336 Part VI: The Part of Tens
If you are working for a language school, find out if there a stock of realia and
keep it topped up by bringing in things you don’t need anymore.
Step Outside the Classroom
Whether you can leave the classroom behind for a while and get out into the
real world depends on the context you find yourself teaching in. However, in
most cases you can at least escape to the garden or local town.
The fact is that when the language you are learning is associated with a new
situation it can suddenly feel fresh again. So, it may never have occurred to
a student to ask the word for sky, traffic light or market stall before because
there had never been anyone to speak English to around these things. By
getting outside, the students associate English with a wider range of
situations, not just a classroom.
If you are teaching in an English speaking country, you do a lesson or two
building up to a visit to the local courthouse, a place of historical interest or
even a café offering typical dishes. Even something as mundane as an English
breakfast is fascinating to someone from overseas. The opportunity to speak
English to a ‘real’ person under the watchful eye of their teacher is enough
capture the students’ attention. The motivation to learn comes much more
easily when the grammar or vocabulary you are teaching concerns a real
event.
In a non-English speaking country, you can still find examples of English
words on hoardings and notices. Or perhaps the students can take you for
a traditional drink or snack. They are likely to be very proud of their culture
and make every attempt to explain and translate to initiate you. As long as
you create a structure by noting the vocabulary/grammar appropriate to the
situation and going over it beforehand or afterwards, the students will see
the lesson as purposeful.
Take your students out on the street in their town. Have them find as many
English words as they can in ten minutes, then see whether they understand
what the words they mean.
Browse the Net
The worldwide web is an absolute gift to teachers and a large proportion of
it is in English! As with the two previous points, the internet is a way to bring
the real world into your lessons.
