Very hands-on and I can see myself using these techniques in my classroom. The material is very easy to use as well as being colourful! Laola was enthusiastic and made the course enjoyable! 

Interesting and informative. I feel that the two days will have an awesomely wonderful impact on my teaching life! 

I think this course is an excellent idea because it enriches us as a future students and teachers! We are better quipped to deal with language problems in the classroom. Thank you it was a real turning point experience! 

Tiring yet very informative. I’ve learned a lot more about teaching sounds etc than I’ve learned over my years of schooling and at university. I think it can only be very adventurous to future and existing educators. It will be very helpful to learners who struggle to read! Thanks, even though I feel very tired. I’ve learned a lot and can’t wait to practise what I’ve learned! 

I learned a lot from this course i.e. how to pronounce English! At first I thought it was too Foundation Phase then I realise anyone who wants to learn another language can use the skills! 

Good course, gave lot of insight, learned a lot. Delightful presentation by Laola! Will definitely incorporate it in my lessons as well as my own kids one day! 

I think that this is a wonderful way of learning the English language. It is also a fun and interesting program for learners and even for me in studying to become a teacher! 

I really enjoyed this course. I thought learning about it will be boring but Laola made it fun and changed my view on teaching! 

A really good learning curve. I really enjoyed it a lot. It helped me to improve my reading and spelling skills so I could help learners better. I am sure I could make myself more clear now than then! 

Very interesting because it helps even us as teachers because we came from schools with poor background in English so this is so helpful for us to teach English freely to out poor schools! 

Amazing! I learned a lot from it! It helped me understand a lot of things about handwriting, reading and spelling. Although I felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information given, I am sure I will maybe have some time to reflect on all I have learned! 

The instructor was very good and I could understand what THRASS is all about. I have learned that learners learn with sound (phoneme) visual and graphic (grapheme-spelling choice) to help them and myself. I will incorporate THRASS in all the learning areas I am going to teach! I am going to use my knowledge of keyword location and keyword spelling as an intro for most of my lessons, and I will also use the assessments in the guide! 

Very exciting. It was a tremendous learning curve! It taught me so many skills which I never took note of ever! This will truly make me a much better language teacher. In the beginning of the course it was explained to us that THRASS will enable the learner to better he/she academic level. I really am very impressed at the outcome of this program. It taught me many words and I liked the fact that the program went in depth with context. THRASS becomes very complex when you go along with the course but I really am very grateful for this experience! 

The THRASS program is fun, exciting, interesting and a multi skilled development tool to all learners. It teaches the hungry learners reading, writing and spelling skills. I love to employ it during my practical teaching session, because it broaden my vision and knowledge and understanding of this program. It can also be used as an outreach program to be ABET learning this vehicle will successfully help to eradicate illiteracy in our country. My honourable thanks to our innovative and vibrant lecturer Mrs Laola Altschul! 

Very helpful. I found knew knowledge I did not know before or things that I use to take for granted but I found out how important they are! Things like how to call alphabets using parts of the mouth! 

Very interesting and I learnt a lot. I didn’t know any of the stuff but now I know about phonemes and graphemes. I think children can also learn a lot from the THRASS program and I also think that it is a very good program. The course was presented in a good professional manner and there were lots of examples and aids that she used! 

Very helpful and, finally, I have some so simple and easy to use activities to help my learners with their reading and spelling. I’ve been to two schools for the time I’ve been here and this is actually a major problem in schools so thank you for your time and effort! 

Very interesting, I really enjoyed it! I know how fun it is to read and spell! I have learned so much about words and how you can break them up. Laola was very nice and understanding, her presentation was very good. 

I learned a lot that I never thought of at first, I thought this THRASS thing has no content, but at a later stage everything turned out to be fruitful. I now will be able to teach learners these skills I acquired in this workshop, though I feel more time is needed in order to exceed in this! 

The course made me realise that to be truly literate in a subject you need to be able to spell, read and understand and be able to use the language not only in academically aspects but also socially. I enjoyed the course and I do feel that to be equipped in the field of our study which is education you need to be open to learn more. The skills and demonstrations we were exposed to in the beginning are beneficial and crucial. I certainly will use the knowledge that is acquired. Thank you for empowering the future educators. Mrs Altschul was amazing! 

THRASS was very informative; it gives you a new perspective on teaching language. I am however still sceptical about how I am going to teach a grade 7 or grade 9 class about the THRASS picture chart. Laola was great; she was extremely energetic and approachable. I appreciated her professionalism as well! Thanks to THRASS for their teaching aids! 

The instructor diagnosed the students with her prior knowledge and skills of the THRASS programme. The students were taught a new and exciting way of making learning i.e. reading and spelling interesting. I was happy to know that the THRASS programme could be used to teach older people! I would certainly apply the THRASS programme in my studies and teaching. All the lectures were well planned and well executed! 

It was an interesting course and would be relevant to use in a classroom. I have learned a lot in these two days, things which of course I was never aware of. The only problem that I have with this course is the time management; the hours are too long because I started to get sleepy! The lecturer also didn’t give students enough time to ask questions concerning THRASS. Overall it was a good course and I will definitely take what I have learned and use it in my classroom! 

Very accommodating to use one day in the classroom when I will be teaching! These two days I have learned more than I thought I know about how to teach people or learners to read, speak and write! I would use this method of teaching in my classes for the learners who struggle to read, that learner who is not English first language but whom has to be taught as English first language! 

I enjoyed the course and do believe that THRASS can be a very useful teaching tool! I would prefer that the course be over three or fours days instead of two, as it is a lot of information to take in and I felt that it would be more beneficial if it were over a few more days for shorter time periods! I think THRASS will be fantastic to use with weak or illiterate learners in the ISP phase. THRASS is also a very fun and exciting way for children to learn and I believe the learners learn better when doing something they enjoy and can relate to! Laola is an incredible lecturer, her passion for what she is doing shines through and she is incredibly interesting to listen to! 

Very informative and it will help me in my upcoming career! The lessons were very loaded with information and I got tired. That’s only a minor thought. Overall it was excellent and very well delivered by Laola, her teaching skill and content knowledge is very encouraging! 

I enjoyed the course but found it very difficult to concentrate after too much information! I would prefer it to place, place over five days with shorter times so my brain doesn’t switch off. I love the teaching aids we were given and I believe this will definitely improve literacy in learners! 

Very insightful and helpful concerning the fundamental knowledge which teachers should be familiar with. The material provided is very sufficient and appreciated. The time for the course was enough or suited for the amount of information. A suggestion would be that our days in doing this should be more and time less! 

Very interesting. I might have a few what ifs and buts about a few areas surrounding the THRASS system. Overall I think I have a good base of understanding of how it works as a second language student, to know that I might have my own ideas on how I would blend the THRASS system with the level I intend to teach at! More time however would be nice! 

Very interesting. This however plays a huge role in learning English or teaching today! I simply can use this to help teach kids and make them aware of speech sound, spelling choices etc...! The lecturer’s explaining this to us with great and helpful resources as well as she presented this quite well! Was a bit long but helpful in the end! 

Very interesting and informative as I have experienced that learners have difficulty with spelling! I feel empowered! The two days has made me realise that English should not be made complicated. The two days should just be done before classes start, as we are missing out on our other classes! 

I have nothing to comment about the course! I did not find the course quite interesting! All we did there was sit and listen, there was no involvement from the students! 

Enlightening and very useful. I believe that the content taught during the THRASS training are important for educators to know. I also liked the interaction we were able to have and I am sure the children will too! In doing this course it prepares us as future educators to be able to teach handwriting, reading and spelling skills! 

I think that the use of the picturechart with the 120 keywords are very useful due to the fact that it will teach learners that one letter can make a variation of sounds depending on the word it is being represented in. I think the way one is able to link and integrate other words and learning areas to the chart which provides a guideline is fantastic! The lecturer was very informative; lots of vital, interesting learning took place in a short space of two days. I will incorporate this into my teaching only when I’ve had more practice! 

Very interesting although I felt it was too much to take in. I would have preferred a longer period (five days). The teacher was loud and clear and made everything understandable! 

I really enjoyed the THRASS course but it should have been done over a longer period of time in order to grasp all its main features! I found it rather interesting and very helpful. I will definitely try it out in the future in the schools I do teaching practice! The lecturer was good, efficient, prepared and punctual and well informed! 

Thank you the course was intense! 

Excellent! Well worth it. 

Very useful. It gave me a new perspective on spelling and how to approach it! I am not so sure that a class teacher will just adopt a new approach of spelling if the entire school does not! 

This course I enjoyed, I learned a lot to a certain extent and what THRASS is doing for the learners I personally think is great because many children struggle so now they are getting the opportunity to learn about phonemes, sounds etc... In an enjoyable and fun loving way! It will get the learners excited and passionate about the subject (English) I think it is great! Keep up the good work and I’m sure this will reach very high expectations! 

The course was exceptionally useful, excitingly executed and quite fun too. Laola is bright! Very thoroughly prepared as well as knowledgeable with regard to THRASS. I however feel that the time allocated was a bit too much and it was slightly teach centred causing students attention to sway! 

Definitely needs to be more interaction otherwise very interesting just a lot of information to take in all in two days! 

A very good resource to have and it provided a lot of insight Presenter was very energetic and answered all questions, but I think it needs to be more interactive with us as students! Although this workshop helped me greatly, I found it was a bit too much info for two days! 

Very interesting and informative. I felt that the times may have been a bit long for two days and should be spread over three days. Laola was very excited and enthusiastic about THRASS which made it very interesting to listen to! 

Was very informative, really good to have as a teacher! Laola spoke well and knew her subject course needs to be over a longer period and not so much on one day! 

I found the THRASS workshop very interesting. As an ISP teacher it will be useful when dealing with non first language English learner. The facilitators, Laola was dynamic and very informed about the subject and feel excited about putting it into practice.

Beneficial in some aspects but it was in some way rushed and I personally feel that as a student going into teaching and expected to use this methodology, we needed more time i.e. maybe a weeks training course! The lecturer was the key to this training in that she was out there and definitely sold her product well! 

Practically insightful and allowed me to view teaching language from a fresh new perspective. The presentation of the course was brilliant and very interactive. The information rendered during the course will prove beneficial in the future of my profession as a language teacher. The course needs to be spread out over a longer period e.g. five days contains info that must take a while to register! 

Exciting, meaningful and really useful. I love the fact that THRASS is so organised and easy to follow! I see this experience as very beneficial for me and the learners. I am going to teach this. Laola was very professional and she presented herself well! I can’t wait to incorporate this in my teaching! 

I enjoyed it. It was quite informative and the concept behind it all is a good method for teaching learners to spell, read and at times memorisation. The facilitator is quite friendly and passionate about THRASS! However it would be more enjoyable if all were interactive in doing so, keep us focused as to various topics! 

There is value in THRASS and it should be made compulsory for FP teachers as this is their educational bond! I do feel we were bombarded with information that contributed to the restlessness felt by the students. The lecturer did not lack personality or charisma, which was great and made a difference! It was more the lack activity by those taking the short course that was testing. But if I am able to use this, I do believe it will make a difference. 

Course was very good and I gained lots of information that I could use as a teacher. But I think it needs more time and attention because it is something new to me! 

THRASS was interestingly different. I would very much enjoy taking English as a major next year and find it incredibly important to do so as the statistics concerning Grade 7 learners and their proficiency in the language (English) is quite alarming! The course has helped in that it has simplified certain things (graphemes, phonemes). The picturechart especially is a brilliant teaching resource. Laola was great. I just wish time could be managed differently because fatigue does not assist in learning anything. However I have gained much knowledge! 

Very interesting and it will be helpful to my future. Thank you very much I will pass this info on! 

Very interesting, I have learned a lot and I thought this course will help me a lot during my teaching practise because I will use what I have learned from it! 

A lot of work has been done but not enough time, two days is not enough but the lecturer was well prepared, planned and allow us as students to ask questions! It was something new to me to learn phonemes, graphemes, graphs, diagraphs and so on! Although in my mother tongue was not something new but different pronunciation, all I gained a lot in few days! 

I enjoyed it and I learned a lot about the course as I am an English second language and I’m going to do better in teaching practise because of this course. Time was too short for all of this. If it can be done in at least three to four days! 

Extremely beneficial for my teaching career! I have learned many things about reading and spelling and how to make it easy for learners who struggle with reading, spelling and writing to help them overcome their problem by using THRASS in their everyday schooling. The only problem about this course is that it is too much to grasp in two days! 

I’ve learned a lot and I will try my best to use the skills that I’ve obtained from THRASS. The lady was very helpful and understanding! I think we need more time than two days. Thank you for your support of creating a better education! The resources are good and well prepared for all intermediate phase learners! 

The course will be a lot more helpful to Foundation Phase students as they are at the cause of the problem! It was very visible that the course needs to be more interactive with the learners or students. It was a very helpful course and gave very good language skills! 

Lots of very interesting and useful information! Some good ideas to take into the classroom! Method of instruction good! Though two full days were very ‘heavy’ on the brain! Songs were fun and easy to remember! 

THRASS is a useful teaching method to ensure that learners understand and acquire the basic literature foundations. As I will be teaching grades 4–9, I will be using it to aid illiterate learners and those who are weak for their grade. The resources will be valuable tools in implementing this! THRASS will be helpful in making my job as an English teacher a lot easier! With regard to the course, I think it should perhaps be over three days as it was hard to concentrate for such a long period of time! Otherwise it was well presented! 

I have learned a lot of things in this course. In my view I do not think the two days that is allocated for this course is enough, because there are a lot of things this course can equip students with! Maybe three months maybe enough in order to get enough information from it. The material that I received in this course is relevant to the field of education! 

It is evident that Laola is very passionate about this program. Her expertise with regard to the course is apparent! The material seems very useful and in my estimation will be great learning tool! 

I really think that the course was very interesting. I learned too much things like discipline, professionalism, punctuality etc... The lecturer was a calm person! I hope that I will use the resources that she gave us in future! 

It was very informative. All in all it was an eye opener, coming from a disadvantaged school and this to me was new and a great way to learn more!