMind is designed to be efficient as well as effective. Although this can vary considerably from individual to individual and from region to region, in most cases SpeakYourMind can significantly reduce learning time.

Experience from schools in Europe using SpeakYourMind shows that completing one Unit typically takes 20 – 30 teaching hours (50 minutes). For example, beginners normally reach level A1 of the CEF in around 50 teaching hours and level A2 in the region of 100 teaching hours, as opposed to the 200 hours indicated as usually necessary by the Council of Europe.

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…beginners normally reach level A2 in the region of 100 teaching hours, as opposed to the 200 hours…

Unit SyM

Level CEF

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2

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The Past:The story starts back in 1987, when after seven years’ teach-ing experience Iain McInally and his partner Monica Moro set up a school in Verona, a school which aimed to set itself apart in terms of student service and which offered a clear alterna-tive in teaching method. The school started life as The Callan School, namesake of the well-known London School where Iain had been Assistant Director of Studies for two years.

Hard work, energy and enthusiasm saw the new school grow but Iain recognised where these qualities in them-selves were not enough. “There was definite demand for a school that offered something different but I felt that with Callan we were trying to move forward with the brakes on. I was getting increasingly disillusioned by the resistance to any kind of change and by the limitations of the material. We couldn’t afford to be stuck in a rut.” Through the following years of study, observation and experimentation a new teaching programme began to take form. The results appealed to both learners (his own schools’ customers) and the teachers who came to work there, and the school grew.

Our

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Past,Present and Future

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The Past: (continued) Through the grapevine, former colleagues heard of what was now becoming SpeakYourMind and in the mid-nineties three independently owned schools in Spain had the faith to exclusively adopt SpeakYourMind for their courses. A few years on saw the method arrive in Tokyo, once again at a school run by a former colleague of Iain’s who had been impressed by his work. Around the same time investigations from London lead to the use of SpeakYourMind with multi-lingual classes, gaining positive consensus from students and teachers alike.

In 2005, a group of schools based in Vicenza, Italy joined what had by now become the SpeakYourMind network. They saw the need for a real identity for their schools and for a teach-ing product that gave them the edge over their competitors. Interest has spread even further and a new school in Tomsk, Russia joined our network in September, 2008.

R unning a school is not by any means always easy, but if you enjoy working with

people and take pride in what you do the satisfactions more than make up for the

hard work. Certainly working with a single teaching programme like SpeakYourMind

makes organisation, course management, assessment and teacher-training a much

simpler job. You know how things are going and that allows you to make the right

decisions at the right time, and that is an important part of the responsibility you have

towards your clients and your staff.

—David Wornham,School owner, Spain

Our

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The Present:Despite the poor economic climate which has lead to lean times for many TESOL schools in Italy in recent years, we have continued to have success here in Verona, to the point of opening another school in the neighbouring town of San Giovanni Lupatoto in 2003, which has shown steady growth since then. In 2005 the school gained ISO9001 quality certification, a process aided greatly by the operational systems and procedures which have evolved alongside the teaching programme and were already in place.

We can easily track the great majority of our new students coming from word-of-mouth, and our twice-yearly quality surveys consistently show an impressive level of satisfaction with both the method, overall standards and value-for-money. All of this leads on to an impressive retention and return rate which gives us the benefit of year-to-year stability, as well as helping to maintain a friendly and personal atmosphere.

Positive word-of-mouth has also resulted in increased demand for language training from the business sector and, maybe surprisingly, the demand has consistently been for the general SpeakYourMind course rather than for the specific business-English courses that our school provides.

SpeakYourMind is in constant evolution. Like in any good product, good can always be better, and course materials and teacher development programmes are under constant review and improvement. This means that associated schools benefit from being part of a dynamic organisation and at the same time are able to have a real say in the development and updating of the teaching programme.

One other little fact we are proud of. While SpeakYourMind is designed to be straightforward and intuitive for new teachers, it provides the depth to continually reward teachers with greater experience. In fact the average tenure of our teaching staff at the school in Verona is currently 6 ½ years! Knowing that one of the biggest challenges in running a school is hiring and training staff, we can’t help but feel that a method which contributes to such high staff-retention can be a valuable asset to any school.

...the average tenure of our teaching

staff at the school in Verona

is currently 6 ½ years!

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The Future:Where do we want to go now? So far, virtually all our energy and resources have been directed towards de-veloping the method – growth in business and the ad-dition of other schools over the years have been almost incidental.

However, it is not our intention to leave SpeakYour-Mind a well-kept secret. Having seen not only our own success in Italy but also that of the schools in other countries, we know the method really works for a large number of people and we are confident this success can be replicated.

January 2007 saw the creation of a new area in SpeakYourMind —Network Development— and my appointment as the person in charge of creating strat-egies for developing awareness of the method and li-aising with individuals or schools who want to find out what we can do for them. Before Iain invited me to take on this role I had taught with SpeakYourMind for three years, having come from a business management background in the education system in the US.

We want to grow and we believe SpeakYourMind has the real value to enable this growth. At the same time it is not our ambition to become a mega-chain of schools and to sell the method at all costs. We want

to work with people who are committed to provid-ing a high standard of service and with whom we can look forward to a long and fruitful relationship. That is why we have chosen to offer SpeakYourMind in the context of a licensing agreement involving a ‘pack-age’ which includes on-going training and a range of back-up services rather than just looking for one-off contacts or book sales. Schools remain independent: we won’t insist you paint your school red and blue, and you won’t have to provide constant reports and statistics or pay percentages on earnings - none of the intrusive aspects of being part of a franchise.

Access to a successful method cannot, alone, guarantee a successful school. Training and course management are really the key areas. The exact relative importance of the three basic elements – quality of method, qual-ity of teaching and quality of organisation – is open to debate, but a school cannot operate successfully unless all three areas are working well. For new schools the procedures and systems we can provide, together with the pooled experience of our own school and other associated schools, means that they do not need to rely on guesswork or intuition when it comes to setting up and running courses.

Whether you are an established operation wanting to switch over to SpeakYourMind, or a start-up school who sees the potential in your area, we can cater to your situ-ation and provide a plan that meets your needs.

—Joshua LambertNetwork Development Manager

SpeakYourMind

After all the times I’ve tried to learn English this is the

first time I actually enjoy it and the first time I feel I’m

getting somewhere.

—Satoshi KimuraSurgeon, Japan

Wha

t We

Can

Prov

ide

what we can provide

Start-up training Standard, seven-day, initial Teacher-Training Course in Verona (alternative solutions can be designed to meet specific requirements)

Training for course-management and administration

Start-up package Authorisation to use SpeakYourMind in your area

Complete 14-volume set of SpeakYourMind teaching material

PDF files of all teaching material enabling flexibility and savings as you grow

Teaching Guide and Teacher-Training Programme for your in-house training

Teacher assessment and self-assessment modules

Course Monitoring and Management documents and procedures

Complete set of course registers and administration forms

Exclusive Student Placement Tests + Placement Test procedures

Exclusive Course-Launch programmes for new classes at all levels

Student Progress Test at each Unit throughout programme

Explanatory material for students (in English)

Personalisable Graphic designs for publicity (posters, newspaper adverts, leaflets)

Achievement Certificates linked to CEF for students

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On-going service provision Ongoing back-up training and assistance via e-mail and Skype

Annual forum – training workshop for School Directors/Head of Studies

Authorization to use the registered SpeakYourMind name and logo

Membership in a growing world-wide network of quality schools

Inclusion on the www.speakumind.com network site, link to your school’s website and access to the SpeakYourMind job-search database

In-house training programmes on request

Access to updated teaching material and training programmes

ExclusivityExclusive rights for your area (you tell us how large an area you want)

all that you need to do:You have the right location and premises. You have qualified and motivated teaching staff. You are committed to quality and building solid long-term success rather than quick gains. Getting started with SpeakYourMind is easy.

You find out all you want about SpeakYourMind: visits to our home-school here in Verona are always welcome.

We agree to sign a 4-year licensing agreement and you pay for your Start-Up package and training.

You complete your initial Teacher training Course.

You pay a fixed annual licensing fee which includes all on-going services, support and exclusivity.

All enrolled students purchase SpeakYourMind Student Book+CD sets from you. We agree on a minimum annual book order and, as sole distributors, we supply you directly at a discount on the RRP.

contact informationOur main office is in Verona, Italy

Mailing Address:Speak&Mind sncVicolo Dietro S. Andrea, 10 37121 Verona (VR) Italy

Telephone: +39 045.8030675Fax: +39 045.8036031 Email: info@speakumind.comAnd you can visit us on the web at www.speakumind.com

SpeakYourMindYour direct route to English

SpeakYourMind in Verona is Certified ISO 9001-2000

Key to levels: Eur. Common FrameworkUnit SpeakYourMind

Key to route: General English Programme(Unit 1 - Unit 12)Advanced English Programme(Unit 13 - 18)

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