Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kiddirts]

I have a class with 2 kids, both are 12 and 14 and have spent some time abroad. The class is 2 hours long and just pure conversation once a week. I have gone through 2 conversation topic books and have pretty much hit on every possible topic from school gangs to Harry Potter to Yu Gi Oh to rocks on mars to the Taco Bell double decker taco they experienced in Canada...their English is quite good, but it's coming to a point where I just can't think of anything else to bring up and talk about and 2 hours is hard. They can't talk about politics and current events like my adult classes...any ideas to stimulate conversation from kids at this age?

[howie2424]

That's a tough one. 2 hour free talking classes. Ugghhhh!

Here's one that I use that might help you kill one of those sessions. Tell them they are to imagine they have won a billion korean won in a lottery and have them explain how they will each spend it. Write the spending breakdown on the board for each student and then have them debate who was wiser with the money. That should kill 90 minutes. As for your ongoing situation, good luck. Wish I could be more help.

[Badmojo]

Conversation classes don't just have to be chatting about some topic. There are other ways to get them speaking about other things.

I think you should explore creative activities. Get them up and moving. Get them to create their own plays. They can do their own roleplays. You can incorporate a bunch of mime, things like that.

There are fight games. Put some contentious topic that a 12 and 14 year old could fight about, and let them go at it.

There are other types of speaking games. The "Taboo" game usually works well.

What about movies? TV shows? Get them to talk about ones they like.

[ajuma]

You could also try songs. Find out what kind of music they like and use that for a basis for a class. If the song is in Korean, have them translate!

[captain kirk]

Asking them, 'what would you do if?'. There's the one about being allowed only eight objects to take with you to a desert island; what would you take and why? I like spontaneously 'creating' some sort of situation out of the textbooks, especially a photo. What is this man saying to the other man? And the kids will make up some scenario since they're to guess, which is usually funny. Photos are better because they have real life details, a subtlety, unlike the figures drawn in textbooks. I don't have a stack of old magazines, but the used books stores could. Cut out photos that beg being talked about.
I love SF movies and when I had a class of returnees like yours they asked that I tell them, at length, the story of some SF movie. Since I watched a movie each night they weren't far off to be able to recall. We'd play scrabble for the last twenty minutes (it was a two hour class like yours) and they got good at it. One guy would always look in the bag replenishing his team's letter stock. He talked alot, as well, making up outrageous things that happened to him or were 'true'. So I'd ask him questions about his tall tales as he manufactured them. As an aside that class lost a few students in a bizarre way, which I only found out about until later. It was a personality thing going on between the students.
A newcomer was an eleven year old girl, tall, pretty. She literally looked like a University student. Apparently she was acting out of her league by not behaving in an obsequious manner as befits a younger. Most of the students were her elders, 13. In a class of 13 year old girls I have now two newcoming girls have arrived who are a year younger, and they both are treated like outsiders to a boisterous clique, and stay respectfully silent.
A poster here was creating a drama with the students, to be videotaped with his handycam.

[SweetBear]

Have them talk about what they used to be like or used to do when they were younger, for example, " I used to be afraid of the dark". "I used to hate peanut butter." " I used to play the piano." Talk about that and then expand it to " I'm still afraid of..."

Have them make a list of what they think boys like and what they think girls like, see how many things they can agree on and then talk about the differences.

Play the true or false game, have them write some unknown truths about themselves mixed in with a few lies and have the other kid guess which is which, talk about the statements.

Take them out on a field trip.

Good luck!

Sb

[canuckistan]

[ajuma]

Can you take them out? Walk around the neighborhood and see how many "Crazy English" signs you can find. Or have them take you to the supermarket and have them explain what some of the items are (play dumb if you have to!)

Is it possible to do some cooking? (One of those 1-burner gas stoves would be enough.) Write a "recipe" for making toasted cheese sandwiches, pancakes, etc. with step by step instructions.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Get a good idiom book and start teaching. As part of the lesson, have them role play situations where they use the idioms.

Start clipping letters from advice columns. Read the letters and let your students give advice. Then give them the printed advice. Do they agree or disagree? (Those letters are a great source of idioms.)

Make sock puppets, like someone mentioned, and have your kids assign them personality characteristics. That should take one whole lesson, at least. Then once a month, give them a situation and have the '4' of them act it out. (If you make one then there can be 6 actors.)

Give them a story (short story or book) to read. Discuss their thoughts about it. Have your students write a short story.

Video a game they like, soccer or whatever. Teach them the vocabulary if necessary, then turn the sound off and have them do the commentary.