Guidelines for Online Intensive Conversation (Master’s Program, 2023)


1.       Each student comes twice a week; 50 minutes per session.

2.       The topic is jointly decided by the teacher and the student (depending on the student’s
needs). Or it may be based on the textbooks used in the main courses.

3.       The teacher prepares 15 open questions about the chosen topic and sends them to the
student at least 3 days before the class meeting (so that the student may have enough time to get
ready for the meeting). During the meeting, the student answers the questions chosen by the teacher
randomly, while the teacher asks follow-up questions based on the student's answer. Each question
should be discussed approx. 5 min. Do as many follow-up questions as you can (for the sake of a
natural continuation of the same topic)!

4.       The point of the course is spontaneous interaction (where the student speaks naturally and
responds to an input). Therefore, the student should not prepare a full note to read from! However,
the student is free to prepare an outline to help him/her organize the thoughts.

5.       During the class, the teacher takes notes of the student’s mistakes (phonetic,
intonational, grammatical, lexical, pragmatic, etc.). After the class, the teacher sends the list
of mistakes to the student (along with the correct usage); in addition to the list of corrections,
the teacher should also send the student a list of additional words and phrases relevant to the
topic. This should be done by the end of the next calendar day of the session (when the student
still vaguely remembers what was discussed).

6.       Each week, the teacher and the student discuss a new topic.

7.       100% attendance in the class. The frequency is twice a week, but the schedule can be
flexible. There must be 26 meetings between September 25 and December 22. Only students who
attended 26 meetings receive a “pass”. Shifting of the class time should be communicated as early
as possible (with an alternative meeting time arranged on mutual agreement). A sick leave should be
justified with a doctor’s note; ANY unexcused absence results in “fail”.

8.       The teacher should prepare a summary of student attendance and send it to the
administrator by 22 December.

9.       Because of time difference, please set up your meetings between Central European Time
8:00-16:00 (which is 14:00-22:00 for the teachers). The time difference will be 7 hours difference
from 1 November.

10.   Punctual attendance is expected.