What an amazing course! I feel very positive about this programme and can’t wait to actually apply it. The resources are wonderful to use – child appropriate. Laola Altschul not only presented the course/programme, but provided us with various possible activities using the THRASS resources, as well as additional resources. Thank you for this opportunity.

A worthwhile course indeed! It revolutionises the teaching of phonics by ensuring a sound relationship between phonemes and graphemes. The spelling of English, which is a nightmare to learners, is catered for right from the beginning. Thanks for a wonderful workshop.

Really worth it and I have learnt a lot. Teaching children who know nothing about English was like a mountain in front of me, but now it makes sense. Especially the charts are going to be helpful.

I truly learned a lot about English and how to teach and implement it practically in my classroom. By completing this I now feel more confident about teaching English as a first or second language.

I found that this workshop has taught me more about English as a language than 12 years of school did. It is very useful, not just for my personal gain, but also for my future in teaching. I will definitely use this programme in my own classroom when I have one next year. I’m very happy that I decided to attend and will recommend it to every teacher. Thank you.

What a wonderful idea! As a teaching student, one of my subjects is English and with all the knowledge, I still did not know how to teach it to learners. But now I know and it will even fill in blank spots along the way. Thank you so much. I have really learnt so much and it gave me the ability to be the best teacher that I can be.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course – I would have liked to have done it as a module during my studies. I definitely learnt a lot and can’t wait to put it into practice! Laola was a brilliant speaker and representative for THRASS. THRASS is an awesome programme, extremely well thought through and user friendly. Thank you for bringing this to my attention – not only have I been enlightened, but I cannot wait to enlighten the children that will pass through my classroom one day.

I really enjoyed the course very much. It helped me to understand that you can’t really teach children the English language if you don’t know how to link phonemes and graphemes with keywords. THRASS will open doors for you, especially if English is not your mother tongue. I liked the idea of the consonant and vowel chart and also the rap. It helps you with spelling, reading and also the correct pronunciation of words. Thanks for the opportunity. It was a lot of fun!

This course was very interesting and well presented. We covered a lot of work that will be beneficial for our future teaching career. I found the information and media of THRASS to be colourful, fun, interesting and worthwhile to use and have for my class. I learnt a lot of new knowledge and information that I did not know before. This course also opened my eyes on how to teach phonetics as well as other aspects in teaching. The lecturer was well prepared, informed and very knowledgeable and made it fun. There was a lot of interaction and involvement in the course in which we had to participate. This made it easier to remember and learn. Overall it was a worthwhile course to take for the future of other learners’ education and development of language.

The course was very, very good and interesting. It was well presented and gave me new insights. I think more schools should implement THRASS. It will be helpful to teach children whose first language isn’t English because they can link the sounds to the pictures. Thank you so much for giving us this course.

I think this is a wonderful course. I’ve learnt so much and the most important thing that I’ve learnt is how to teach children. We have never had a course that taught you as a teacher exactly how to teach the children something in a new and fun way. The THRASS programme is a way you could involve all learners in a positive manner. It is also an excellent programme to have in your own home for your own children.

It was excellent! I enjoyed it immensely. I have learnt a lot and am looking forward to teaching it. It opened a door and great understanding as to how to teach English Second language from scratch. The facilitator did a great job in fitting it all into 2 days. Her enthusiasm is contagious! Thank you for equipping me with a workable method that will not bore my learners – it was great fun!

It was a great course, full of new information which will be useful in the near future. I like all the media and the lecturer presented it in an interesting manner.

I found that the course will be of extreme value to me when I implement it in my classroom. I found it both interesting and educational. Alan Davies really came up with a brilliant concept which will benefit all teachers teaching the English language.

I found this course to be extremely interesting and worthwhile. I feel this is an excellent method to teach learners phonics (handwriting, reading and spelling skills). THRASS is a motivational programme for us teachers and especially learners, as it is learnt through a fun and playful was, using all the interesting teaching resources and materials. Learners will begin to understand the fundamental essence of how the English language is structured and will understand why there are so many sounds attached to one specific letter – something that was omitted in the past. I feel more confident to teach phonics to learners now, thanks to THRASS. I will definitely be incorporating this method in the future.

This course was very useful for future references when teaching one day. It was very well presented, but I would have liked it to be presented over a longer period – not just 2 days. A lot of information is given and when you go out to practise, it’s good to know everything without a hesitation.

This was a meaningful learning experience. The material is very nice and useable. I enjoyed it very much and this has improved my English. Thank you very much!

I really enjoyed this 2 day course. It has been extremely informative. I have learnt a lot about the importance of phonics. It has been a wonderful experience to be part of. I have learnt a lot about the proper pronunciation of words and can’t wait to share my knowledge in a class environment. Thank you so much for taking the time to bring us this great experience.

This has been a most informative two days. You have provided us with very valuable tools and resources that will be of great value in our future careers. I look forward to reading the manual and visiting the web-site, and one day using this in my classroom. Thank you for a challenging and interesting day.

It was nice to learn something new – a new method of teaching learners. I personally learnt a lot. I am excited about trying this programme with learners. It’s strange that nobody thought of this before. Thank you.

This course has been of great interest to me. It shows a different and effective way of helping learners with phonics and in education. It has been very informative and has been a great experience to be part of. I am looking forward to reading through the manual to gain a better understanding on how exactly to teach THRASS to our learners. Thank you very much. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a very interesting and valuable course. The information was extremely thorough. Thanks for this opportunity. We would’ve liked to be able to buy some of the media from the presenter while the course was in progress.

This is a much better alternative to the old 26 letters + sounds that we were taught at school. It’ll open doors for reading and spelling and should be implemented as early as possible.

The facilitator was well prepared. I enjoyed the crash course in THRASS. The only thing that got to me was the time, but I understand why this was done in two days. Thank you for making my job easier in teaching learners to read, spell and write.

I found some aspects of this course interesting. However, it is different methods from what we have been taught the last 3 years and will require a major shift in focus. I think THRASS can be beneficial in classrooms around S.A. if teachers are prepared to be trained in it.

The course for me was really interesting and I did enjoy it. Though there are parts that I struggled to understand and agree with. All in all, I think that the course has benefited me and will help me in the future and in the classroom with me teaching the learners. I really enjoyed the lady presenting the course - she was brilliant and explained everything so well. She let me enjoy the course and made it easy to learn the work she presented. All in all, it was beneficial to me and my career.

This course has been very interesting and informative. It has opened my eyes on ways to teach in the classroom. I found it very enjoyable and fun way to learn. I am sure the learners in my class (one day) will enjoy it too. The manual is in a very readable format and extremely easy to understand. The presentation and course was excellent. I’m glad that I could participate and learn from this course, and I know that I will use it in my classroom one day.

I found the course very exciting and I can’t wait to go out there and implement everything I have learned. I do realise however that it was quite a lot of information to absorb in 2 days time and that I will have to go and recap everything on my own again. As an Afrikaans speaking person who gives extra reading classes in the afternoons I now feel confident to help English speaking learners as well as Second language English learners too. Thank you for a great programme!

I enjoyed the course very much. I learnt a lot. All the classes I will be teaching will be much more fun and easier to teach. Now I know how to teach English spelling and words to children.

The course was extremely interesting and quite an eye opener. It showed me a whole new way of going about teaching phonics and it was wonderful because it was so different to how I was taught or even thought of teaching. I also didn’t realise just how much and how important the information is, but it is extremely exciting. I would love to start practising how one would start the programme. My own concern is that, because it goes on through the grades, the whole school should possibly follow this means. But I enjoyed it and learnt a lot myself, had fun participating.

The course was very well presented. Laola is very professional. The course content is well researched and very informative. I think that the THRASS approach could work very well with children. The course was easy to grasp but I think too much information is put into two days!

I have found THRASS to be a very dynamic and useful methodology. The presentation itself was very good and Laola open to questions. I think that THRASS is something that can be implemented in South African schools, but I do wonder how disadvantaged schools can afford the training and the all the material. I also feel that training in these schools may be difficult because the teachers themselves may need help and ongoing training and evaluation in order to be efficient as facilitators.

This course was very interesting and different. I have learnt a lot using the THRASS method of teaching literacy. As a student I personally battle with literacy and spelling. I think that this method will help the learners in the classroom, but also me as a teacher. The ways we were exposed to the CD rap made it fun and my experience of learning more fulfilling.

Now I know how to go teach THRASS lessons. Without the presentation I wouldn’t have known what to do. There is a lot of information I can now use in the book.

I thought it was a very well presented workshop. And I definitely did learn a lot. At least now I have an idea as to how to teach phonics in the classroom. I am definitely going to use the THRASS approach. It is also a very well developed system that I think will work in most schools. Thank you! I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

I found the course very valuable and informative. It is something I will be able to use confidently and completely independently (after a little practise) to teach young learners in the Foundation Phase how to make learning to read easy and lots of fun. The presenter of this course was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable on the contents of THRASS teaching. I had an enjoyable time and gained lots on new, fun, interesting, challenging ideas – Thank you to all involved.

This course was extremely informative and very practically presented. I learnt a lot about spelling and pronunciation of words. It is a great privilege for me to have been part of THRASS for the 2 days. Thank you for all the information and clever ideas.

A very nice course. It is interesting to see how many words there are and how to use one sound for many words. It is a very nice way of teaching English and hope that all the schools can do it like the THRASS way. I also think the course was too short and must be a week, not 2 days.

The workshop exposed a different perspective in terms of the alphabet/vocabulary/spelling. The THRASS system is (in some aspects) similar to the old one (remembering rhymes, formation and words), but in practice, where most schools don’t have computers and where there are many accents, I’m not sure is it is suitable. I shall definitely utilise the THRASS charts in class and observe the learners’ pronunciation. Good presentation.

THRASS was different to other courses we have done to teach children how to read and write. I think for the younger learners, it will be very exciting as they will be learning through play games, raps, computer games. At the moment the old way is still being used, but maybe when THRASS gets into S.A.’s school system, it will be more relevant to us. Bur overall it was a great experience and it was wonderful to learn about THRASS.

The course was very well organised, but I think that it will almost be impossible to apply it in a school which doesn’t use the THRASS method. What I would’ve liked to know is how is how I can use it in an isolated classroom, where the next grades don’t have to work with the programme, without confusing the children.

This course was very helpful. Now I can teach English the right way to the learners and they can learn successfully. Thank you – It was fun.

I found this course extremely informative. I know that I would use it next year. Thank you.

THRASS is a very interesting course to attend. I learnt a lot about phonics and never knew that there were so many things to learn. This course has helped me find ways of teaching children in an easier way. I now also know how to go about teaching. Our lecturers have not taught us this, so I thank you very much for this wonderful experience.

This course made me excited to go out to the schools and put what I learned into practice. The fact that a child learns through pictures, actions, visual and auditory makes it easier for the child to learn. Children enjoy learning and will work together. I also like the levels and the way the course was presented.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was very well organised and presented in a very a very formal and constructive manner, although we were allowed to ask questions whenever we felt we needed to. The guest speaker who presented the course was very friendly and spoke loudly and clearly and explained herself very well. I feel that this is a wonderful course to do and I am excited to use this information as well as gain much more in the future during my teaching. Thank you.

I found this workshop very interesting. The fact that this can be applied to any material is fabulous and it really does go into depth as far as sounding, spelling and writing out a word is concerned. I would be interested in receiving much more information and will use the e-mail address to retrieve the necessary information.

The prospect of implementing THRASS in local schools is extremely exciting and eye-opening. To manage getting children to use their highest cognitive level would be incredible. There are, however, one or two aspects that I personally disagree with. All in all, I gained a lot of knowledge and found the course and subject matter very interesting. Thank you.

I really enjoyed the course and learnt a lot. The only thing I didn’t like was that all the words are written in the wrong font. South African schools all have the same policy about the font that should be used in the foundation phase. But otherwise, it was really useful. Thank you.

very different way of teaching! Understanding of phonics is clearer now – would love to implement it in my school, although I feel that, like you said, THRASS is a whole school programme (a group effort) and would be difficult to implement in only 1 class – but if it wouldn’t be possible, I would definitely try to incorporate it in my way of teaching.

I think this course was very helpful to know how to teach children to write read and spell English words. I enjoyed the raps and will use it in my class one day.

I will use this information in my school and for my own children one day. I hope that all schools will make use of THRASS.

Thank you for a wonderful course. It was only a little bit long.

This has been a fun, energetic, informative and enriching two day course. I have learnt a lot on how to use the THRASS programme. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be able to attend the course and being able to use further materials that are available to us via e-mail etc. We, as a class, will definitely be able to use this as a teaching aid for teaching handwriting, reading and spelling.

I wish someone would have told me this when I started to learn English. It would have made such a difference. I would actually like an idea like this one in learning other languages. It was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to start using it in my own classroom some day. I really got angry with the people trying to find something wrong with it. I believe that all programmes aren’t perfect, but this is one of the best I’ve seen.

It was interesting to see how one can teach children to read, spell and write using a new method. I enjoyed it and believe that my learners and I will gain a lot by using it.

It was very interesting to learn to learn this new method. I will admit I’m not 100% familiar with it yet, but I do plan to go through the handbook step by step. The little rhymes were very entertaining and the children love this type of sing-song activity. I am a little confused about the grade 1 font we learn and the font THRASS uses, but we need to see what the school in question uses. Thank you for sharing this with us – I’m talking about the ideal of teaching them the right way from the beginning. If we use this method, I am sure that students will not struggle with language in their high school years. I look forward to putting it into practice. Anything new is a challenge, but I’m up for it!

I found this course extremely informative and useful.

Thank you for the course. It was fun!

Interesting course – just a bit too much information to squash into 2 days. The university should consider buying the THRASS materials and to offer THRASS as a literacy module. THRASS is a good system – maybe one should consider transforming/translating it for other languages - main languages spoken around the world e.g. French, German, Spanish etc. Interesting teaching resources. Course was presented in an interesting way.

The course was very useful to me and I think I will use it every day from now on. Thank you for the time you put in to introduce THRASS to us.

THRASS has opened new doors and thinking ways for me. I am positive that THRASS will help me as well as my future students to learn about language and the way we use or should use it. Thank you for giving me this experience to be able to use it in the future. THRASS will enable me as well as my students to use language the way we pronounce the words and spell them. Thank you.

I learnt some interesting information about phonics and how to introduce the learners to it. I felt that it might not all be relevant to us, as it depends on whether or not the schools we teach at will use this system. I’m glad I had the opportunity to have contact with THRASS.

The THRASS workshop was very interesting. There are so many pointers that can be used in the classroom and they can produce great results. It was a very knowledgeable workshop and it needs to be taken by as many teachers as possible, especially in South Africa. Thank you for the wonderful information and taking time to come out and present this lecture to us!

Informative. Got some really nice ideas as to how to approach teaching young learners words with different spellings but same sounds and visa versa.

This course was intensely informative and provided all the necessary knowledge required in order to implement THRASS. The resources are clear and colourful as well as user friendly.

The course was very enlightening. I enjoyed the fresh look at teaching phonics and have no doubt in my mind that it will work in my classroom. The only thing is I want to order products/charts etc. but either cannot afford the pounds or afford to have it sent to S.A. If the products were available at the course, it would be much better.

This course could be of great help to all facilitators, so I think it would be great if this course could be implemented into the university structure as a full-time module. There was a lot of information to absorb and maybe the course could be structured in such as way that it’s less work on the day, over a longer period of time. Well planned!

It was excellent! This course was absolutely great! Never had so much fun at any other course. I’m glad I attended this course and I’m positive to go into a school and start my English teaching. I enjoyed every moment. And all the info is very useful. Thanks a lot. You did us a favour!

Thank you. I learnt a lot and never knew about a graph, digraph and trigraph. I experienced that without sounds, we can’t make words! The time allocated for the course was very limited, but it’s understandable. I gained a lot of ideas for future usage. I realised again, the importance of locating, articulating and pronouncing words and sounds clearly.

The course was very interesting and educational. I would really like to use this in my teaching, as I’ve come to realise this is a fun way of bringing phonics across to children and children learn more when it’s entertaining with real experiences, which I believe this programme brings across and offers. Thank you. I enjoyed the course.

Very enjoyable. It was quite intense doing it over two days. I would recommend that sometime in the future, it should be introduced to the university as a full-time module. I would encourage this because although there is a lot to learn and remember, it will most certainly be of great use in the classroom. THRASS is an excellent programme and should definitely be introduced to everyone. Laola was an excellent representative for THRASS. She showed a lot of enthusiasm for the programme and swears by it. THRASS seems like it would not become monotonous in the class but will be enjoyed by the teacher and learners. The book given was also excellent and very easy to go through and understand.

Good course! THRASS picturechart is a wonderful resource I will certainly use a lot. Would be nice if the rest of the resources are available for purchase in RSA.

I must say that this is one course worth attending. As a student, I have been taught the facts about phonics, reading and writing, but not on HOW to actually do it. This method is useful for both teachers and learners and I now know that I can use it when I start teaching. What I am looking forward to is using it to teach deaf children. I never knew I could teach them something so basic in a fun way. Thank you for such a great course.

I found this useful to integrate into our literacy programme. I think it could probably be used alongside any other programme a school may have. I would have enjoyed watching how this could have been taught.

THRASS is really an excellent idea, but I would like to learn how to implement the knowledge in my classroom. Some of the stages are really interesting, but I still don’t know how to teach a class of 30 students with this method. I would rather use this in small groups because this takes a lot of one-to-one work with a child. But I really learnt a lot and the resources will be extremely useful. We would like to be able to buy this in S.A. Thank you very much.

Fantastic. It actually makes sense and I’m glad to have been able to do a "crash" course. It’s great how children can get involved in learning skills perfectly in OBE. Thanks for a great experience.

This course was very helpful but very confusing. It will take a lot of time to figure it out and also how to teach learners this method. I think, however, this is possible, but this could only be an effective method if all the schools in S.A. use it, especially in the foundation phase. I also think that it will be very difficult and confusing for young learners to remember all of the different words like phonemes etc. It will be especially difficult for Second Language learners and I don’t see the point in teaching terminology to children. Just teach them how to group words like teach – t – ea – ch. Overall I think this was a great concept.

The course was very interesting. I learnt a lot and I’m much more comfortable in teaching English as a second language. This course is a must for every teacher. The course should be implemented in all schools! Every aspect of this course was great fun. I learned a lot more of the English language, as it is my third language.

Very good. A new perspective. A new way of thinking. Wish I learned this way. Need the CD! I’ll start with my own pronunciation today. Laola is a very good presenter.

THRASS has had an impact on me on how to teach one day, even if it is not used in the school. It has taught me new words like phoneme, grapheme etc. and that learners can learn far better from picture location and it makes learning fun and interesting for learners and for me as an educator. It has shown me that stages have to be followed to develop the learners’ language (handwriting, reading and spelling skills). This was worthwhile to be shown a new way of teaching!

To me this course was really excellent! I didn’t ever think English could get so much fun! I enjoyed myself especially the raps! At first I did not understand what THRASS was about, but after Laola did an overview, I was on track with THRASS! Laola is a wonderful person, always friendly and willing to help you till you understand. This course can do wonders for children when implemented into the curriculum! The people who developed this course did a great job.

What I have learned during these two days was very valuable. At first it was very confusing, but later on the light started to go on. She started explaining the stages of THRASS and then explained each stage in depth. All of these stages had an aim and an outcome and that from the beginning was a very clear. The more we worked on the THRASS picture chart the more we have understood it. The chants and raps really helped with the learning of the chart. The phoneme, grapheme etc. names was like the Greek language, but after doing it for a while the definitions and meanings was clear. This course is definitely a benefit for every young and old learner!

Fantastic! Keep up the good work!

I think THRASS is a good course. It will help all children to grasp the basics of English. It is also a good starting point to begin teaching English. This was really a nice two days. I got a lot of ideas and information to use when teaching. Just one comment is that I think some of it is too difficult for the smaller children and that there is too much focus on the 120 words on the chart.

This is a brilliant way to teach English and I can’t wait to use it in the classroom! Laola is also a very good and dedicated person and her belief is very contagious. The only criticism I have is that the picture chart is copyright. Thank you for the enrichment!

It was excellent, fantastic. I wish it could go to other schools so every teacher is empowered. Our school is blessed because this is the fourth programme that we will be implementing. Fortunately they complement each other. These are SMILE, BRIDGE and READ.

This course was really interesting, but it will be difficult to implement it in a school because everybody does not use it. I am going back to my hometown in a rural area and am absolutely sure that they don’t even know about it. It would be great if everyone in South Africa could know about this. I absolutely loved Laola. She is brilliant and she made me feel a lot more enthusiasm than I thought I would.

Whew, it was great. I learnt so much. I really feel this will help learners read, write and spell, the right way. Laola is a great facilitator. I concentrated and absorbed all the information all the time, which can be a challenge at other lectures/workshops. I feel excited and can’t wait to teach THRASS. The learners are going to have so much learning how to read, write and spell.

I would have enjoyed a more in-depth course, but the two days have given me so much to think about. I see great potential for implementing the course but will withhold my final opinion until I have practically used these principles. Thank you.

Great paradigm shift! Loved the way the child is interactive in the learning process. Learning and spelling, reading, writing is done in a fun-filled setting! Should be called THRASS Five Star teaching, handwriting, reading and spelling skills. Wonderful contribution to my professional development!

THRASS course was confusing at first but as we went on I understood what was going on. It taught me that one can educate learners’ language (handwriting, reading, and spelling skills) I liked stage one Picture Location as learners could see the picture and locate it to a word. I learnt a lot of new words for example phoneme, grapheme, graph, digraph, trigraph. This was definitely worthwhile!

I enjoyed the course very much. I have been exposed to many different methods. Today you have answered all the questions I have had. You have filled in all the gaps in my teaching. THRASS is very interesting and it is relevant to our children. The material is good and user friendly. Laola as a facilitator, is excellent. She has delivered the course in such a way that you feel like going to class immediately. The course was well presented and fruitful. Thank you very much for the information.

The course gave me great insight into the English language, but I never realised until now how complicated the English language can be. I enjoyed it very much and Laola is a very good teacher. It would have been very nice if we had the opportunity to have more practise in applying THRASS. It is very intense and I think it might have been easier if the course was over a longer period of time. I hope I will be able to do it in my class one day. Thank you for the course!

I found the course very interesting! The practical way of teaching English does not only improve the student’s vocabulary but also the teacher’s. I am looking forward to using THRASS as a teaching technique in my classroom next year. It is a fun, practical and yet challenging (stimulating) way to teach English. Thank you for designing such a wonderful course!

The course was interesting and a lot of things will be useful in practise. I would use this as a guideline, but will not follow it as a bible. I will make it more applicable to the South African context - e.g. tin and rocket we pronounce differently. I would have liked to learn more about how to teach the learners. Our presenter was very enthusiastic about the course. I think it could have been presented in a shorter time period.

I believe there are many aspects of the course that would be very valuable to learners all over the world especially linking different spelling choices to one phoneme. It really helps with pronunciation. I do feel that parts of it were confusing, for example if a young child were to go home and write an essay and he/she wanted to spell a specific word, he would be able to sound it and find the sound box he needs, but choosing the correct spelling choice would be difficult. He would not understand why, for example, he cannot spell hedge as hege because it still sounds the same. Thank you. The course was very helpful in some aspects.

This course was interesting and I learnt a lot. As an Afrikaans teacher I will certainly use this to each first additional language. I am not certain how I will be able to implement THRASS in a school that does not support it. It would be nice if the resources were readily available in South Africa.

I found the course very informative and will be able to use THRASS for the rest of the year.

The course was very interesting. I have learned a lot during the two days. The course covers many things I have wondered about (teaching the alphabet to learners in English.) I am now more confident about teaching English and I am sure I will apply what I have learned in the future!

If the whole school doesn’t use THRASS, I won’t really be able to use it in my class).

It was a great experience for me! I have learned a lot and will apply everything in my class one day! It was worth while attending the course.

It was very interesting. The course covered every aspect I wanted to know. It was very "hands on" so we could be interacting with the course leader.

It was an interesting course. It actually gave me insight in teaching language. It seems to be a very "do-able" course to present to the children. It is also great for any age, because it shows how we can learn English as our second language. Even if we don’t do THRASS in the class we can implement it every day. Great ideas!

As a post graduate student with no experience in teaching I found it very informative. I will definitely be using the materials in my class. I wish a similar program was available in Afrikaans. The lecturer was enthusiastic and entertaining in an informative way. Thank you very much!

I loved the course and I know that I have learned a lot even though it was only two days. I found it difficult in a way because some of the stuff we learnt differently from THRASS. I do think that it must be compulsory for all teachers and students to do the THRASS course because every teacher could use the material and skills in their classroom everyday.

I believe that THRASS will assist me in the classroom and help me to become a better teacher. It was just difficult to "take up" all the information in only two days, but I can definitely say that I learned a lot. The THRASS teaching guide is extremely useful and easy to understand and work with. I am glad and thankful for the opportunity that we have been given to attend such a workshop. The lecturer loves her job and is bubbly. She knows what THRASS can do and makes us excited to go out and try it! Thank you.

The course was very interesting and I learnt a lot. I would say that 2 days is a bit short, especially for this much information, but I still consider it worthy. All that I am concerned about is that we can’t use it if it isn’t used in the school where we are going to teach. For now on I will always think differently about words and sounds.

I found the course interesting and many of the ideas are useful and can be adapted to teaching in the South African context. However, some aspects cannot be used as they are, for example the handwriting. Most of the schools are government schools and they use the SA grade 1 font-that is policy and also practical because learners are transferred to different schools and then there should be some kind of consistency. I also found some of the pictures on the charts unfamiliar for/in the SA context e.g. moor, ink (how many children have seen an ink pot!? and the tin and rocket for the "i" sound (maybe kitten/ring could be a clever option.)

I found it extremely interesting. It’s a whole new way of looking at spelling and grammar. I think it will solve a lot of problems. Especially because it was fun and I think children will really enjoy it. I can’t wait to be teaching this in the future. Thank you, you’ve broadened my horizons.

I found this course very interesting and meaningful for future purposes. The sessions were short and informal, which made it relaxing. Sometimes there were too many examples on one subject and that could lead to a loss of interest.

I feel that this was a very useful course. If you can do this in schools it would be wonderful. It is a great way of teaching especially second language learners, Thank you.

This was a very good and useful course. I learnt a lot from THRASS and can’t wait to apply it in my class. I am an Afrikaans student and as we went through the course, I started to use the chart in my personal life. Two days is a bit short to collect all the information, but I am sure the basic concept is formed to have a real life situation with children.

I liked this course and learned a lot. I’ve had a course in phonetics, but at a much higher level, so it would not have been possible for me to teach much younger children! The course was great.

Interesting course – stages linked exactly with RNCS curriculum. Laola you are just an excellent facilitator. Wish you all the best. Comment: May you please explore in our remote areas around SA e.g. Mpumalanga, Venda, Limpopo and in township and settlement areas. Well done.

Interesting but also confusing at times. As a teacher I have never taught children that one letter represents one sound. Children have and are being taught that letters have different sounds. Will definitely implement parts of THRASS in teaching in conjunction with the old method.

I learnt how you introduce reading to children through pictures. How you relate pictures and phonemes and graphemes. What I liked most is that I can also use THRASS to improve my pronunciation of English words. The course runs through pre-school to university. The challenge I have is to learn vowel phonemes. I gained a lot of information from this course and it will help me improve on my lecturing.

This course made me realise how little I know of the English language. It is a new and easy approach. Even I can learn from it. Laola answered my questions, and I’m hoping to implement this when going to teaching practice.

Introduction was well done. As a literacy lecturer who has never taught Grade 0-3, I could immediately understand. The explanation of stages and the synthesis was clearly understood. My knowledge of literacy and THRASS work has been well developed. Course presentation was done with great efficiency. The presenter has been outstanding. Her time management skills salvaged the course from otherwise detrimental consequences. May the course be spread over 4 days?

The course was definitely a fresh approach to teaching reading and writing. Some of the basic ideas/concepts really made sense and are logical and easy to implement. In the South African context, however, in normal government schools, it feels like it would be selfish, almost, to teach using THRASS alone, because if a child has to move schools, he/she would be at a disadvantage if the THRASS method was not used at another school. A worthwhile experience however! I learnt many techniques and strategies that would definitely help me teach the basics of literacy to Grade R and Grade 1 learners. Money well spent!

Very thorough and intensive session. At first I was hesitant, but have slowly come to realise how beneficial the THRASS method is. Laola is very passionate about spreading the power and knowledge of literacy, which is a very fresh and brave stance to take. Laola is also very thorough in her explanations. I am excited to implement THRASS when I start my teaching in English.

I really enjoyed the THRASS course. It was very well presented with loads of enthusiasm and encouragement. Very intensive and informative! Laola was great and her passion contagious. I learnt a lot and will definitely use this during the course of my teaching. Thank you.

What a fantastic concept! I found the course to be very informative, mind shifting and tremendously helpful. Mrs. Altschul is a brilliant and engaging speaker, clearly a warm people’s person. I really enjoyed it, it was well worthwhile. Thank you very much.

Very interesting I really learned a lot. I enjoyed it and will definitely use it in the future. Thank you.

It was a very interesting course and I learned a lot. I would really recommend it for everyone and it was a whole lot of fun!

Very clear. It can be applied over the world. Always a basis to link to when a learner feels unsure. Resource material clear and exciting. Pictures clear, easy to recognise and to use. Well presented What an experience. Laola is incredible.

This was an interesting experience and has encouraged me to try a different approach to teaching phonics to foundation phase students. I enjoyed the course. Thank you very much.

I learn a lot in a short amount of time. I feel that the University should present this as a module i.e. a three month course. It was too much detail to grasp over two days.

It is an interesting course. We learnt a lot. Cannot wait to teach it in class.

Very interesting. I learned a lot. It will definitely be very useful. It was a lot of fun and a good experience. All stages were very well planned. I am sure that children will definitely benefit from it.

The course was very insightful. I think the stages were very well planned. If teachers use it correctly it can be very beneficial to the children in the foundation phase.

It was a very meaningful learning experience. Thank you very much! It will be wonderful to use it in my class. English is a difficult language, but THRASS makes it fun! Thank you.

I gained a lot from this course and will now, with more confidence and assurance, be able to teach English as an additional language. THRASS is a new challenging method, whereby the learners can be actively involved as individuals. Slots in well with OBE.

I found this course interesting and will really be helpful when I start teaching. The material given and the extra resources will make teaching phonics easier and it is set up so as not to confuse the children. It was interesting learning the raps as it made remembering easier and made learning fun. All in all it was an interesting course that really benefited us.

This was a meaningful course. If only it was introduced to us in our first year, because up till now, we have been taught in the old manner. THRASS can definitely open doors for many learners. Schools need to be informed and use it exclusively. I will also one day, through the medium of music, teach my learners spelling, writing, methods and rules. Very effective method.

I can use THRASS for my own pronunciation of words. In the future, I will definitely refer to THRASS. I have renewed courage to teach English to young as well as older learners who experience difficulties. Thank you for the book (Teaching THRASS guide) and valuable guidance.

For the next year I’ll use THRASS to fix my own English. I am a fourth year student and I did not know that there were so many sounds (phonemes) in English. I wish my school used THRASS, because I cannot see how any other way worked. Being Afrikaans, English is the worst language to learn. There are so few similarities. I think that if children know from the start that the two languages are completely different and that we also learn them in different ways, it would make learning English MUCH easier.

Really good. I only wish it was in Afrikaans as well. Thank you for a splendid presentation.

This is the first time I have attended a practical course on learning a second language that makes sense! It empowers teachers and learners and can speed up the process of learning an additional language. The presentation was beautifully laid out and showed us how to apply it. I am definitely going to apply it in my teaching career.