Claire FIRAT
Director of Studies

Why did you decide to become a Director of Studies?

In my 20´s, I used to work in management. I loved organising and problem-solving and fine-tuning and creating and juggling workloads. But I loved travel even more. I gave up my job to travel.

I actually through I would be a terrible teacher because I am such an impatient person so I had never even considered it until I started tutoring some Turkish friends whilst living in Turkey. My alter–ego came alive – I was patient, kind and helpful – and thus my career started. I returned to Australia and trained as an ESL teacher.

When I was teaching, I saw how the DoS role was the perfect amalgamation of my two passions. And so I studied further, devoured every scrap of knowledge that I could find, taught every class i could find and presto … DoS was born.

Where have you taught ESL and travelled?

I′ve moved around a lot. I hate being a tourist but I love living in different places. People are much more interesting to me than buildings or statues. So far I′ve experienced and worked in Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, London, Toulouse, Selcuk, Goreme, Ankara, Qingdao and the Gold Coast.

What does a Director of Studies do?

Most importantly, we ensure the teachers always have a biscuit supply. But more seriously, we plan the academic content of courses, manage the teaching team. provide academic support to teachers, meet & advise students on their study plans, track student progress, plan student activities, act as a human bell when necessary ′ding ding ding – please go to class′, monitor our systems and devise new strategies to make the school the best it can be.

What textbooks and materials do you use in your class?

Only the best! I′ve been teaching so long that I know the books to avoid and the books to embrace. If a class is truly alive, then the students will be motivated and itching to learn. A good textbook can help the teacher bring the class to life. But the teacher is the key to unlocking the English inside them. So even a bad book can be a prize in the right hands. I trust our teachers – they are masters of their craft.

Why is the BROWNS Active8-Accelerate Teaching System highly effective?

The amount of times a student has told me that they just want to speak well…that′s like me saying I just want to paint well.

Unless you′re a genius, you will need to learn how to use the paint, which paint to use, how to put the paint on the canvas, which canvas is best for your needs and THEN you will probably need to practise quite a lot to actually become an accomplished artist. Each developing artist will need practise in different areas: some will need to work on colour; some will need to work on design; some will struggle with accuracy.

Active8 –Accelerate ensures that the student gets all of the skills and system exposure they need to ’just speak‘ and that this is tailored to each student&primes needs & strengths.

Top tips for students learning English

Tip 1
English is not a science; it′s an artform.
You can´t rote–learn it.
You have to play with it, twist it, bend it, experiment with it, dance around it, notice it in its natural environment, mimic it, shout it, breathe it, whisper it, eat it, drink it…to know it.

Tip 2 Don′t try to learn ‘rules’.
Learn ‘usages and behaviours’.
If you think in ‘rules’, you will get angry every time you encounter an exception to the rule.
If you think in ‘usages’, every time you learn something new or different, you will delight in adding this usage to your repertoire.

Tip 3
You will probably be using English in the future with people from other non–English speaking backgrounds. If you are Korean, you might do business with a Chinese or a French exporter. If you are Czech, you might need to communicate with a Swiss or a Japanese colleague. Communicating with other English learners will be HUGELY beneficial. International English is the future. Take every opportunity to accustom your ear to different accents. This is as important as communicating with native speakers.