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Learned Words
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You'll find insights and tips for writing, teaching and learning languages.
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Avoid textbooks in the first language lesson
It's the start of a new semester. If you are like me, as a teacher you are extremely nervous before these first lessons.
Will the new students feel comfortable together?
Will they like the content, the textbook, and your teaching style?
Will they stick around for the length of the course?
And you are aware, they are typically terribly nervous as well.
If you are teaching a course above a beginner level, the best way to make students comfortable in the first lesson is to encourage conversation in the target language, without any emphasis on grammar and correction.
This lets the students get to know you and get comfortable with each other - it's important that they feel safe to make mistakes.
Immediately launching into a textbook discourages connections between students, emphasis using correct grammar, and is just plain boring!
Pair interviews about hobbies and backgrounds, whole class surveys to find out interesting snippets of information about each other, and group discussions about broad topics round out a fun first class.
Textbooks can wait for a class or two, especially when students haven't pre-purchased them!
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What do you do?
Do you have any activities that you enjoy in your first classes?
What do you hate?
Send me an email and let me know!
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Did you know ... ?
Did you know the oldest word in the English language is 'town'?
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Recent resources
The Last Bookshop is a great short film (20 minutes), slowly spoken and with subtitles.
It is set in the future where bookshops are rare, and few people read, especially physical books.
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