Confidence building exercises, please!

stromfi · Post by **stromfi** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 2:52 am

I have a Korean student who speaks well, but lacks confidence. What kind of exercises are you doing with your adult students to turn them into confident speakers? I was thinking of having her read out some of Shel Silverstein's poems. It would probably be a bit of a jump, though. Anyway, it's only one idea and I'd like to have more to juggle with. Any suggestions?

Thanks a million.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:58 pm

Stromfi

This probably sounds really obvious, but often students like that are shy to speak up in front of a whole class. You could try activities where she'll be working in small groups or pairs, when she can have more opportunity to speak without feeling like the whole class is listening.

Another strategy might be to pair her with a weaker student. This will give her the chance to help this student and that will surely boost her own confidence.

Good luck anyway

Brian

Grammar comics for you and your students...

http://www.grammarmancomic.com

.

stromfi · Post by **stromfi** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 5:06 pm

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, pair and group work won't work since it's a 101. Do you have some fun stuff that works in such a set-up?

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:26 am

What's a 101? I'm sure there must be some kind of activity suitable to it that can help your shy student.

Brian

Grammar comics for you and your students...

http://www.grammarmancomic.com

.

stromfi · Post by **stromfi** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:45 pm

Hi Brian,

101 = one on one (one teacher - one student)

As I said before, my Korean student speaks well, but lacks the mannerism of a confident speaker, or at least what people tend to associate with confidence here in the western world (porjection of voice, body language, eye contact, etc.) This is what she needs to work on and I'm looking for activities that would help her improve this aspect of her communication skills.