frequently asked questions

A. Students who want to learn REAL American English in a natural environment with caring, experienced teachers who are native speakers of American English based in the USA. It is also for students who want personal interaction with their teachers, because all the classes are LIVE. The classes are NOT recorded. This program helps students build a strong foundation for English speaking, listening, pronunciation, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing that will help them for the rest of their lives, for school, travel, and work. It also teaches students about life in America, including holidays, lifestyles, geography, history, religion, news, etc. The DreyerCoaching philosophy is, “if you have strong language skills, you will be competent and feel confident, and then you will do well on any language test you take.”

線上指導何時開始？(2024-2025)

A. Elementary & Middle School Students / 小學初中學生的英語

Sessions begin the week of Monday, June 3, 2024, and end Saturday, June 7, 2025.

線上指導開始於2024年6月3日星期一，课程結束於2025年6月7日星期六。

The 2024-2025 schedule covers approximately 47 weeks of classes, or approximately 94 sessions if we meet twice a week.

2024至2025年的學程包括47週的線上指導課程，若一週上課兩次的話，則是將近94堂的線上指導課程。

High School & Adult Students / 高中生和成人學生英語

Sessions begin the week of Monday, September 2, 2024, and end Saturday, June 7, 2025.

線上指導開始於2024年9月2日星期一，课程結束於2025年6月7日星期六。

The 2024-2025 schedule covers approximately 34 weeks of classes, or approximately 68 sessions if we meet twice a week.

2024至2025年的學程包括34週的線上指導課程，若一週上課兩次的話，則是將近68堂的線上指導課程。

A. Because of major holidays, we will NOT meet on these dates:

其中不包括下個幾個重要的節日：

Tuesday, September 17  Autumn Moon Festival

9月17日星期二   中秋節

Thur. -Sat, Nov. 28-30 Thanksgiving

11月28-30日星期四-六   感恩節

Thur. Dec. 19-Wed. Jan. 1 Christmas and New Year*

12月19日星期四至1月1日星期 三   聖誕節與元旦*

Mon. Jan. 27 -Sat. Feb. 8 Chinese New Year*

1月27日星期一至2月8日星期六    農曆新年*

Mon. April 21-Sat. April 26 Easter/Spring Break*

4月21日星期一至4月26日星期六    復活節/春假*

Saturday, May 31  Dragon Boat Festival

5月31日星期六     端午節

*****

Saturday, June 7, 2025   Last Day of regularly-scheduled classes, 2024-2025 academic year

2025年6月7日星期六     2024-2025 学年最后一天上课

*The two weeks at Christmas, two weeks at Chinese New Year, and one week at Easter/Spring Break are NOT counted in the investment. That is, you do not pay for those weeks.

*聖誕節的那兩週、農曆新年的那兩週，以及復活節/春假的那一週，都不計費。換句話說，你所付的費用中，並不包括這些日期.

Q. Are these classes online?

A. Yes, they are taught online, LIVE, in REAL-TIME, from the USA State of Virginia.

Q. How long have you been teaching these online English classes?

A. Since 2008 Scott Dreyer has been offering this helpful, convenient service of teaching English online, where “we bring America to you!”

Q. How long is each class?

A. Each class is 50 minutes long.

Q. Do you teach group or 1 on 1 classes?

A. Most of our students take 1 on 1 classes. You can choose the time and content that meets your needs. However, we do offer some group classes too. If you want to find 1 or more classmates, we can create a private class for you! With a private class just for you.

Q. How often do classes meet?

A. 1 on 1 classes meet as many times a week as you choose. Most group classes meet twice a week.

Q. How many students are in a group class?

A. The maximum is SIX (6) students per group class.

Q. What is the class content?

A. Since DreyerCoaching offers personalized attention, you can arrange the class content you want or need. We can help you or your child with: speaking, pronunciation, listening, conversation, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, writing, SAT, TOEFL, business English, essay editing (for school, business, or publishing), homework help, applying for a new school, university or job, etc.  

Q. When do classes start? 

A. A normal school year runs from September to June. However, you can join any time. If you join during the school year, your tuition will be a ratio based on the number of months of school left. Also, you can register for short-term classes during the summer or Chinese New Year holidays.

Q. Can I just register for one month and try it?

A. Learning and mastering a new language is a long-term process that requires commitment. Therefore, we encourage students to register for one school year (September-June) at a time. However, for people who only want a class during a school vacation or otherwise for a short time, 10 class sessions is the minimum offered.

Q. How often do I pay the tuition?

A. You only have to register (pay tuition) once, and that will conveniently give you classes for the whole school year.

Q. What is the format for a typical class? 

A. The teacher greets the students warmly and engages him or her in “small talk.” This may seem simple, but it actually gives the student great experience with conversation skills and feeling comfortable speaking with foreigners. The teacher then introduces a passage or topic, and reads part of the passage. The student reads along in his or her book and listens to the teacher’s pronunciation. They discuss new words, phrases, and/or concepts. The teachers often use photos to introduce new words or ideas. Student reads part of the passage, and the teacher helps with pronunciation as needed. After discussing the passage, the student answers questions related to the passage, to be sure they understand key ideas. Class ends with the teacher asking, “What is one thing you learned today?” so students can reflect and be self-aware of their growth.

Q. What does a typical class look like?

A. Here you can watch a basic English class, about Yellowstone Park. Here is an intermediate-level class, using a grade 5 reading book, about big toads in Australia. Here is an advanced class where the students learn different meanings for words like TURKEY, AFGHAN, and QUARRY; you can watch it here. To see part of an advanced class where students learn the idiom (saying) “strike a happy medium, watch here.

Q. How do you teach writing online?

A. We have been teaching writing online for many years with great student success. 

In class, the teacher gives a writing assignment, which the student completes as homework during the week. During the next class, in real-time, the student reads his or her essay for pronunciation practice. Then, line by line, the teacher and student discuss the essay and evaluate what is good and what could be improved. Areas of focus include: title, introduction, word choice, grammar, verb tenses, sentence structure, paragraphs, transitions, punctuation, conclusion, and uses of quotations, statistics, stories, jokes, etc. To observe a sample writing class at an intermediate level, watch this video where Scott helps a high school student improve her essay about her time studying in Canada. Here is an advanced high school writing class where the students are editing their persuasive essays.

Q. “How long does it take to learn English?”

A. That is the wrong question. And if you ask the wrong question, you will always get the wrong answer. A better question is: “How much practice does it take to learn English?” In other words, the issue of classes is not LENGTH but FREQUENCY and INTENSITY. For example, we have had many students who attend 4, 5, or 6 classes a week and make great progress in only a few months.

Q. Can you tell me a student success story?

A. There are many!  Students who experience the most success are those who start with DreyerCoaching early and stay with it, year by year, and take extra classes during the summer and Chinese New Year vacations. For example, Ryan Chen of Hsinchu, Taiwan joined DreyerCoaching in 2013 as a fifth grader, and continued non-stop until June 2022, as a rising second year university student! You can see Ryan here and read his story at the top of this blog. In grade 10 of high school, Ryan took the TOEIC and scored an impressive 955, and in April of his first year at National Taipei University he took the TOEFL and made an incredible 105. His dad said Ryan did this “without preparation” and Ryan said he walked into both testing places “and I felt like I was walking into a coffee shop.” That was because he had been preparing year by year in his DreyerCoaching classes, building a strong foundation. So, when the day came to take an important test, we was ready because we was competent and confident. Ryan’s dad explains here in Chinese why he chose DreyerCoaching for his son and daughter. Vivian explains how DreyerCoaching helped her improve her TOEFL score from 50 to 90 and gain TEN university acceptances. Benny began with DreyerCoaching as a child when he didn’t understand any English at all, but then learned so much, he was able to come to America to attend high school and Virginia Tech. Cathy tells her story how she used DreyerCoaching to help her get into UC Berkeley. 

Q. Is DreyerCoaching helpful for just one kind of class, or can you help with all kinds of English at different levels?

A. DreyerCoaching can be your “one stop shop” (Chinese:  一条龙服务) for all things English: from basic vocabulary to intermediate reading to advanced writing. Let DreyerCoaching be your personalized guide from the ABCs to the SATs.

Q. Is there any advantage to using DreyerCoaching year after year?

A. Yes! To encourage a partnership with you over many years, we offer a loyalty rewards program. Each student who in the spring re-enrolls for the upcoming year gets one or more free 1 on 1 bonus classes over the summer. The longer you study with DreyerCoaching, the more bonus classes you get. Plus, students who re-register early get first chance at selecting a class time and teacher. Also, each registered student gets ONE FREE 1 on 1 class as a birthday gift each year.

A. Books: At DreyerCoaching, “we bring America to you.” So, just as you will have American teachers, you will also have American textbooks. That means the books were written by Americans, to teach American English, to American children, studying in American schools. This will help give you an American environment, because textbooks not only teach language, but they also teach “mindset” and culture. These books will include interesting information about American geography, history, nature, lifestyles, folklore, famous people and places, etc. You can easily buy these books in Asia. Unlike what many “cram schools” use, these are not books that Asians wrote to teach Chinese speakers how to learn English as a second language.  After you register, Dreyer will inform you which book/s you will need to get for class. In addition to books, some teachers will include extra online resources to use in class.

A. Homework: Learning a new language takes time and work, so we suggest you preview your upcoming lesson before class, and review after class. This is especially important for more students as a more basic English level. Most students are also given the opportunity to be included in a social media group chat. In this private, small group, the teacher will regularly post a short voice recording of a passage or word list the student has learned in class.  The student is expected to listen to the recording 2 or 3 times, and then record the same passage in group chat. The teacher will later listen and give feedback, and offer pronunciation correction where needed. The student is to then re-record the parts the teacher corrected, and continue this process until the student’s pronunciation is excellent. This extra service is included in the DreyerCoaching membership package. There is no extra tuition or fee required for this helpful service. To find out more, read this blog.  Writing classes have homework too, since students will need to write essays and such in order to improve. 

A. Tests: Dreyer has been a licensed teacher since 1986 and taught in Taiwan from 1989-1999. During his 10 years there he learned that Asian students are already getting lots of tests. Therefore, DreyerCoaching classes seldom include formal tests. Plus, each hour of testing is one hour less that can be used for instruction. However, in our classes the teachers are constantly asking questions and checking for understanding, so that continual assessment is a kind of “test,” and that feedback shows the teacher what the students have learned and where they still need help. To show areas of growth and what still needs attention, DreyerCoaching gives each student a personalized “progress report” at set times during each school year.   

1. Contact Scott at Scott@DreyerCoaching.com or on LINE or Wechat at scottdreyer, or pick a time at https://go.oncehub.com/ScottDreyer. You can write in Chinese or English. You can get a FREE English level assessment from him.
2. Download free zoom software. (Use a computer; that works better than using a cell phone.)
3. Meet Scott for your FREE session to check your or your child’s English level. Tell Scott your goals. Count this opportunity as a “free class.”
4. Based on your goals and schedule, select a class for yourself or your child.
5. Find your invoice in your email and make the investment. To register, you can remit tuition to our Bank of Taiwan account or via our partner in Beijing.
6. Order your books.
7. Start your class and take your English to the next level!

Take the first step today. Spaces are limited.

• Have a fast computer with a cable Internet connection. Wireless Internet may drop the call. You or your child should be in a quiet area, free from distractions. This will let you or your child concentrate and not disturb the other learners. Clattering dishes, ringing phones, etc. can be heard by everyone else. If the student is a young child or is easily distracted, Dreyer encourages you to supervise your child’s online time.

• Be sure your child is not eating during class. That is a distraction, and others can hear the munching noise. Sipping a little water during class is fine.

• Be sure your child’s cell phone and Instant Messenger are off. Your child needs to pay full attention during this time. Children benefit when a parent is nearby providing supervision and encouragement.

• After class, please ask your child to tell or show you what he or she learned (new words, etc.). Encourage your child to keep learning!

A. If Mr. Dreyer or a Team Teacher misses a class for any reason, he will schedule a class on another date to make up for it or arrange a substitute.  If a student is going to miss a One on One class, please notify Mr. Dreyer at least 24 hours in advance, so we can schedule a make-up class at a mutually-agreeable time. If a student misses a group class, sorry, there are no refunds or make-up classes in this situation. However, during the year, we offer some bonus classes plus a FREE class at the student’s birthday as a gift. 

A. No. These classes actually help you or your child SAVE time.

• Take all classes in your home or office. That means no time on the road, wasting time and gas.
• Better English skills help you or your child be more efficient with homework and test preparation.
• One online student told us: “The classes help me save time, because I can ask Mr. Dreyer any homework questions I have, and learning the hard words online helps me do better in my classes at school.”