Helen Doron


Helen Doron is a British linguist and educator who lives in Israel. She is the founder of the Helen Doron Educational Group which offer English classes to young people. The various Helen Doron learning centres are linked to each other through a franchise network which is based in Misgav. She lives in Hararit.

Biography

Doron grew up in London. She studied linguistics and the French language at the University of Reading. She taught at the University of Poitiers in France before completing her MA in Linguistics. After a few years she developed her own methodology, known as the Helen Doron method. The Doron method teaches English, often using music. There is also listening, watching teacher's body language and gestures and student repetition involved in the method. In a study published in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, the authors found that the Helen Doron Early English courses were "one of the most famous and successful courses in teaching English as a second language to pre-school children in the Czech Republic." The Doron learning process was also studied in Poland, with several young English learners.
Helen Doron began teaching in 1985, using cassette tapes she made herself with songs, poems and stories in English. In 1990, the first learning centre was opened. The first franchise opened in Austria in 1997. In 2000, approximately 15,000 children in Israel took part in Helen Doron classes from the franchise. In 2002, in Germany and Poland, there were 8,000 children involved and in Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Korea. Other locations include Spain and several planned areas in Latin America.