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[wonder-r]

Hello.. the question should be rather posted in teachers' forum, but since I cannot register there yet, let's try it here))

I teach French to complete beginners. and I'm a beginner teacher myself as well we're all beginners there! and hmm..

well here you go. we've had just two lessons so far and by the end of the second lesson I invited a student to take a sit in the middle of the classroom and everyone asked her questions - all sorts that we learnt. They were such as - How are you, are you Alice, are you French, do you speak French, do you live in Paris, do you know anything about France, do you like London, Rome etc.

The student could answer - I'm fine thanx. No, I'm not Alice, I'm Jane. No, I'm not French, I'm Russian. I speak a little bit French. etc

I should mention here that French grammar (beginners level at least) is more troublesome than English one and in fact, most teachers would say I'm crazy - cause I made them use for ex. negative form already. While I observed some other French teacher lesson - they were at their 6th lesson and it was their first dialogue since they began that course. I urged my students to speak in pairs from the very first lesson..

the problem is - they definitely show how they are stressed. yet - they mean the pronounciation and not the incredible amount of words or grammar. All of them find it hard to role play those little dialogues exactly because they can hardly move their tongue. that makes them feel unable to master it and gives them the idea that French is horrible.

well if my students feel so - it's a real failure as a teacher. obviously I have to lessen the tension for them. Should we probably have some "more silent" lessons just to give them time to get at least a bit more comfortable with the language.

On the other hand it would be only psychological effect. Cause I've seen students from more advanced groups and many of them still had troubles with pronounciation and having some "quiet" time didn't make them more fluent, I mean it didn't make their speach smooth - and that is what students expect.

it was exactly today that I observed another lesson and after the class, some student asked advice from the teacher - "I understand everything, I know rules and if I have enough time to think, I can say it right. But while chatting with my English friend, I suddenly start making awful mistakes etc" so students want so much to be fluent, to feel as they speak "smoothly" and it makes them discouraged if it doesn't happen. but normally - it really doesn't happen that fast!

so if I don't put my students to such a trial as speaking (so much) - am I simply using some psychological effect? for ex. to give them feeling of satisfaction with their progress by giving to them some easier tasks...

p.s. though frankly speaking, I like that they can communicate alreadyand I wouldn't want to give up on my ways of teaching. just if I could make them understand somehow that they shouldn't get so disappointed or frustrated if it doesn't come that easy..

my idea is that you should relax and just DO. whatever you manage to make it right or not. cause real progress - you will be able to see it only some time after. so I think I have to add more fun and make it more natural, relaxed.

now what do you think? cause I know that when I'm inspired by my ideas, I don't notice obvious things or obvious harm as it may be in this case. Thanx!

[santi84]

I must admit that I found this a little difficult to follow (although you said you were a French teacher and not an ESL teacher, so I suppose that the difficult English doesn't matter).

I'm a new teacher and I am also a beginner learning French in a classroom setting, so I'll offer my take from the student perspective.

As you know, French is an old, complex, and difficult language. Students with English as their L1 often have trouble with speaking from because you don't speak half of what you see! For example, "Ils prennent..." is sooo difficult for us because you say "eel pren"! It can be very intimidating for a beginner.

I also found that in my first French class, half of the students didn't put any effort into studying outside of class (sound familiar, ESL teachers?), and the rest struggled (with a few naturally doing well).

*I have to admit, I'm not sure I would feel comfortable having to sit in the middle of the classroom with everyone asking me questions! I would feel overwhelmed. Perhaps you could give the students a good amount of time to write a paragraph (without their books) describing themselves/their lives, then read it from their desks. After that, one or two students could ask them a question.

[naturegirl321]

Honestly, I would ask the students what they want to do. You might try giving them written exercises, Or allow them to write their answer before they speak, gives them time to think

[wonder-r]

Thank you very much for the replies!
I do agree and hope it will work.

I also hope it's not too late!

[Glenski]

If pronunciation is the problem leading to stress, do pronunciation drills in class (try to make some of them fun), and give them more to do outside class. Plenty for English online; don't know about French.

The key is practice.

Also, give them listening practice exercises in and outside of class. Podcasts, newscasts, your own voice, interview others, etc.

Videotape each other inside or outside class in 1-2 minutes of prompted or even scripted conversations. Record a voice-over for a picture slide show (vacation, daily routines, anything), or make poster presentations, and then have the students or you create worksheets or quizzes from them.

[wonder-r]

sounds good! I'm really not used to putting many different means in use. But it must be good. thanx!

well you see, I certainly did some drills, but today I understood to what extent it was almost useless. I tended to present any new material through pronouncing first and only after - in its written form. because I just know so well how they start reading it.. but funnily enough, they repeat correctly after me a few times and then when they see the written form - they start "reading" it as if we never did this preliminary pronounciation job! hehe, so today I gave up on training pronounciation, because they remember something only when they encounter a problem and ask me to help them))

I also realised that I had a wrong approach as a whole.
I thought that I should avoid "teaching" at any rate because it's communicative approach. But somehow I understand now that learning process - it can also be a communication. And it's exactly my job to make this process entertaining, pleasant, fun and profitable.

Today they also asked me how to say few things in French. At first I wanted to say "not now, let's learn it later" because it wasn't in my lesson plan, but then I got it - I should be a "consultant", an assistant in their learning process and not a mentor. so when they ask, it's just great - I have just to follow their natural motivation and interest and help them out! because we gather there together in order to speak French, learn new things and generally have a good time yay! a much better attitude.

[SueH]

I taught an Italian adult beginners' class where one student asked for their money back after two lessons. My boss showed me the letter of complaint.. I was using too much Italian and we weren't using a book (some students hadn't got theirs yet so I was using other material).

I wouldn't put anybody in the middle like that: at their normal places is less threatening. Give them something they can achieve, do pair work and wander around monitoring, make the language more digestible and achievable. A bit of fun doesn't go amiss: I taught Italian hand/body language to go along with verrry simple verbal stuff that everybody could manage, and that relaxed people and made them laugh.

[wonder-r]

[Sashadroogie]

Dear wonder-r

Don't give up on drilling! It does have a positive effect, even if it is not immediately apparent. True, your students may be able to fairly quickly learn something during the lesson, but they may often forget how to pronounce it later, and so drilling will help, if nothing else, to remind them. For example, the word 'hotel' should not present too many problems for Russian speakers, yet it does. Drilling is the only way round this issue that seems to work.

Also, I'd add that you are not just a consultant or assistant. Most students I know expect a teacher to lead, (especially Russian students!) The very word 'educate' in Latin means this. Ultimately, you are in control, and you are to blame if things go wrong, so an 'entertainer' role just won't cut it if that's all the teacher does.

Learning, and teaching, is fun - or at least should be. But that does not exclude 'serious teaching', even in the communicative approach.

All the best to you. I'm sure you'll find the best way forward.

Хорошие уроки и умные студенты к Вам!

[wonder-r]

Thanx! Спасибо

We're moving on. I won't anyway be able to be an entertainer, cause it's just something that I'm not But I relaxed a bit more and I believe it's good.

Now I need a better planning of the lesson. But that already depends on me, no problem except just doing it)).