The Sound Way

International ESL Programme

The Sound Way to Reading, Writing, Spelling and Speaking English programme provides for, and makes possible, the awesome potential of being able to place an expert native-English-speaking-professional into every classroom in the school, university, or corporation for students to learn and model from!!!

A proven international literacy breakthrough programme that works quickly and powerfully with students of every age and nationality; whilst simultaneously providing an invaluable Teacher Training Programme for national teachers in Direct Instruction Phonetic Teaching, incorporating the rules of English spelling .

Both the Junior and Senior Sound Way programmes improve students’ reading and writing skills on average 2 to 3 academic years in eight to ten weeks. Standardized pre and post testing of older students has evidenced improvements of up to 8 years (that’s eight school year grades) in reading ability, and 6 years in spelling ability

There are Sound Way programmes to suit every age group in Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, the Corporate Sector or the Workplace. They are designed to be used with the whole class working together as one group.There is absolutely no need for grouping or streaming the class, as the programmes have been designed to meet the individual needs of every student at the same time. It is possible, though certainly not generally necessary, to run the programme with small groups, or even one-to-one in extreme cases.

The Sound Way has been created in accordance with the latest worldwide research into literacy teaching. Each face-to-face, interactive video lesson is designed to sequentially develop, teach, give practice in and assist the students to learn and master the fundamental skills, of clear speaking, writing, spelling and reading. Good comprehension skills will naturally follow the mastering of these basic disciplines.

The Sound Way is based upon a long proven method of phonetic teaching that first loads and programmes the brain with the 45 sounds that comprise English words (phonemes) and the 75 ways these sounds are represented in their written form on paper (phonograms). By integrating this knowledge with the rules of English spelling, The Sound Way is able to teach the spelling, writing and reading of words from their sounds - that is, phonetically! This highly structured method of “direct instruction” phonics teaching causes and results in an opening and expansion of neural pathways within the brain; which in turn gives students access to other important pieces of stored information that they may need to access. "The lights come on" as the saying goes, and students find themselves with a new found independence and ability to successfully resolve issues by applying their own logic and reason to solve problems that may have nothing whatsoever to do with English literacy!

Because approximately 93% of English words are phonetic and follow the rules of English spelling, The Sound Way is able to teach and develop this foundational body of knowledge in a logical, sequential and cumulative manner. Commencing with Lesson 1 and progressing through the thirty-six 40-minute face-to-face DVD lessons with the Senior Programme (fifty-three 40-minute lessons with the Junior Programme), The Sound Way provides students of every age with a clear and tangible understanding of the mechanics (workings) of the English language. Students actually learn the "how and why" behind the construction of most English words. This ability, once learned and practiced, can be applied immediately to almost any word in the English language. Following each 40-minute video lessons is a 30-minute Workshop Book lesson which gives further practice and consolidation of the information taught to that point. The entire lesson is then completed with a 10-minute Sentence Construction Exercise.

It should be pointed out that poor reading, writing and spelling skills are certainly not to be looked upon as a reflection of a person’s natural intelligence -  Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Winston Churchill being prime examples of highly intelligent men with literacy problems in their younger years. Nevertheless, poor literacy skills do have an enormous social cost and are a major source of low self-esteem, poor self-image and a general lack of confidence in an individuals' life. Research has shown that when people do obtain success with their English literacy abiliy and skills; that this somehow directly confronts and addresses internal problem areas, and goes a long way to resolving currently presenting issues in their lives.

The Sound Way programmes work powerfully for students of all ages and ability levels, including all elementary through high school students, adults in the workplace and those with labels such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADD, ADHD, and more.

The Sound Way programmes are effective with anyone who has a basic or elementary understanding of spoken English. The following report on the use of the programme in China demonstrates how successful the programmes can be, even in those environments where students have minimal spoken English skills from the outset. 

** See International Testimonies