speaking english
5 Interesting Tips for What to Do in Your English Club
So, you have started your successful English Club and need some ideas to keep it interesting, dynamic and welcoming? Read on to find 5 tips to make your English Club excel and be a great complement to your ESL lessons:
1. Define a warm-up time
It’s the same as what teachers do. You begin class with a funny conversation or activity. It is the time you establish to wake everyone up and help them focus on what is coming. The activities will depend on your club’s focus, whether it is more academic or social. If you focus on the attendees, think of what will keep them interested and motivated for the activities that will come next. The warm-up should serve as an introduction to the main activity or the reason you’re meeting on that particular day.
2. Organize the meetings
The club can be organized in many ways. You can center your activities on one area, like conversation or reading, or devote each week to a different one, sorting out topics and skills. Each member can plan an activity related to the week’s topic or each one can be in charge of a week’s session. There should always be a meeting leader, who will guide the activities and will have the opportunity to practice his or her leadership and creative skills.
3. Have a back-up plan
In case the leader cannot make it, you must have a back-up plan. The leader should call someone in case he or she cannot attend, and should give instructions as to what to do, but if this doesn’t happen, be prepared! You can have discussion questions prepared, or learn 15 new words from the dictionary and use them in sentences, or play a game of cards, or any other game, in English. For example, you can have a game of Monopoly, Life, or any other board game in English on hand, in case you have a last minute change of plans.
4. Create a suggestion box
Encourage members to leave suggestions every week. It will enrich the meetings and people will feel very comfortable and motivated if they are heard.
5. Plan excursions
So much fun! Once a month is a good parameter. Excursions are a joyful and interesting way to bond. Go watch a movie, play a sport, volunteer, do a back yard sale, have a picnic, go dancing, have dinner together, or visit a tourist attraction. No matter what you do, always speak in English
No matter what it is you do, the important thing is to keep your club’s goal in mind: you are getting together to have a good time AND to put everything you’re learning in your ESL lessons to good use in real life settings.
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ESL Programs - Acquisition or learning?
Most adults commonly have some difficulties where English as a second language is concerned. They often mention that while they can generally perform within a classroom scenario, an ESL class, it is extremely hard for them to use language naturally outside the classroom. Some even compare themselves to their own children, perhaps learning the same second language, stating that it seems easier for their kids to use the language than it is for them. Well, there is a reason for this, and the good news is that there is something adults can do to improve this condition.
There are two different ways to develop competence in a language: language acquisition and language learning.
Language acquisition is a subconscious process very much like the way a child acquires their first language. Language acquirers are not consciously aware of the grammatical rules of the language, but rather develop a “feel” for correctness. Acquisition involves “picking-up” a language. In order to acquire a language, the learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring English get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.
Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It refers to the conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the rules, being aware of them, and being able to talk about them. Thus, language learning can be compared to learning about a language. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing. A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to perform successfully on a test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.
The acquisition-learning distinction hypothesis claims that adults do not lose the ability to acquire languages. They should actively use the language as much as possible as well as have great deal of exposure to it. Practicing in context is essential for acquisition. Language needs to be meaningful at all times, and this is common ground for both children and adults alike. Language without meaningful communication is useless.
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