Job Discussion Forums

[easyasabc]

OK - lets have a few ideas and some input on actual teaching.

I have just looked at the Genki English website mentioned in another thread http://genkienglish.net and although I only looked at the things highlighted as examples on the main page, the things I saw made me cringe.

It made me think of something that I don't really thing is very useful to teach but almost always is taught. One song on the site practices the use of "Nice to meet you". Who thinks that is actually a commonly used term in conversation? I personally don't think it is, get sick of hearing it used as a greeting instead of "hello" and don't teach it. I rarely hear it among native speakers in my country but maybe that's an Australian tendency. I'm more inclined to use "It was nice to meet you" upon saying goodbye to someone I've met for the first time. I think people are more likely to say "Hello, how are you" when they meet someone for the first time, not "Nice to meet you. What do others think?

Another game in particular that freaked me out was a game were the kids have to ask for a ball by saying "ball please". That is not English! Why on earth would you start kids off with something that is not correct? I teach my kids "May I have .........." for when they want to ask for something.

Saw one activity called the Gokiburi Game" http://genkienglish.net/gokiburi.htm where the aim of the game is to all start acting as gokiburi (cockroaches) and try move up the "evolution scale" by winning contests along the way. Interestingly the contests which the kids need to win to progress aren't in any way related to English. It's basically jan-ken with a bit of English thrown in. I think it would be a ridiculous waste of time to explain all those game rules (which are unrelated to English) when you could be doing something so much better.

Oh - and I loved this phonics thing http://genkienglish.net/phonics.htm where you can roll your mouse over a letter and hear a sound. Check the "u" sound for "umbrella". Do you think it sounds right?

[Celeste]

Nice to meet you, or pleased to meet you are both fairly standard upon first meeting someone in Canada. Granted I would only use these after having been formally introduced to someone. (ie. I wouldn't say it in a bar when someone comes up and introduces themselves, but I would certainly use it in a business meeting, or in a classroom situation.)

At the end of a conversation, I would probably say "It was nice meeting you." (Maybe a Westcoast Canadian thing, who knows?)

[denise]

I agree about the games. If I can't understand the rules after a quick read-through, there's no way I am going to use the game in a class. Even for simple games, I've gotten into the habit of either writing each step on the board or giving each student a hand-out with the instructions (while also explaining them orally).

Speaking of games, one thing that I have found to be very successful is the card game Uno. In addition to the normal rules, each time the students play a certain card, they have to perform a specific language function (which varies depending on whether it's a grammar/speaking/etc. class). The students all already know the rules of the game, so all they have to do is check to see what function to perform with each card they play.

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[JimDunlop2]

Try to have a bit of patience with it. Not all games/activities will work with all situations. Not all the materials on genkienglish are useful...

But, to the defence of the Gokiburi game, I must say that although I was dubious at first, I tried it, and it has quickly become one of my most valuable tools (and a favorite of the kids).

The value in the gokiburi game lies in the co-operation level of the kids. But this will be a problem in most games, in ANY given group. The key is that students must speak the target phrases (eg. "I like cake. How about you?") Then, and ONLY then, are they supposed to do janken. Of course, many kids will just janken without doing the conversation exchange, but that is where the teachers come in. You must do SOME degree of policing instead of jsut standing back and letting the game run its course. The Japanese teacher should also be helping you. In addition, when they get to the top of the evolution scale, they must do the phrase exchange with YOU and then do janken. Of course you aren't going to let them get away with not practicing their English. Plus, I'd say that at least 60-75% of the time I beat them at janken on the first go, so they de-evolve and must come practice with me/face me again if they want to win.

Proof that it works: on more than a few occasions, I've had the children still speaking to each other the English phrases they learned as they leave the room at the end of class. I'd say that's a good sign.

Sometimes when I look at an activity I also just shake my head. But I've found that it often pays to have just a little bit of patience, re-read it couple times (maybe not even the same day) and give it a try. If it flops -- oh well... You can always jettison the game and do a different one. Elementary-age kids tend to be quite forgiving when it comes to that.

[skarp]

There ARE a lot of goofy ideas out there.

Not everything you see on a website or read in a book is useful or sensible to teach. There are some great teachers out there publishing stuff...and then there are some people who seem to be.......well, goofy.

So be careful. Use your judgement. Think about YOUR students and what THEY would enjoy and find useful.

EFL has the best teachers in the world - ever....but also some of the worst. Which kind you want to be is down to you.

Enjoy your teaching - cos it'll never make you rich.

Skarp

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Genki English is designed for really little kids. With the way things are here, it's hard for them to understand that social conventions are different in Japan than in English speaking counties. "Nice to meet you" corresponds closely to the "douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu" in that it can be said at the same time as the Japanese phrase could be, and it does make sense to native speakers. It's a little odd, but it works.

Just like some kids are taught to say "How do you do?" for "ha ji me ma shi te" because it is an opener (but I can't imagine a single native speaking person in Canada saying that unless they travelled back in time or were in a Looney tunes cartoon). They don't mean the same thing at all either, but then "how are you?" and "ogenki desuka?" don't either.

IMHO there's already enough "English is VERY, VERY HARD! You must study your hardest and never, ever make a mistake or you will wind up dying alone, outside and freezing in the future, shaming your family for ten thousand ten thousands years! " from Japanese teachers without native speakers making the first lessons really confusing by using difficult languge.

[migo]

Nice to meet you is fine if you're not obsessed with perfect grammar. It's grammatically incorrect but it is proper colloquial English.