English Garden’s Concept

English Garden, founded in 2002, is an English language school which offers music lessons (in English) for children between 18 months and 3 years and English lessons for children from 4 to 11 years old.

All lessons are taught by Rebecca Jeffrey (who studied music, languages and teaching) and her team of trained, native-speaking teachers.

English Garden uses a bespoke, age-specific syllabus, developed to promote a structured and effective learning system which is also fun and engaging for the children. This unique concept puts emphasis on the understanding of the English language and also of correct and natural pronunciation, supported by the medium of music.

In the music lessons (for children aged 18 months to 3 years) the children learn to speak English rhymes and sing English songs. They dance to the songs, learn rhythmic games and play on simple instruments. Speech and rhythm, supported by the dancing and instrumental elements, form a unity which creates a comprehensive child-orientated environment. Rebecca Jeffrey’s method of teaching is based on the conviction and experience that children can learn a foreign language easily and without pronunciation problems when they hear it spoken regularly at an early age and especially when used in combination with music.

In the English lessons (for children from 4 years upwards) the children learn the language through purposely-composed English Garden songs, rhymes, games, dance and drama. Because melodies can be learned quickly, the children easily and effectively remember and recall the English song texts and sentence structure. The lessons focus on understanding and on the playful use of the English language.

At home the learning can continue with the fun English Garden CDs to which the children can sing. They can also check their understanding with the CD’s vocabulary quizzes.

At the end of the school year everything the children have learnt is presented to family and friends in the form of a specially-written English Garden musical. These are adaptations of well-loved fairytales where the children get the chance to act and sing.