Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.1.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # The Agen Workshop Language Teaching using Comprehensible Input ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://theagenworkshop.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Meet Andreea Constandache](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-andreea-constandache/) - Andreea Constandache likes to describe herself as a creative and enthusiastic language acquisition facilitator with a passion for education and young people. With more than 10 years of experience teaching French and currently working at an international IB school in Malta, her teaching approach focuses on comprehensible input, making learning engaging, accessible and hopefully, fun. - [Meet Sanae E. Jennings](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-sanae-e-jennings/) - Sanae has been teaching Japanese for more than three decades and is currently a Professor of Japanese at East Los Angeles College, a community college in Southern California. About ten years ago, she discovered Comprehensible Input, which transformed her approach to teaching. Since then, she has continued exploring acquisition-driven approaches, including TPRS 2.0. She enjoys - [Will Adams](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-will-adams/) - Will Adams is a Mandarin Chinese teacher in Denver, Colorado, with a passion for helping both students and teachers thrive through acquisition-driven instruction. During his five years at North High School, he built the largest Chinese program in Denver Public Schools by creating engaging, comprehensible, and student-centered language experiences. Next year he is excited to - [What is Comprehensible Input?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-is-comprehensible-input/) - More and more foreign language teachers are talking about Comprehensible Input. Here I try to answer the most common questions teachers ask - [Meet Janique Vanderstocken](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-janique-vanderstocken/) - Janique Vanderstocken has been teaching Dutch in Ghent (Belgium) for over 40 years. For many years, she worked with adult learners who were illiterate both in their mother tongue and in the Latin alphabet. Today, she teaches adults who can read and write but who have had very little formal schooling and are therefore not - [Meet Cécile Lainé](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-cecile-laine/) - We have some amazing people coming to Agen this year. And I’m particularly happy because they have all been here before. They each came originally as simple participants, but many have gone on to become well-known stars in the CI universe. And sometimes the rest of the universe takes notice. Cécile Lainé, after being named - [Meet Jonathan McBride](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-jonathan-mcbride/) - Originally from Northern Ireland, Jonathan McBride is a passionate teacher of German and French based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jonathan enjoys engaging with research on second language acquisition, wellbeing and education more generally, and is particularly interested in the point where research and teaching practice converge. He is interested in rethinking modern languages education in the - [Meet Anna Gilcher](https://theagenworkshop.com/anna-gilcher/) - I met Anna on-line where she is very present, then in person when she was accompanying a group of students in Toulouse and came to Agen for a day. She organized a Yoga/learn French or English retreat in Agen in 2019 and was a wonderful person to work with. Ever since then she has been - [Meet Antje Peterie](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-antje-peterie/) - When we hoped to have a German Language Lab in Agen, we naturally asked Tina Abour for ideas. She immediately urged us to contact Antje Peterie, who had first introduced her to Comprehensible Input ideas. Antje came to Agen for the first time in 2024 and enchanted everyone with her gentle kindness. Antje Peterie has - [Meet Michele Whaley](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-michele-whaley/) - I first met Michele in Chicago at a NTPRS conference in 2015, though I doubt she remembers it. She was a star that I admired from afar. So, when I found out that she wanted to come to our workshop, I was delighted. She brought along her husband, and he enjoyed hanging out in Agen - [Meet Daniel Kline Dubois](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-daniel-kline-dubois/) - Daniel has prepared the following document for his FRIMM students and I thought it was interesting enough to share as a blog article. Why You Feel Stuck (and Why It’s Not Your Fault) It is completely understandable to feel like you're hitting a wall when it comes to speaking. The frustrations like the "blank brain," - [Meet Elicia Cárdenas](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-elicia-cardenas/) - Elicia registered as a participant and it was only after she came to Agen that I learned that she was already well-known by several members of our team. She told me once that Agen was much more than what she had expected. I replied that Elicia was much more than anything I had expected. Elicia - [Meet Hélène Colinet](https://theagenworkshop.com/meet-helene-colinet/) - Hélène Colinet came to Agen as a participant in 2016 and she is so quiet that I’m not sure I noticed her that year. But the following year she was back, with her friend, Alice Ayel. And I saw the two French girls who were so observant during Dr. Krashen’s presentations. Hélène teaches French in - [Register for The Agen Workshop 2026](https://theagenworkshop.com/register-for-the-agen-workshop-2026/) - Come to Agen and be bewitched. - [Error correction .... or not?](https://theagenworkshop.com/error-correction-or-not/) - Animal trainers know that it is easier to teach a horse or dog what you want it to do, than to teach it not to do something. "No" is an abstract notion. In the same way, it is much easier to teach students what is right than it is to teach them not to do - [How to Teach the Passive Voice](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-teach-the-passive-voice/) - I’m writing this for an English teacher in France. I’ve never met her and I’ve decided not to ask her name, but one of her students is coming to me for private lessons. « Pierre » is in the seventh grade, which, officially, in France would be his second year of English lessons. But in - [Listen!!! Then Listen Some More! Then Listen Again!](https://theagenworkshop.com/listen-then-listen-some-more-then-listen-again/) - There is an urgent need for better ways to teach students to listen. While we all know that listening is one of the four focal skills, in my own opinion it is both the most essential and the most neglected. Teachers who privilege Comprehensible Input know that students have to be either listening or reading - [The Mighty - Part Four](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-mighty-4th-episode-their-first-quest/) - "Don't think of it as a friendship. Think of it as a partnership. You need a brain and I need legs." - [The Mighty - Part Three](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-mighty-session-3/) - "Then the boys meet the gang again and there’s an exciting chase scene during which Kevin becomes Max’s brain and Max becomes Kevin’s legs. It’s one of the best scenes in the film." - [The Mighty - Part Two](https://theagenworkshop.com/max-meets-kevin-part-two-of-the-mighty/) - Grammar is only relevant when it gives us information about the characters and their situation. - [The Mighty - Part One](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-mighty/) - There are scenes that could have been left out, the knights on horseback fail to capture the wonder of a boy’s imagination. They are just a bunch of men dressed up as knights. But the story comes across, we know that Max and Kevin are seeing real knights, and the magic works every time. It has become an indispensable tool in my teacher’s kit. - [Agen Workshop 2022 is open!](https://theagenworkshop.com/agen-workshop-2022-is-open/) - Come to Agen and be bewitched. - [What is the Agen Workshop?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-is-the-agen-workshop/) - The Agen Workshop is an idea. It began as a desire to share with other language teachers a new approach to our profession that made me feel both more effective and closer to my students. Who was I? A girl who had gone to Cameroon in 1967 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After a year - [Bob la Botte](https://theagenworkshop.com/bob-la-botte/) - I recently heard from Phil Smith, who teaches French in Ireland. Phil has been coming to the conference in Agen for many years and is also a gifted artist. He met Ben Slavic there in 2016, learned from him about One Word Images and has used the activity in his classes. This is what Phil - [Transitioning to Teaching Languages with Comprehensible Input](https://theagenworkshop.com/transitioning-to-teaching-languages-with-comprehensible-input/) - Teachers often discover CI after several years, even many many years, of using other methods. Old habits are hard to break. A question that often comes up s how to transition from former methods to one that stresses Comprehensible Input. Where to find help? - [How do you teach Grammar?](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-do-you-teach-grammar/) - The short answer is: We don't. How do you know that "He goed" is not grammatically correct? At some point in their infancy, most children will say "He goed". Then they stop saying it, long before a school teacher tells them that it is not good grammar. Good grammar, like vocabulary, is acquired before it - [What is CI?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-is-ci/) - TPRS is doing what people have been doing ever since the Tower of Babel: communicating with others using simple, comprehensible vocabulary in the context of a story. - [Planned but not targeted: The Arrival by Shaun Tan](https://theagenworkshop.com/planned-but-not-targeted-the-arrival-by-shaun-tan/) - Many students have been so enchanted by the book and its drawings that they have bought their own copy. - [Looking Back at Agen 2019 ... Looking Forward to 2020 ... Ooops! ... 2022? 2023](https://theagenworkshop.com/looking-back-at-agen-2019-looking-forward-to-2020-ooops-2022/) - This post was written in August 2019, long before we realized that it would be impossible to hold the conference in Agen in 2020. We then went on-line with the help of Karen Rowan and over 300 teachers registered for the on-line conference. In 2021 it seemed to me that, in spite of the success - [The Mute Native Speaker](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-mute-native-speaker/) - I was asked to work with a group of young girls and I began by explaining to the parents that I would be making up stories with the girls and playing games, doing things that would be different than what they were doing in school. During my brief explanation of the principles of Comprehensible Input, - [The Alibi Game](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-alibi-game/) - I didn't invent this game but found it in a text book I used many years ago. I believe it was Oxford Press material. It would take up an entire hour of class without anyone getting bored and gave students lots of practice listening for details, while giving me an easy day. I think I - [Illustration - The Horse Who Knew What He Wanted](https://theagenworkshop.com/illustration-the-horse-who-knew-what-he-wanted/) - [How to Acquire Language](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-acquire-language/) - I want to explain the difference between the way I teach and the methods that many other language teachers use. You should know that I have been teaching English as a Foreign Language since 1967 and in over fifty years I have been trained in and have used many different strategies, both as a teacher - [The Ninth of May - Mayi](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-ninth-of-may-mayi/) - The Ninth of May Europe celebrates the 8th of May as the end of World War II. In a small town in Cameroon the Batanga tribe celebrates the Ninth of May, the day that marks their return from exile at the end of World War I, more than a hundred years ago. When World War - [The Left Hand of Darkness](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-left-hand-of-darkness/) - I'm re-re-reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. So much wisdom and foresight and humanity, it should be required reading if anything ever should be. And I come across this passage which seems so pertinent in today's world: "His speeches were long and loud. Praises of Karhide, disparagements of Orgoreyn, vilifications - [Does Acquisition require Output?](https://theagenworkshop.com/does-acquisition-require-output/) - Out of necessity, he tried to communicate and quickly found the language "spilling out of his mouth". - [Tao Te Ching for Language Teachers](https://theagenworkshop.com/tao-te-ching-for-language-teachers-1/) - "I forgot I was speaking in English." - [Our Team](https://theagenworkshop.com/our-team/) - "Thank you for an amazing opportunity. I have fallen in love with Agen, French, and with CI all over again!" Claudia - [Where in Europe can you learn about Comprehensible Input methods?](https://theagenworkshop.com/where-in-europe-can-you-learn-about-comprehensible-input-methods/) - Hélène who teaches French in a IB school in Spain: "I would come every year. It is more than teacher training. All the school year I have in mind what I have seen or learned at Agen. It is inspiration and motivation for a successful school year." - [The Arrival - a graphic novel with endless possibilities](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-arrival-a-graphic-novel-with-endless-possibilities/) - I love the freedom this gives me to meet my students where they are and adapt what I can say about the images to their particular needs. - [Stephen Krashen on Error Correction](https://theagenworkshop.com/stephen-krashen-on-error-correction/) - "But correction has no real effect. It is learning, not acquisition. It encourages you to rethink the conscious rule and make a better rule. That's conscious learning." Stephen Krashen - [Motivation = CAN = Competence + Autonomy + Network](https://theagenworkshop.com/motivation-can-competence-autonomy-network/) - I tutor students and most of my sessions are one on one. How do I make a student feel that he belongs to a network? - [Why grammar correction is ineffective:](https://theagenworkshop.com/why-grammar-correction-is-ineffective/) - Numerous studies show that grammar correction does not help students, yet students expect teachers to correct their errors and consider them unprofessional if they don't. - [More Grammar does not lead to More Acquisition.](https://theagenworkshop.com/i-wish-some-republicans-had-had-this-teacher/) - "the students are so involved in what’s going on in terms of content that they’re not really aware that they’re acquiring the language" - [From Gibberish to ... Wow!](https://theagenworkshop.com/from-gibberish-to-wow/) - You may have found a great video but when you put it on, your students complain that the speakers don’t articulate, they speak too fast and their accents are frightful! It’s gibberish to them. - [Agreeing to Disagree](https://theagenworkshop.com/agreeing-to-disagree/) - An experienced teacher knows her students, their culture and their needs and her own personality and possibilities better than anyone else. No one can make her decisions for her. If what she is doing is working, if her students are acquiring language, no one can criticize it. If it’s not working, she knows it before anyone else. - [Using Proverbs](https://theagenworkshop.com/using-proverbs/) - Through acquisition they were sufficiently aware of which structures were possible and which were not, without having had any explicite grammar training. - [How to Get More Grammar with Less](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-get-more-grammar-with-less/) - So, my advice to colleagues who feel torn between teaching with Comprehensible Input and teaching grammar is to trust their wings, the wings of Acquisition, and jump off the roof. - [The Magic of the Agen Workshop 2016](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-magic-of-the-agen-workshop/) - The most powerful ingredient in the magic that is Agen: the friendship between those who come from far away with their curiosity, their enthusiasm and their open minds. - [To Circle or not to Circle](https://theagenworkshop.com/to-circle-or-not-to-circle/) - Teachers intent on counting reps forgot that input must always be compelling. If your students’ eyes have glazed over, you may as well stop circling. - [Story Listening: What is it?](https://theagenworkshop.com/story-listening-what-is-it/) - I am grateful to Beniko Mason Nanki for presenting teachers around the world with an elegant and easy to use a strategy that allows us to immerse our students in compelling comprehensible input. - [Dr. Krashen at Agen](https://theagenworkshop.com/dr-krashen-at-agen/) - Dr. Krashen speaks about Sustained Silent Reading. - [Ben Slavic](https://theagenworkshop.com/ben-slavic/) - He is passionate about his craft, passionate about wanting to help others find their way. He has the courage to go off the beaten path, the courage to try new methods and the courage to speak his mind. - [What Happens When Teachers Use Comprehensible Input](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-happens-when-teachers-use-comprehensible-input/) - We have a very high student success rate and a retention rate of 50-60% over four years. "We have built a reputation for working with all kinds of learners including those with emotional and learning disabilities of which we are proud." - [The British Council on Stephen Krashen](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-british-council-on-stephen-krashen/) - This article is an excellent review of Dr. Krashen's work and mostly very favorable. A good introduction to show to traditional teachers who are just discovering Stephen Krashen.https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/can-we-learn-second-language-we-learned-our-first - [About Noise and Circling](https://theagenworkshop.com/about-noise-and-circling/) - She just does it so beautifully that it doesn't feel like circling. It feels like she's having a genuine conversation with her students. - [Laurie Clarcq, my mentor](https://theagenworkshop.com/laurie-clarcq-my-mentor/) - She has a special gift for seeing both sides, for knowing where people are coming from and understanding their pain. - [The String Theory](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-string-theory/) - This is PQA that can be life-changing. - [My Son Daniel](https://theagenworkshop.com/my-son-daniel/) - LET’S CREATE A BRIDGE WE CAN ALL WALK ON TO GET TOGETHER. LET'S COMMUNICATE! - [When the Required Curriculum is Way Too Much!](https://theagenworkshop.com/when-the-required-curriculum-is-way-too-much/) - The standard textbook approach has always reminded me of Johnny Cash's song, One Piece at a Time, and gives similar results. The students, the few who persevere, have a lot of bits and pieces but they don't necessarily fit together very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErKI0zWgjg - [About Very Narrow Listening, Stephen Krashen, Michael Jordan and Jackie Chan](https://theagenworkshop.com/about-very-narrow-listening-stephen-krashen-michael-jordan-and-jackie-chan/) - We all know that magic tricks work because of the magician’s ability to focus our attention elsewhere. My students are focused on filling in the blanks, but actually my goal is to get them to listen to Comprehensible Input attentively and repeatedly. - [Robert's Perspective on the Agen Workshop](https://theagenworkshop.com/roberts-perspective-on-the-agen-workshop/) - "if we are going to consider anything “basic”, let’s consider high-frequency words and phrases as the starting point. There’s a reason they are high frequency: we need them to communicate." - [Shutting the barn door after the horse has run off](https://theagenworkshop.com/shutting-the-barn-door-after-the-horse-has-run-off/) - "A century of research shows that traditional grammar lessons—those hours spent diagramming sentences and memorizing parts of speech—don’t help and may even hinder students’ efforts to become better writers. " - [Who is Sabrina Sebban-Janczak?](https://theagenworkshop.com/who-is-sabrina-sebban-janczak/) - "She models what it means to care about students and the patience required to teach. " - [Martin Anders reports on the Agen Workshop 2016](https://theagenworkshop.com/martin-anders-reports-on-the-agen-workshop-2016/) - At the heart of the conference are the language classes where experienced teachers demonstrate how to do a week of Comprehensible Input. - [Report on the Agen Workshop 2016 - Annemieke](https://theagenworkshop.com/report-on-the-agen-workshop-2016/) - "We sat outside with groups of people we met during the day, sharing meals and drinks, talking about our passion, working with TPRS, laughing, and sometimes getting very personal because these are people you can get close to." - [Language as a living organism](https://theagenworkshop.com/language-as-a-living-organism/) - Language is the lovely, wild flower growing in the forest. - [Interpersonal Communication](https://theagenworkshop.com/interpersonal-communication/) - This poster can be downloaded and used to make your expectations visible in the classroom. - [Diane Neubauer describes the Agen Workshop 2016](https://theagenworkshop.com/diane-neubauer-describes-the-agen-workshop-2016/) - "This is a supportive community of teachers who believe our instruction can change individual lives for the better, resulting in greater changes to societies and the world." - [The day after Bastille Day](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-day-after-bastille-day/) - Injustice is often cleverly disguised as our own privilege. - [What is Readers' Theater?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-is-readers-theater/) - Reader’s Theater is a way of “revisiting” a familiar text that makes it fun and compelling. - [A Hearsay History of TPRS](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-hearsay-history-of-tprs/) - Blaine thought his new students were a little bizarre. They were all squirrels and refused to sit in their chairs. Blaine gave them books, but his students ate the books. He gave them worksheets, but they ate the worksheets. - [Something New, Something Old](https://theagenworkshop.com/something-new-something-old/) - Terry Waltz finds this method quite similar to Cold Character Reading, used with students learning to read Chinese characters. - [How to Ask a Story ... TPRS strategies](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-ask-a-story/) - "Enjoy yourself. Have fun. Laugh at their funny ideas." - [A New Metaphor](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-new-metaphor/) - My friend Christine, who has been studying English with me for several years now. I've explained to her the principles of Comprehensible Input. Today she was explaining to me that she had trained to be an “ergothérapeute”. The word was new to me and I asked her to explain what it meant. She said an - [Which Conference is the Best?](https://theagenworkshop.com/which-conference-is-the-best/) - A traveller arrived at the gate to a large city in the dessert. - [My Trip to Germany](https://theagenworkshop.com/my-trip-to-germany/) - I was struck by the friendliness, the generosity, the helpfulness and the gracious hospitality of the Germans. More than the monuments and architecture, what impressed me were the lively, animated conversations that were being carried on in the cafés and streets and trains. There always seemed to be someone laughing somewhere. I hope to return before long. - [How to stay out of the rut when working on a lonnnnnng film.](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-stay-out-of-the-rut-when-working-on-a-lonnnnnng-film/) - What are ways to keep a entire film interesting to our students, scene after scene after scene? - [Are we fishing for reps the right way?](https://theagenworkshop.com/are-we-fishing-for-reps-the-right-way/) - I often come across interesting articles that I share on the Facebook TPRS Witch page. I am going to start a new category here on the website where I will stock these thought-provoking articles so that they can be easily found. - [Qui sont-ils, les gens de TPRS?](https://theagenworkshop.com/qui-sont-ils-les-gens-de-tprs/) - J'aime les voir dans les cafés et restaurants d'Agen, parlant en anglais et français et parfois en espagnol ou en allemand, si ce n'est pas le bretonne ou le mandarin. Il est merveilleux de voir ces gens passionnés, venant des quatre coins du monde, échangeant leurs idées, leurs expériences, leurs espoirs pour leurs élèves. - [Jigsaw Conversations](https://theagenworkshop.com/jigsaw-conversations/) - It might be a good activity to showcase if you are being inspected by someone who wants to see « communicative activities. » - [How to Teach Writing](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-to-teach-writing/) - "Why didn't I use the sacred red pen? Because student minds retain things that are underlined in red. They retain them .... and reproduce them. Haven't you ever wondered why students keep making the same mistakes over and over? The mistakes that you have been so carefully underlining in red? " - [The Skeleton in the TPRS Closet](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-skeleton-in-the-tprs-closet/) - "It's time to stop thinking of translation as something shameful that we do only when no one is looking." - [My Favorite Ice-Breaker](https://theagenworkshop.com/my-favorite-ice-breaker/) - It’s an ideal CI activity because everything is 100% comprehensible and compelling and repetitive. The original structures are repeated countless times. - [Help!](https://theagenworkshop.com/help/) - “One way to build trust is by employing the 2x10 strategy: spend 2 minutes talking with a student about anything other than school for 10 consecutive days.” Better than Carrots or Sticks, by Smith, Fisher and Frey - [A Different Type of Classroom Management: Restorative Practices](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-different-type-of-classroom-management-restorative-practices/) - "Children who are habitually criticized, humilated, or shamed internalize negative feelings about themselves that hinder their healthy development. By contrast, children accustomed to loving support and guidance are much more likely to become healthy and productive citizens." - [Grading Pronunciation](https://theagenworkshop.com/grading-pronunciation/) - "As for non-native speakers, as long as they are comprehensible, we tend to find their accent charming. " - [Sleuthing in English Class](https://theagenworkshop.com/sleuthing-in-english-class/) - A good qhodunit can give you weeks of excellent lessons with minimum planning. - [Kirstin Plante in the Netherlands speaks out about teacher training](https://theagenworkshop.com/kirstin-plante-in-the-netherlands-speaks-out-about-teacher-training/) - Kids who learn to play soccer, learn many separate skills during the trainings. They also play a lot of games, in order to integrate the separate skills and learn all the complicated integrative skills you need in the interaction with a lot of players and a set of fixed rules. - [Comprehensible Input Strategies for All Teachers](https://theagenworkshop.com/comprehensible-input-strategies-for-all-teachers/) - Six techniques that can be used with all students by teachers who don't consider themselves TPRS teachers. - [On textbook themes](https://theagenworkshop.com/on-textbook-themes/) - "Wow! Today we had a terrific lesson about colors/food/clothing/the weather!" said no kid ever. - [Minecraft, here we come.](https://theagenworkshop.com/minecraft-here-we-come/) - It was compelling comprehensible input. - [Coaching From the Heart by Laurie Clarcq](https://theagenworkshop.com/coaching-from-the-heart-by-laurie-clarcq/) - What Coaching from the Heart is all about. - [How do you flip a TPRS classroom?](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-do-you-flip-a-tprs-classroom/) - "TPRS classes have always been flipped." - [Fluency Writing](https://theagenworkshop.com/fluency-writing-2/) - My students played the game quite honestly, and once they realized that I was more interested in reading what they had to say than in counting spelling mistakes, many of them trusted me by writing very personal and interesting texts. - [Corrections are No Longer Drudgery](https://theagenworkshop.com/corrections-are-no-longer-drudgery-2/) - Writing is output, but when I edit their texts and give them to other students to read, it becomes input. and compelling input at that. - [Twenty minutes to explain TPRS](https://theagenworkshop.com/twenty-minutes-to-explain-tprs/) - When teachers experience the method as students, many deeply rooted beliefs and assumptions are swept away. - [Very Narrow Listening](https://theagenworkshop.com/very-narrow-listening/) - I often feel that we do not devote enough attention to listening, whereas it is obviously an important skill if we are expecting our students to acquire a language through comprehensible input. Perhaps the most important skill of all. - [Feedback from Carly](https://theagenworkshop.com/feedback-from-carly/) - "I would absolutely love to come again and I would definitely recommend this conference to any language teacher interested in exploring TPRS and CI. " - [Why I no longer teach Phonics](https://theagenworkshop.com/why-i-no-longer-teach-phonics/) - Teaching phonics means concentrating on form and it only goes into short term memory , which basically means a lot of time and energy spent on very little gain. As Stephen Krashen says, "There's an easy way and there's a hard way. And the hard way doesn't work." - [Agen Workshop 2015 - My thoughts](https://theagenworkshop.com/agen-workshop-2015-my-thoughts/) - A week ago I was talking to Lillian Stirling and Teri Wiechart about the wonderful workshop that had just ended. Then I took them to the train, came home and went to bed, finally following my doctor’s orders to rest after a week's delay. And that is pretty much all I’ve done or accomplished in - [Testimonials](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonials/) - "a wonderful opportunity for teachers to question their own pedagogical practices, " - [What does Stephen Krashen think of TPRS?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-does-stephen-krashen-think-of-tprs/) - "TPRS maintains the innovations of the methods that went before it, but represents a big increase in interesting input. This is done in two related ways: (1) Stories, co-created by the student and teacher. Everybody in every culture is interested in stories. (2) Personalization. In TPRS, the stories and other class activities are about the people the students care about the most: themselves. " - [Letter to my students](https://theagenworkshop.com/letter-to-my-students/) - Students may have false ideas about how they should study. Here are some explanations to help them acquire fluency in a comprehensible input class. - [Comprehensible Input and the Noble Art of Horse-riding](https://theagenworkshop.com/comprehensible-input-and-the-noble-art-of-horse-riding/) - “In the State of Song there was a man who, worried because his sprouts of grain were not growing fast enough, decided to go out to his field and pull on them. Without any idea of what he’d done, he returned home and announced to his family, ‘I am really exhausted today. I’ve been out in the fields helping the sprouts to grow!’ Alarmed, his sons rushed out to the fields to take a look and saw that all the sprouts had shriveled and died.” - [Fluency Writing](https://theagenworkshop.com/fluency-writing/) - Through my comments I wanted my students to know that I was reading what they wrote, reading it for content, not for grammatical correctness, that I was truly interested in what they had to say. - [Circling](https://theagenworkshop.com/circling/) - Circling can be used by all teachers, with any method, to make their lessons more effective and to help students acquire new vocabulary and new grammatical structures. Susan Gross, a French teacher in Colorado, developed developed the technique into a fine art in order to give her students repetitive comprehensible input while keeping them engaged - [When Mistakes are not Mistakes.](https://theagenworkshop.com/when-mistakes-are-not-mistakes/) - An Englishman in a French restaurant: Serveur! Il y a un mouche dans la soupe! Waiter: C'est une mouche, monsieur. Englishman: Blimey! You've got good eyes. - [Musing after class](https://theagenworkshop.com/musing-after-class/) - I then realized that the "difficult words" that the Americans struggled with were the very words that made the text easy for my students because they were cognates for French speakers. - [Get Out of the Car!](https://theagenworkshop.com/get-out-of-the-car/) - This is a funny story that has been going the rounds on Internet. I used it with a few students and they found it easy to understand and very funny. Humor can be difficult to translate, but everyone seems to like this story. "Get out of" and "get into" are high frequency phrasal verbs and - [L'oral d'anglais au bac](https://theagenworkshop.com/loral-danglais-au-bac/) - "all they need to do is to memorize four questions. The day of the interview they answer the four questions. This gives their presentation structure and a safety net for those moments of panic when their mind goes blank." - [Sabrina and the Beekeeper](https://theagenworkshop.com/sabrina-and-the-beekeeper/) - Last summer Sabrina Sebban-Janczak organized a three day Comprehensible Input Immersion experience in Agen for French teachers from the United States. In the mornings they had class with Sabrina and in the afternoon they visited some French professionals and talked with them about their passions. There was a "chapellier", a horse breeder and ..... a - [The Emperor has no Clothes!](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-emperor-has-no-clothes/) - Who is the Emperor? Go to a typical training course for future language teachers and you will meet him. Pair-work is king and Communicative Activities are the Emperor of all. A clever teacher, we are told, organizes classes so that students teach each other to speak the language. All the teacher has to do is - [You Could Have!](https://theagenworkshop.com/you-could-have/) - My adult French native students have problems with “should have” and “could have”... - [A New Twist on Embedded Readings](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-new-twist-on-embedded-readings/) - I have found Embedded Readings, as developed by Laurie Clarq and Michele Whaley, an excellent way to encourage students to read. The idea, like all great ideas, is quite simple. You make three or more versions of the same text which increase in difficulty. - [The Tiny Little Monkey in Your Brain](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-tiny-little-monkey-in-your-brain/) - I have an adult student who is a beginner in English. She is highly motivated but has tried to learn English before and has never succeeded. She likes working with me and getting comprehensible input... - [Teri's Take on the Agen Workshop 2014](https://theagenworkshop.com/teris-take-on-the-agen-workshop/) - Teri Wiechart, our coach of all coaches, recently sent in this description of the workshop. It might be a good time to remind people that the early bird price of 295 euros ends on March 31st. - [How Much Native Language to Let into the Classroom?](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-much-native-language-to-let-into-the-classroom/) - Ben Slavik recently observed a teacher in Denver who kept her students active and engaged for an entire hour without any use of English (her students’ native language) or any blurting by students. He was impressed and wrote an article about it. One of his suggestions was that we make “No English” a rule for our students. - [Experience??? What is Experience?](https://theagenworkshop.com/experience-what-is-experience/) - Younger teachers often tell me they envy my “experience.” Yet, what does the word really mean? Does it just mean that I’m getting old? What is experience? It has to be more than a mere accumulation of years. It seems to imply a certain wisdom that I have no claim to. - [What Is Wrong with Schools?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-is-wrong-with-schools/) - Yesterday I read a long article by Carol Black that stunned me. In very simple words she explained so many things that I've often felt or sensed. At the same time, much of what she says echoes the findings of Stephen Krashen, Alfie Kohn and the latest cutting edge research in neurolinguistics. - [How Can I Teach Pronunciation?](https://theagenworkshop.com/how-can-i-teach-pronunciation/) - This question was asked recently by a French person who came to the Agen Workshop in July, 2014. She is perfectly bilingual and a creative, hard-working and conscientious teacher of English. She admitted that she didn’t feel comfortable teaching pronunciation. - [My Encounter with Stephen Krashen](https://theagenworkshop.com/my-encounter-with-stephen-krashen/) - This is the third year that I have traveled to Paris for the annual TESOL Colloquium to present TPRS. The other two years I was a speaker and had a small room where I could explain the method to anyone who wanted to come in. - [Cato the Elder and Night Blooming Flowers](https://theagenworkshop.com/cato-the-elder-and-night-blooming-flowers/) - Recently I have been thinking about the difference between comprehensible input classes and other language classes. - [Pictures of Agen](https://theagenworkshop.com/2015-tprs-workshop/) - In a few months, the third TPRS Workshop in Agen will be ready to start. Teri, Sabrina, Tamara, Daniel and I are looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones. - [The Verb Flower](https://theagenworkshop.com/the-verb-flower/) - Some days, if I want to have some fun, I ask my francophone students how many verb tenses there are in English. Their guesses are all over the place, usually somewhere between ten and twenty. And they are guesses; no one is really sure that they know the answer to my question. - [Buttercup the Cat Is Not Black and White](https://theagenworkshop.com/buttercup-the-cat-is-not-black-and-white/) - This is an embedded reading for a passage taken from the first book of Hunger Games. The original version is the fourth text. - [True Confessions](https://theagenworkshop.com/true-confessions/) - Recently on the moretprs list Lance said: “There ARE other methods of teaching in successful language programs that produce fluent speakers. - [TPRS Presentation by the Witch in Agen](https://theagenworkshop.com/teaching-proficiency-through-reading-and-storytelling/) - Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling When I present TPRS I feel a little bit like the witch in Hansel and Gretel. She has this house made out of goodies, candy and sweets and the children start nibbling and it’s really good stuff and before they know it she has them. Except I’m a good - [Présentation de TPRS (en Français)](https://theagenworkshop.com/presentation-de-tprs-en-francais/) - Une explication de TPRS + Un article de presse sur la Conférence Internationale pour Enseignants de Langues à Agen. - [Jargon often used by Comprehensible Input Teachers](https://theagenworkshop.com/tprs-jargon/) - Here you will find a glossary of terms that are often used in TPRS. - [French in Normandy](https://theagenworkshop.com/french-in-normandy/) - I’m just back from a short stay in Normandy where I gave a workshop on Comprehensible Input and TPRS. I discovered a lovely city, Rouen, and a dynamic and impressive school called French in Normandy. - [Odds and ends, bits and pieces...](https://theagenworkshop.com/odds-and-ends-bits-and-pieces/) - I need a new place to put things that don't seem to fit anywhere else. A place that's a bit more personal and quite a bit less organized. And I'll open the dance with this poem by Louise Erdrich. - [Reading List](https://theagenworkshop.com/reading-list/) - We are posting this reading list for those who are coming to the Workshop. You may not have time to read all of them, or even most of them, but if you can, try to read one or two. - [TPRS in Europe in 2014](https://theagenworkshop.com/tprs-in-europe/) - Here are the names of some of the teachers who are using TPRS in Europe. - [It Can Be So Easy!](https://theagenworkshop.com/it-can-be-so-easy/) - We tend to dwell a lot on the difficulties of using TPRS, but Alva, who had never heard of it before last Saturday, went back to her classroom and tried it out, with great results. - [Rachel and Phrasal Verbs](https://theagenworkshop.com/rachel-and-phrasal-verbs/) - In Besançon Teri and I were hosted by Rachel, a lively English girl who gives private English lessons and teaches in a business school. She has given her company the very appropriate name of Smile, since it’s difficult to think of Rachel without seeing her radiant smile. - [What's Wrong with Communicative Activities?](https://theagenworkshop.com/whats-wrong-with-communicative-activities/) - I recently saw a comment on Twitter by someone who wanted to know why they had heard “communicative” used as a derogatory term by TPRS teachers. I remember when I first came across a book of communicative activities and I thought it was wonderful. - [A Day in Grenoble](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-day-in-grenoble/) - Today I'm in Grenoble, a lovely city in the valley of the Isère River overlooked by the majestic, snow-capped chaine de Belledonne. Teri Wiechart and I are the guests of Marie-Pierre Jouannaud, who teaches methods classes at the University of Grenoble. - [When Excellent Is Not Good Enough...](https://theagenworkshop.com/when-excellent-is-not-good-enough/) - Some of my students have reached excellence in their spoken English. They are basically autonomous, able to read novels in English, able to follow dialog in a movie, able to carry on a conversation and express their ideas coherently. Yet they feel frustrated about their ability and insist that they still make mistakes. - [When They Know It and Don't Know They Know It](https://theagenworkshop.com/when-they-know-it-and-dont-know-they-know-it/) - Haiyun teaches Chinese using TPRS and blogs about her experience at tprsforchinese.blogspot.fr. Recently she discussed the fact that sometimes students know more than they think they do. - [TESOL France's 32nd Colloquium Stephen Krashen](https://theagenworkshop.com/tesol-frances-32nd-colloquium-stephen-krashen/) - TPRS grew out of Blaine Ray's desire to make his teaching more effective by applying Stephen Krashen's principles to his everyday class activities. A lot of lip service is given to Krashen's hypotheses in the foreign language community, but how many of the new methods actually apply his principles? - [Reading a Novel](https://theagenworkshop.com/reading-a-novel/) - Once students have acquired enough vocabulary that they can read short texts with ease and pleasure, it's time to start thinking about reading a novel with them. - [A Few Tips From an Old Timer](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-few-tips-from-an-old-timer/) - As we start in on the new school year, the moretprs forum and Ben Slavic’s blog are discussing the issue that never fails to come up at this time of the year (and in November when students and teachers start getting weary, and in March when it seems like spring will never come): the issue of classroom management. - [Ooops! The First Agen Workshop](https://theagenworkshop.com/ooops/) - The workshop was a big success! I had so much fun and met such wonderful people and was so busy keeping everything on track, that I never got around to writing up the adventure as it happened. - [Martin's report on The First Agen Workshop](https://theagenworkshop.com/martins-report/) - One of the participants at the 2013 TPRS workshop, Martin A., wrote up his impressions. - [A Teacher Bares Her Heart](https://theagenworkshop.com/a-teacher-bears-her-heart/) - Maria Cochrane published this moving declaration of love in the Foreign Language Association of Virginia's journal. I was struck by how closely my own experience resembles hers. - [Too Many Mistakes? Too Little Input!](https://theagenworkshop.com/too-many-mistakes-too-little-input/) - Students who are learning English make many mistakes, of course. But one of the most difficult things for them to master is the difference between countable and uncountable nouns and when to use much or many. Even advanced students have problems choosing the right words. - [Impressions From Strasbourg 2013](https://theagenworkshop.com/impressions-from-strasbourg/) - TESOL France held their annual Spring Day in Strasbourg on June 1st. I arrived Friday night in a downpour which continued most of the next day. In spite of the weather, our hosts, Lillian Stirling and Jane Ryder, president of TESOL Strasbourg, were warm, smiling, helpful and gracious throughout. - [What Happened to Bill Gates?](https://theagenworkshop.com/what-happened-to-bill-gates/) - As I explained, my Friday afternoon class is writing a novel. We now have four characters, Vincent Team, Johnny Spider, Jackson Sixteen and James Blonde. - [Corrections Are No Longer Drudgery](https://theagenworkshop.com/corrections-are-no-longer-drudgery/) - I have spent literally years of my life seated on a hard wooden bench in the kitchen correcting papers hour after hour. Whole weekends while the sun was shining and the dog needed walking and the horse needed riding. - [TPRS and Project Based Learning](https://theagenworkshop.com/tprs-and-project-based-learning/) - There are four boys in my Friday afternoon class. We began working together last November and they, their parents and I are very pleased with their progress. We’ve done lots of stories and read stories created by other groups. - [In a Nutshell](https://theagenworkshop.com/in-a-nutshell/) - Why don't they know their irregular verbs? Why do they always drop the -s on third person singular verbs? Why do they confuse “his” and “her”? Why do they never use the vocabulary that they regurgitated for a test? - [When Are Mistakes Not Mistakes?](https://theagenworkshop.com/interesting-questions/) - Basically, one thing that I have learned from horse riding is that it's much more effective to teach a horse how to do something right than to spend time teaching it not to do something wrong. Pointing out mistakes is teaching students not to do something wrong. Giving them correct models is teaching them to do it right. ## Pages - [Welcome](https://theagenworkshop.com/) - Comprehensible Input Methods for Language Acquisition - [Language Laboratories.](https://theagenworkshop.com/language-laboratories/) - Language Labs France - [About us](https://theagenworkshop.com/about-us/) - Comprehensible Input for teachers - [FRIMM Agen 2026: The Ultimate French Immersion Experience](https://theagenworkshop.com/frimm-agen-2026-the-ultimate-french-immersion-experience/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”50px||6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||15px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_text_align=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] French Immersion Course [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”3px||4px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.7″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] We are delighted to announce the 4th Edition of FRIMM Agen (French Immersion - [Discover Agen](https://theagenworkshop.com/discover-agen/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”2060px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https://theagenworkshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Agen-France-Map.jpg” alt=”English French language workshop for teachers Agen France” _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-2px|||||” custom_padding=”||23px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_2_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Discover Agen - [Shop](https://theagenworkshop.com/shop/) - [Contact us](https://theagenworkshop.com/contact-us/) - professional training course for foreign language teachers - [BLOG](https://theagenworkshop.com/blog-2/) - Dr. Stephen Krashen learning method - [FAQ](https://theagenworkshop.com/faq/) - Language Acquisition for teachers ## Testimonials - [Thinking about Agen 2027](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/thinking-about-agen-2027/) - " I've already started thinking about Agen 2027 — I think my plan is basically to keep coming to Agen for the rest of my life. " Ivana Krgovic - Austria - [It brings me joy and gets me excited](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/it-brings-me-joy-and-gets-me-excited/) - "After my first year I kept coming back because it brings me joy and gets me excited for the new school year. The people I have met have inspired me and continue to encourage me in my teaching and learning journey" Maureen McCormick - France - [Really Magical](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/really-magical/) - "Thank you for another magical time in Agen workshop. It is really magical! And addictive. I was burnt out at the beginning of summer from so much work but I feel nourished thanks to the time in Agen!" Sanae Enomoto Jennings Assistant Professor of Japanese Global Languages and Cultures Department East Los Angeles College - [Transformative and uplifting](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/transformative-uplifting/) - "Agen Workshop was indeed a transformative and uplifting experiences not only for me, but for my children as well." Rosalind Lin - Taiwan - [Fantastic Experience](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/fantastic-experience/) - "It was a fantastic experience and I will spread the word about CI and about this workshop. It has changed my life because it has given to me the opportunity to improve as a teacher. Thanks a lot for EVERYTHING ! Specially thanks to Daniel. Breton Lab has been AMAZING !" - [One in a Million](https://theagenworkshop.com/testimonial/one-in-a-million/) - "One million thanks for organizing this amazing conference ! Thank you for offering me this invaluable opportunity to meet so many like-minded educators who seem so happy to return year after year !" ## Products - [Comprehensible Input Methods Course](https://theagenworkshop.com/product/comprehensible-input-methods-course/) - The Early Bird Price of €495 is applicable from Sept 1st 2026 until March 1st 2027 Full price of €645 is applicable from March 1st 2027 Course dates: July 26th -July 31st 2027 Lycée Saint Caprais – Agen 33 hours of Professional Training Morning Language Labs in Spanish, Intermediate French, Advanced French, English, Russian, Dutch, German and Mandarin with debriefings. Afternoon presentations and round tables Afternoon and Evening practice sessions Opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with teachers from Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Canada and the United States. Paying from Europe? For customers in European countries, we prefer payment by bank transfer, which avoids PayPal fees. If you would like to pay by bank transfer, simply contact us before making your payment and we will send you our IBAN and bank details. Bank transfer is a simple and secure way to pay within Europe. - [Language Labs](https://theagenworkshop.com/product/language-labs/) - 26th to 30th July 2027 Lycée Saint Caprais – Agen 8:30am – 11:30am The Agen Workshop is an international professional training course for foreign language teachers. It has been held annually in Agen, France, since 2013. In 2025, over 100 teachers from 24 countries took part. Demonstrating innovative methods with students in language labs is an essential part of the conference. Any student may enrol for 15 hours of language classes given by expert teachers of Mandarin, French , Breton, Spanish, Russian and English. We encourage the younger students to go to the Spanish class. Numbers are limited. Your place is reserved when we receive your registration fee. NOTE: Refunds - Most of our expenses have to be covered before the actual conference takes place. For this reason, we cannot refund payments. If a participant is unable to come, for whatever reason, we will accept them the following year, or even later if necessary. We can also help them to sell their "ticket" to someone else. ## Categories - [Articles from the Net](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/articles-from-the-net/) - [Blog](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/blog/) - [Classroom Strategies](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/) - [Comprehensible Input](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/ci-friendly-methods/) - [Conference](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/conference/) - [Cours d'Anglais](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/cours-danglais/) - [Listening](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/listening/) - [Odds and Ends](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/odds-and-ends/) - [Reading](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/reading/) - [Reflections](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/reflections/) - [Speaking](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/speaking/) - [Writing](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/writing/) - [Classroom Management](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/classroom-strategies/classroom-management/) - [People Slider](https://theagenworkshop.com/category/people-slider/) ## Tags - [ci-sticky](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/ci-sticky/) - [grammar](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/grammar/) - [The Agen Workshop](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/the-agen-workshop/) - [Comprehensible Learning](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/comprehensible-learning/) - [Language Labs](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/language-labs/) - [France](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/france/) - [Agen France](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/agen-france/) - [Language acquisition](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/language-acquisition/) - [European CI Conferences](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/european-ci-conferences/) - [Language learning](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/language-learning/) - [language teachers](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/language-teachers/) - [Dr. Stephen Krashen](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/dr-stephen-krashen/) - [Judith Logsdon-Dubois](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/judith-logsdon-dubois/) - [professional training course for foreign language teachers](https://theagenworkshop.com/tag/professional-training-course-for-foreign-language-teachers/) ## Product categories - [Courses](https://theagenworkshop.com/product-category/courses/)