The structure is fixed. The content is not.
The structure of the lesson is fixed. What we put into that structure is not.
Every lesson starts with a need and ends with a test: can you actually do what you wanted to be able to do at the beginning?
1. Review
We start by reviewing the previous island.
This is not optional. We need to know where we are before we start building something new.
We use what we learned last time — questions, answers, variations and situations — and see what has stayed with you and what needs more work.
2. Build an island
We build the new island entirely around your current needs.
The amount of language we build is limited by what you can realistically learn in the time available. There is no point in creating twenty sentences if you can only make five of them your own.
And one hour does not have to mean one island.
If an island needs more time, we continue working on it next time. If we finish one and there is time left, we can begin another.
When we finish one island and start another, we make that change deliberately. The boundary matters. It keeps the lesson from becoming one continuous blur of new material.
3. Drill, baby, drill.
You don't learn a language just by understanding it. You learn it by using it again and again.
What doesn't pass through your mouth a hundred times, you don't really know yet.
Language is not just memory. It is also coordination. Your brain has to know what to say, but your tongue, lips, jaw and breath have to know how to say it.
So we drill the new island.
Questions. Answers. Variations. Repetition. Different situations. The aim is to make the language available when you actually need it.
And then we test it.
Can you now do what you wanted to be able to do at the beginning of the lesson?
If yes, the island has done its job.
If not, we know what needs more work.