THE DIRECT METHOD

I think that the direct method is the best if our goal is to teach students to comunicate.

I really like it because you can do a lot of activities which develop reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. The class become funny if the teacher is creative and students are always busy during the class. 

This method is based on the idea that second language learning must be an imitation of first language learning, as this is the natural way humans learn any language. According to the principles the student`s native language cannot be used in the class. Which is important because the students get used to listening to the target language. In this way they are learning grammar structures, pronunciation, etc. But as we know there are some people who have a different learning style and maybe this method wouldn`t be effective for them. 

The direct method has a basic rule: no translation is allowed. The teacher is supposed to demonstrate the meaning of the things but he/she should never translate. The only problem that I see is that not all the teachers are good at demonstrating and not all the students are good at understanding in the way the teacher explains certain things; so in my point of view sometimes it would be a waste of time trying to demonstrate something rather than just say the meaning in the learner`s native language.

As we know this method teaches grammar inductively, it means that explicit grammar rules are not given to the students. This is nice for people who hates Grammar but there are some others that understand better by reading the explanation in grammar rules.

So I would apply this method in my classes but I wouldn`t respect every single principle, because if I see that there are some students that really don`t understand in this way I would use their native language to be more understandable, of course, not everyday, not in all cases. but there are always exceptions.

SUGGESTOPEDIA

This method sound nice! but in another culture, in another country, with other people, etc. 

It would be very difficult to apply this method specially with teenagers. As we know suggestopedia method is about singing, playing musical intruments, playing games, to be in a very confortable environment, listening to classical music, etc. We know that teenagers in our country tend to be rebel and they hate classical music, some of them hate games because they feel like adults and they don`t want to seem as little children. Therefore, I think that suggestopedia wouldn`t be a good method if we work with teenagers in our culture.

Besides, the suggestopedia method is based on the idea that the teacher has to prepare a lot of material for every class. For example, posters, charts, figures, etc. It means that the teacher will have a lot of work to do before every single class. It doesn`t benefit the teahcer because in our country teachers are not well paid as they should be. Also the teacher has to have the skill of drawing well and quickly. If the teachers don`t have this skill they won`t have time neither to themselves nor to their family. Also teachers have to have the skill of paying some musical instruments and it is very difficult to find people who have learnt to do it. Specially teachers.

If we applied this method with adults they would feel so much confortable and they could fall asleep. 

The environment at schools in our country is not confortable and the goverment do nothing to improve it. So that I see impossible to apply this method in its totality.

I would like to apply the activity of singing with my students once in a while just to get relaxed and learn some vocabulary, and I would play games if worked with children.

SILENT WAY

Actually I don`t like this method! I think that it is not useful at all.

It is supposed that the teacher speaks as less as possible. And the students do everithing in the class. At the end of the class the teacher and the students talk about how they feel realted to the class they have just finished and they use the learner`s native language during the class and after the class. It is supposed that when teachers apply this methods students develop their perception because they are like guessing what the teacher needs or wants them to do.

I consider myself as an specific person, I like to be clear since the beginning of whatever, so i think that if I am going to be a teacher; i will be very specific with my students since I start my class and I would like them to understand me as soon as possible, so that i wouldn`t like to apply the Silent Way method. 

The good part of this is that students are busy in the class because they do almost everything, the teacher is the guide. And that is great!

But there is something that I don`t like and it is that the class is given in the student`s native language. It doesn`t help them to get familiar with the target language. As I see this point, the silent way method is not effective if our goal is to develop student`s speaking and listening skills.

As a conclusion I say that the direct method is the best of these three we have been studying; and it`s the easiest to apply if we take into account our country, our culture and the facilities that the goverment provides to the educational area. I think the direct method is the most effective and we can apply it to all the levels and ages of our students.