338 Part VI: The Part of Tens
Starting Out with ‘Once Upon a Time’
Story-telling is part of every culture in the world and is something you do
frequently in day to day life. It combines human interest and clear settings
for language practice. So, help your students develop this skill by giving them
lots of opportunities to tell their favourite anecdotes and tales.
To be honest, because most people struggle to make a story interesting in a
foreign language, the first attempt at storytelling might be rather subdued.
Interestingly though, things start to change if the same story is repeated two
or three times. Students increase in confidence and fluency, and in between
each telling they tend to check or note points which they have realised they
need. Whereas most people don’t mind repeating their favourite tales, it is
rather boring to hear the same story over and over. So, the best way to get
around this is to change the pairings of students each time the story is told.
You will find that with each re-telling they get livelier and more accurate to
boot.
Use traditional fairy stories, urban legends, jokes or your autobiography as
resources.
When you think about it, native speakers learn to appreciate stories right
from when they are toddlers and long before they are able to tell stories
themselves. What does this imply? Basically that if you tell your students
stories, even ones which contain some new words or grammar, they will
enjoy it because the overall meaning is clear and interesting.
Open Up Your Life
As you’re from a different background (race, nationality, religion, and so on)
to your students, they are bound to be more than a little curious about what
goes on in your life. Feed them a few simple titbits about your life and you’ll
find that students can’t wait to learn more.
You might wonder what kind of information is safe to reveal. Your hobbies
and interests are a good place to start. Bring in some realia or photographs
for the class to examine. Even if the class don’t share your passion for, say,
hiking, they will have something to talk to you about. It is surprising how a
lack of cultural knowledge can really stifle conversation. So your students
may need to know which topics are safe to discuss with you.
Then again, a bit of junk mail which you would otherwise throw away could
fascinate the students. If you are sure there is no classified information in it
(the ‘Dear Homeowner’ kind is useful), you can even let them open it (from
a new envelope if you want to conceal your address), have a go at filling in
forms or planning a reply.
