Our method 

Using theatre techniques in foreign language teaching is not a discovery of modern methodology; school plays and classroom sketches have a long tradition. However, the real possibilities have been thoroughly explored only in recent years, and the drama approach has started to attract more attention from both language teachers and theatre professionals. Learning grammar and vocabulary in context, practising communication in a safe environment, using movement, emotions, senses and creativity, and working towards a presentation for an audience, are activities no longer viewed only as something that occasionally gives variety to the usual in-class work, but rather as independent and regular means of learning that can help students to achieve quick and enormous progress. 

The main advantages of the drama approach  in general:

• Learning by doing (learning happens in action, theory goes hand in hand with practice)

• Learning in meaningful contexts (language is always learned in concrete situations, it is never separated from the context)

• Involving the whole personality (learning happens "on your feet", with active participation of the body, gestures, the mimics, movement, emotions, ideas, opinions; speaking always happens for a reason, just like it does in real life)

• Stepping out of one’s self (identification with a large number of various characters, acting and thinking for them, and making their language one’s own, expands the students’ knowledge and skills by leaps and bounds)

• Stimulating environment (the goal is not only to learn the language, but also to produce enjoyable scenes or plays; the students are therefore used to working on their share of the project responsibly and eagerly, and they definitely have fun doing so)

Act and speak®  

Act and speak® is an original method of teaching foreign languages designed by Bara Dockalova, the founder of our school. It belongs under the umbrella of the drama approach but it has embarked on its own exciting and very specific journey since 2005. It can be described through the following features:

1. Act and speak®  is a method of teaching foreign languages. The main goal is effective language learning and acquisition. Personality, social and esthetic goals are naturally included in the learning process but they are not in the centre of focus.  

2. Act and speak® uses  drama and theatre techniques as the main vehicle to reach its goals because they enable the students to learn through experience.  

3. Students’ active use of the foreign language in unprepared situations is improved through sensitively managed  improvisation activities that are adapted to the language learning purposes, or created specifically for them. 

5. Act and speak uses a specific way of working with the scripts, which enables all students in the group to be equally involved and make progress in all stages of the process, from pre-reading    activities to actual play productions. 

6.  The structure of a lesson/rehearsal is designed in a way that enables each individual to be engaged all the time and make significant progress in his or her four language skills, with a     primary (but not exclusive) focus on speaking.

7. At the end of each course, there is a  public performance that sets a clear and concrete goal for learning.