Teacher Discussion Forums

Hello,
I'm teaching two children who knows nothing about english
to be exact. they're both Koreans, one is a girl (1st grade) and the other
is a boy (2nd grade)
they have never been to america or canada.
they goto korean schools.
my problem is.. they won't SPEAK
i just started tutoring today
and they DONT SPEAK!!
how do i get them to speak?
And because they're both young, and have no interest in english
or infact.. LEARNING, or STUDYING
how do i get them to be more focused and interested?
or make my lessons interesting??

HELP! THANKS!

It is completely normal for them to be silent - do you know about the "silent period"? Some kids are silent for up to a year. Don't force it. Just inundate them with LISTENING - make it fun. Use videos, get books on cassette, where they follow along while they listen. Play games, bingo, etc. Just don't force them to speak before they're ready or they'll associate language learning with serious anxiety.

I agree with mstuart that it's normal for L2 learners to be silent for a while. But when there are only two students and neither of them speak, the situation is pretty awkward. If I were you, I'd try to get them to respond nonverbally, so at least you have some communicative turn taking going on. Games like Simon Says are classic. You can also try hiding cards or objects, and asking them to find them ("find the card that says 'ball'."). Or you can try asking them to go touch objects in the room that match a given description ("find something brown and small."). Charades is a fun one as well (they act out, and you guess).

After you get nonverbal communication channels established, try having them repeat after you, or read orally. That's less stressful than coming up with their own expressive language. In fact, sometimes whispering can be good, too. A game like "telephone" is good for that. And when they do finally decide to say something to you spontaneously, don't make a big deal out of it. You don't want them to get all shy again. Just treat it as normal and move on from there.

Good luck,
-EH