Help with conversation classes

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bonnylass
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Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 4:53 am

Help with conversation classes

Post by bonnylass » Wed Feb 10, 2016 7:47 am

I am presently doing nursing volunteer work in India. I will be doing an ESL training course later this year. I have been asked to teach some English conversation to the clinic staff. They all speak some English to varying degrees. This will be good experience for them and me, but I'm having difficulty getting going with the teaching. It's hard when I've not taught ESL before. I've taught some classes to nurses, but this is different. Any suggestions on what to start teaching beginner and low intermediate adults? I don't have any books or materials available, except what I can create myself. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Phillip Schofield
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2016 8:47 pm

Post by Phillip Schofield » Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:26 pm

A conversation class for beginners? That sounds like a pretty terrible concept. You won't get much converstion from people who can barely string a sentence together.

It sounds like you've been offered a poor deal.

I would suggest finding yourself a textbook and working from that. New English File. New Headway. Face to Face. Move. Clockwise.
There are many to chose from.

Sally Olsen
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:24 pm
Location: Canada,France, Brazil, Japan, Mongolia, Greenland, Canada, Mongolia, Ethiopia next

Post by Sally Olsen » Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:07 pm

I imagine they will speak enough English to tell you what they want and need. I always found they were interested in what other people thought about them. I'm sure you can find news items on the medical situation in India written by journalists from other countries. Then you can discuss the views and write the journalists back - whether you send it or not. Just listen for the most part and facilitate discussions on topics that interest them.

sawlor29
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Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 5:05 am
Location: Korea
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Material you can use for low intermediate adults

Post by sawlor29 » Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:25 pm

Hi,

I have been teaching adults with varying levels for many years. try these sites that offer free material that you can print out:

-www.breakingnewsenglish.com it uses news stories and the lesson is created around the story. All the lessons come in PDF or Word format for printing. i recommend the 2 page Mini Lessons they offer.

-www.englishwithjo.com (she has lots of material and conversation questions you can use. I am pretty sure everything is free on the site)

-www.SSEcoach.com (uses short TV video clips and has a downloadable lesson for each video. there is also a 'Speaking' worksheet - the site was designed for Teachers/Learners in Korea, however, all of the teaching material can be used by any English teacher in any country)

Hope this helps and good luck!

Robbie
http://www.ssecoach.com/

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