About English Fast With Phonics
Click HereMerrilyn Drummond
English Fast with Phonics is a programme designed by Merrilyn Drummond Communications. Merrilyn Drummond is a highly trained educator who provides training for teachers, schools, students, families and students of English as an additional language.
“Teaching has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Having my mother as my kindergarten teacher, you could say, ‘teaching is in my blood’. After completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney (USYD) and a Diploma in Education from the University of New England (UNE), my teaching career began in 1995. Today, with over 30 years of experience as a registered teacher in both Australia and New Zealand, I have taught most subject areas across all school year levels from Prep to Year 12.
During my studies, Linguistics captured my attention. Raising my three children and watching them acquire and develop language was intriguing. And again, with English as my first and only language, when I began learning to speak, read and write Italian I realised how difficult it was to learn another language. My struggles were similar to those of my children when they first learnt to speak and read English. As my interest in other cultures and languages continued to grow, I took the opportunities to teach in the Torres Straits and later to teach aboriginal students from the communities. These students often had English as a second or third language. Again, this reinforced how difficult it is to learn another language, so I began to develop tools to support the teaching of English”.
Professional Development And Phonics Training
Language Studies
“It was while teaching Italian – a phonetic language – my interest in the complexities of the English language developed further when I realised English too had phonetic patterns. This opened-up a world of decoding. As a child, I struggled with spelling and reading. I now know that had I been taught phonics, I would have been able to identify – recognise – and know the segments of sounds of English, as represented by letters and letter combinations.
Over years of working with children in Australia and New Zealand, I developed English Fast with Phonics“.
Phonics is essential to spelling, reading, writing and comprehension.
Qualifications:
Bachelor of Arts – University of Sydney (USYD)
Diploma in Education – University of New England (UNE)
Cert IV in Training and Assessment
- Teaching English as a Second Language
- Childhood and Adolescence
- Secondary Education
- Geography
- Italian
- Philosophy
- Religious Studies
- Anthropology
- Comparative Education