tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572501698854836939.post361614521493155456..comments2024-03-26T06:07:35.453+01:00Comments on Kalinago English: Christmas CardsKALINAGO ENGLISHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202016406865561740noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572501698854836939.post-53614635085833593752010-12-21T22:33:00.555+01:002010-12-21T22:33:00.555+01:00Karenne - let me also tell you that I loved your q...Karenne - let me also tell you that I loved your question worksheet. And my students loved it more! (The one where they can put in a subject in the circle in the middle and ask various questions around it.)<br /><br />I've got a kind of theory about language learning and progress. I think that students only really progress when they begin to trust you. There always seems to be a block to progress (not necessarily related to learning a language, but a psychological block that results in a distance being created.) As soon as that block is removed, students begin to relax, trust, and voila, progress happens.<br /><br />(I know this sounds hippy-dippy stuff, but I saw it happening when I was teaching 1-1, and I'm convinced it also happens in bigger groups.)<br /><br />When students get to chat with each other / with their teacher, like in your lovely open-ended exercises; bonds deepen, students relax, and a warm glow of shared experience permeates the room. The satisfaction of expressing experience, feelings, whatever, has far greater impact on confidence than mere linguistic ability, I think. You can do far more (as a teacher) with a group of learners who trust you, trust each other, and feel good about expressing themselves, than you can with strict adherence to accuracy of form and expression.<br /><br />A very roundabout way of saying that I love these activities of yours, because they do far more than just "teach" a few words or structures.<br /><br />Happy holidays!<br />Clare xClarehttp://www.english-at-home.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572501698854836939.post-57257985139214967382010-12-21T11:27:11.052+01:002010-12-21T11:27:11.052+01:00Oh! I am so glad to hear that :-) I've been t...Oh! I am so glad to hear that :-) I've been toying around with the idea of loading up the rest of these on my blog next year instead of fixing my website so I just might do that... my students also love these!<br /><br />Ta, very much for coming back to tell me!<br /><br />KKALINAGO ENGLISHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15202016406865561740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8572501698854836939.post-29859348246158486582010-12-21T10:05:36.301+01:002010-12-21T10:05:36.301+01:00Many thanks for this Karenne. I used it as a spur-...Many thanks for this Karenne. I used it as a spur-of-the-moment activity with a class of very mixed-level adults. (We're supposed to be doing "Commercial English for Businesses" but it was their last lesson of the year, and I thought they could do with some speaking practice.)<br /><br />They LOVED it! Nice and scalable for mixed levels, lots of real communication (they were butting in on each other - in English, no less) and lots of laughing at the shared personal experiences. How do you avoid getting an awful gift in the first place, sort of thing.Clarehttp://www.english-at-home.comnoreply@blogger.com