Many of us nurture a secret desire to have a book published, myself included. In my case, it seemed only a remote possibility, as life continued on its busy, but uneventful way.
Then one fateful day, I was asked to teach three groups of unruly French teenagers who had been creating havoc in the classroom, forcing their teacher to flee in despair - never to return. Having decided to accept this challenge, I felt I needed something to bridge the age gap between them and me.
ENTHUSIASM + ADVERSITY = INSPIRATION
European teenagers seem to have very few common denominators apart from music, sport and video games. With that in mind, I chose music as the ideal medium. The response was wonderful with suggestions, input and (the desired result!) co-operation; I could really communicate with them via certain music!
Do not misunderstand me! It was not the proverbial piece of cake! Those two weeks were fraught with tension! I tentatively tested new ideas, desperately wondering how to make the songs seem worthwhile and varied. I found the students grew bored with just 'fun' exercises, because they really wanted to work; unfortunately, the constant desire to impress their peers by disrupting serious lessons took precedence. Therefore, the lessons had to be fun and worthwhile. A tall order, but not impossible, as I was to discover!
Unbeknown to me, the difficulties of those two weeks were to influence my life forever. The students went home, so I breathed a sigh of relief and life returned to normal, or so I thought. Within a short time, however, new ideas for songs suddenly came to me, then more and more. I was brimming with ideas, unable to put pen to paper quickly enough.
ASPIRATION + REJECTION = DETERMINATION
I tested the song-based lessons at every opportunity, making alterations where necessary. Then, scarcely daring to breathe for excitement, I sent a rationale and samples to four publishers, one after another, but received no joy from any of them! Copyright problems were cited, amongst other things, but I had such faith in my ideas and the inspiration they could give to colleagues, I was not going to be deterred. Commercial songs are used in classes worldwide, but often only as light relief in the form of a fun listening exercise. My ideas went beyond that point to develop a theme, or provide relevant grammatical practice.
INITIATIVE + ENTERPRISE = DILIGENCE
The only avenue left open to me was either to admit defeat or to market the lessons personally; I opted for the latter and negotiated a copyright licence with the copyright holders of the songs I wanted to use. This involved long delays mainly for three reasons, one simply being that the copyright holders were renegotiating their own licence and I had to wait until this was completed; added to this was the fact that there was a backlog of requests for copyright licences and I had to wait my turn. The biggest problem, however, was that my request was unique; special permission had to be obtained, because the lessons would be sold with photocopying rights and a decision had to be taken as to the amount of royalties my newly-formed company: Musical English Lessons International was to be charged per lesson yet ensuring they were still an economically-viable proposition.
EFFORT + PERSEVERANCE = SUCCESS
Musical English Lessons International was officially launched on 18th January, 1993, with assistance from The Enterprise Agency of East Kent, to become an intrepid little pioneer, forced by the big-name publishers, who currently monopolise the
world of English Language Teaching, to struggle across national and international territory
- as yet uncharted for the individual.
Although initially formed to sell song-based lessons, it was soon clear that, as the proprietor of Musical English Lessons International, I was also in the unique position of being able to inspire other teachers to follow a similar route, either individually or collectively.
With this in mind, I gave serious consideration to the problems which I had had to overcome before reaching this point. For me, these problems had provided challenging moments which I had relished, but which would perhaps deter other would-be TEFL/TESL entrepreneurs. A trial and error approach does not suit everyone, yet for me it proved interesting, valuable and exciting.
I mentally prepared myself for any eventuality - success or failure, having decided that the money which I was investing, was buying me practical business experience. I decided to invest £1,OOO. to test the viability of such a unique business.
There are, of course, many pitfalls to avoid and at first I was not sure-footed enough to pass them by. Little mistakes can become expensive, time-consuming ones which quickly eat away at a budget, enthusiasm and energy.
The concept of selling lessons individually is very new; however, amongst us all there lies a wealth of pedagogic expertise, as yet concealed, but just waiting to be tapped.
Understandably, not every aspiring author has the time or inclination to provide enough material in bulk for a text book; nevertheless, many tutors and senior administrators must be brimming with ideas and expertise (pedagogic and/or administrative) which could be imparted to busy colleagues and/or newcomers to the ESL/EFL profession. In the past, some of this knowledge has already been gathered and collated for
course-books, or magazine articles; however, many other tutors are denying themselves the pleasure and financial rewards which could be gained, by selling their expertise to an expanding and hungry market.
Having chosen a businessman's dream (ie: a unique business within an expanding market), competition is not a problem; however, the real difficulty lies in extensive and expensive advertising on a national and international scale, just to introduce the company and its ideas to potential customers. Fortunately, a cash-with-order policy reduces the possibility of cash-flow problems, allowing profits to be ploughed back into the business to ensure its survival and expansion. Postage costs are kept to a minimum by requesting a large SAE, or coupon reponse international, with all enquiries.
Britain's future role in the world marketplace will be to provide service and expertise, in preference to products. Some tutors already do this by teaching abroad, but others have yet to discover the opportunities which await those willing to follow the trail currently being blazed through the commercial world by Musical English Lessons International.
For many, such a prospect might appear daunting and rightly so. If no assistance were available, you would do well to be cautious. The business world can be a thorny proposition for those clad only in enthusiasm and hope. However, practical advice and aid are on hand, for both the fearless and the fearful.
THE END
Copyright 2001, Musical English Lessons
International. All rights reserved.
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