Your aims give us direction.
Joining a conversation. Explaining an idea at work. Feeling more yourself in a new place. Your tutor works with the situations you care about, and returns to those aims as they change.
Back to GlossalyseGood conversation.
The thinking behind the hour
Good conversation.
Thoughtful learning.
A lesson should feel human and worthwhile. Behind that experience is careful attention to what you want to do, what your speaking shows, and what might help you next.
A person, paying attention.
Your 60 minutes gives you space to try, rethink, and keep talking. Your tutor helps you find a clearer way to express yourself, with feedback connected to what you are trying to say.
A little useful practice.
Meaningful reading and listening, speaking, focused language work, and practice with familiar language all have a place. We shape the activities around your aims and the time you have.
This design draws on Paul Nation’s Four Strands framework (2007, PDF). The research informs the approach; it doesn’t prescribe one daily routine for everybody.
Your speaking tells a story.
Revisiting comparable speaking tasks can help you and your tutor notice changes in ease, detail, word choice, and how well your message comes across. Observations guide the next step; they aren’t a promise of a particular level by a particular date.
Research on oral corrective feedback also informs our focus on thoughtful human feedback.
A framework for noticing
A little more about CALFA.
CALFA gives us five lenses for talking about speaking. We use them to make observations useful and understandable, with your tutor’s judgement and your aims at the centre.
- Complexity
- How you develop and connect your ideas.
- Accuracy
- How reliably you use the language you need.
- Lexis
- The words and expressions you can draw on.
- Fluency
- How you keep your message moving.
- Adequacy
- How well your language fits the situation.
This is a way to structure observations, not an independently validated exam or a single score for your English. Any use of recordings or AI-assisted analysis should be explained and agreed with you. Your tutor remains responsible for interpreting the evidence.
Your next good conversation
Create a free accountFind out whether you’re stuck.
Create a free account, then pick a time with Jon. It becomes your hour,
the same time every week.