Grab a friend and get talking. (Photo credit: gin_able)
Conversation is the best way to improve fluency and confidence in a new language. All you need is a partner (or two, or three, or more) and some ideas. It helps to have a partner who is fluent in the language you’re learning, but even if you are both students, you can practice and correct each other’s mistakes. And if you need ideas, here is a list of tips and topics to get you started.
Some tips for practicing conversation:
Make a date. Have a set conversation time during which you will focus only on practicing. Beginners can do 15 minutes, intermediate learners can do 30 minutes, and more advanced students can work up to an hour. Know when you are starting and when you are ending, so that you don’t get distracted.
Share the learning. It’s easy to find a partner to do a language exchange; that is, somebody who is fluent in the language you’re learning and who wants to learn your native language. If you do find this kind of partner, make sure that you give each language equal time in your practice. Again, this means that you will have a specific start time, and halfway through your session, you will make the conscious decision to switch languages. Try to give each language exclusive time rather than jumping back and forth between the two.
Don’t be shy. This kind of conversation is awkward. It is more difficult than conversation in your native language. Take the attitude that you’re not going to let fear of sounding silly keep you from practicing. Just go for it.
Be patient with yourself and your partner. Try to minimize the amount of time you spend correcting each others’ mistakes and focus on fluency, not accuracy.
Have fun!
The March Conversation Marathon is a new conversation activity every Tuesday and Thursday. They are written for ELLs (English Language Learners) but can be adapted to many languages. Try them. And check back here twice a week to watch the list of March Marathon activities grow.
When you practice, try to spend less time teaching each other and more time listening. The focus is on fluency, not accuracy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Who or whom? The difference between who and whom is difficult for native speakers and English language learners alike, because whom is a word that is rarely used properly. Here’s a simple explanation and four quick examples to help you keep them straight.
In English, the person or thing that does the action is thesubject. The person or thing that receives the action is theobject.
You can ask, “Who wore it better?” or you can ask “For whom did you vote?” (Photo credit: Live & Let Die </3)
Example 2:
Fashion magazines and websites often show pictures of two celebrities wearing the same clothing. The question “Who wore it better?” is correct. There is usually a poll asking readers to vote for the celebrity whose outfit they liked better. After you vote, a friend might ask you “For whom did you vote?” It may sound formal, but it’s correct.
WhopracticesEnglish? With whomdoyoupractice English? (Now, the word“you”is the subject,making“whom”the object.)
One reason who and whom are difficult is that they are used incorrectly very frequently. A native English speaker might not necessarily recognize that a sentence like “Who are you going to invite to the party?” is incorrect, because we hear it being said (incorrectly) so often. The correct “Whom are you going to invite to the party?” is less common, so it sounds more formal.
Example 4:
Here is an example of the word whom used in pop culture, in the lyrics to this song by Metallica. The lyric “for whom the bell tolls” is a reference to the poem Meditation 17 by John Donne.
If you’re not a Metallica fan, you can skip to 2:05 where the vocals begin.
If the sentence is “Time marches on for whom the bell tolls,” then “time” is the subject, “marches on” is the action, and “for whom the bell tolls” is the object.
January 29th is National Puzzle Day! It is an obscure holiday celebrated faithfully every year by puzzle makers and puzzle fans alike. To get into the National Puzzle Day spirit, try these puzzles for English class.
Word searches: Try these word search worksheets organized by topic and by level of difficulty. If you want to play online, try these flash word searches organized by topic. You have to hold down the shift key while you click on letters to highlight a word.
Bingo: Try printing this bingo board and filling it in with vocabulary words or pictures.
Fortune teller:Want to predict the future? Try playing MASH! Or print this fortune-teller (“cootie catcher”) template and follow the instructions to make your own paper fortune teller.
Simple board games: Here is a game where you write a question in each square. You can only advance to the next square if you get the question correct. Print the template, fill in the questions, and find a friend to play with.
Need to practice grammar? These online flash games will have you shooting hoops, sword fighting, and building a catapoult to “fling the teacher” while you practice comparatives, prefixes, suffixes, and other grammar structures.
Crosswords: If you want to try online crossword puzzles, this site has many of them sorted by topic and difficulty.
Trivia:Free rice is a great site to answer trivia questions and, supposedly, donate food to starving people around the world. You start with easy questions, and as you get more correct answers, the questions get harder.
Do you like the phrase cellar door? Would you like it better if you knew it is considered one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language?
The claim that cellar door is beautiful to the ear — in opposition to its prosaic meaning — has been made by and attributed to a wide variety of writers over the years. “Poetry, in fact, is two quite distinct things,” H. L. Mencken wrote in a 1920 magazine column. “It may be either or both. One is a series of words that are intrinsically musical, in clang-tint and rhythm, as the single word cellar-door is musical. The other is a series of ideas, false in themselves, that offer a means of emotional and imaginative escape from the harsh realities of everyday.”
Do you agree? And what makes a word beautiful to you, anyway?
One website is set to find out, asking visitors to vote in word vs word battles. Laurel leaf vs yells. To take office vs umpteen. Comparable vs cosignatory. The viewer is given pair after pair of words or phrases and asked to choose the more beautiful. The idea is that at about a hundred million votes or so, a list of the top twenty-five most beautiful, and least beautiful, will emerge as chosen by the internet.
At the time of this writing the site claims there have been almost 200,000 votes cast, still a long way from a million. The lists of ten best and ten worst are thought provoking. On the ten most beautiful list, several words of distinctly non-English origin, including aide-de-camp, pita, and ibis. First among the ten ugliest: pregnant. Accompanied by negative pressure, data storage, and to flambé.
One can only speculate which words and phrases were voted up (or voted down) because of their internal rhyme structure, and which were chosen (or not) because of their meaning.
What do turkeys, travel, family, (American) football games, giant balloons, indigenous rights, cooking, shopping, school vacations, traditional costumes and thankfulness have in common?
They are all ideas associated with the American tradition of Thanksgiving, celebrated on the third Thursday in November every year. November is a great time for English classes around the world to learn about this American holiday and pick up some new vocabulary as well. Here are resources to learn about Thanksgiving and plan your own celebration.
1. Learn the history of Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 in what is now Massachusetts, United States. It was a harvest celebration attended by English colonists and Wampanoag indigenous people. Back then, it wasn’t called “Thanksgiving” and it probably was not celebrated in November! To learn more about what really happened on Thanksgiving, visit this Interactive Plimoth Plantation Exhibit and become a historian.
4. Be thankful. Thanksgiving is a time to think about the good things in our lives and express gratitude for them. Click here to read about an interactive art project called the Look for the Good Project.
Kermit the Frog (Photo credit: MikeMonello)
5. Create your own Thanksgiving Parade float. Every year on Thanksgiving Day there is a big parade in New York City, New York. There are celebrities and musical performances, but the parade is most famous for its giant balloons. They are usually characters from television, comic books, and movies. You can watch a video of the parade here. Then, follow these instructions to make your own balloon floats. Your balloon float won’t be as large as the ones in the parade… or will it?
6. Watch American football. The Thanksgiving Day football game is a tradition at the high school, university, and professional level. Not sure how to play football? This Goofy cartoon will teach you.
7. Go shopping. The day after Thanksgiving in the United States is called “Black Friday,” and it is traditionally a day for people to start shopping for Christmas gifts. Stores have big sales and people go shopping very, very early in the morning to get the best deals. Practice numbers and prices exploring this Black Friday shopping website. Who can find the best deal on a TV? On clothing? On video games?
Hand Turkey by Kara (Photo credit: Rory Finneren)
8. Do some arts and crafts. In the United States, most schoolchildren have a small vacation, starting with a half day of school on the day before Thanksgiving and continuing for four days. It is traditional for families to travel to visit one another and be together for Thanksgiving Dinner. If you still have school this week, here are some arts and crafts you can do with your class.
Send some e-cards here and here.
Do a variety of educational crafts here.
People in the United States don’t dress up in folkloric costumes as much as many other countries do, but schoolchildren often still wear costumes to represent the colonists and Wompanoag. You can watch a video about how to make a colonist costume here.
And, no Thanksgiving arts and crafts session would be complete without our favorite craft: make a Thanksgiving hand turkey here.
9. Watch a Thanksgiving video. Now that you know about American Thanksgiving traditions, sing along with this Thanksgiving song by Nicole Westbrook. How many Thanksgiving traditions do you see represented in the video? What do you see in the video that doesn’t make sense? What traditions is the video missing? Check your answers in the comments.
I’m wide awake, and I should take A step and say thank you, thank you, For the things you’ve done, and what you did Oh yeah, ooh yeah. December was Christmas, January was New Year’s. April was Easter, and the Fourth of July, but now it’s Thanksgiving. Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, we’re gonna have a good time. Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we are gonna have a good time. With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!) We we we are gonna have a good time. We need the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!)
Does this happen at your house on Thanksgiving?
It’s Thanksgiving, It’s Thanksgiving. You know school is out, I can’t wait, I can shout thank you, thank you, thank you. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, This is my favorite day. December was Christmas, January was New Year’s. April was Easter, and the Fourth of July, but now it’s Thanksgiving. Yo, it’s Thanksgiving-givin’ and I’m tryin’ to be forgivin’. Nothing is forbidden, you know we gotta have it. I gotta give thanks to you, and you, and you. Can’t be hateful, gotta be grateful; gotta be grateful, can’t be hateful. Mashed potatoes on my, on my table, I got ribs smelling’ up my neighbors’ cribs. Havin’ good times, we be laughin’ ’til we cry. It’s Thanks, Thanks, Thanksgiving, come on It’s Thanks, Thanks, Thanksgiving, give ‘em thanks, y’all. Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, we’re gonna have a good time. Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, are gonna have a good time. With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!) We we we, are gonna have a good time. With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!) It’s Thanksgiving, it’s Thanksgiving.
Conversation Questions:
Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your country? Do you have another similar holiday? Which Thanksgiving tradition is your favorite?
People love to talk about themselves.Use these quick activities to practice the forms of the verb ‘to be.’ You can use these in Spanish and other languages, too.
Use beanbags or another soft projectile for Verb Ball. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
1. Verb Ball. Everybody stands in a circle and tosses around a beanbag, a beach ball, or some other object. This is a good activity for right after you have learned all the forms of a verb– and it doesn’t even have to be ‘to be.’ The first person starts with ‘I’ and passes the ball. The person who catches the ball says ‘am,’ and then throws the ball to another person while saying ‘you.’ The recipient replies with ‘are,’ and then throws the ball to somebody else while saying ‘he’ or ‘she.’ Keep going through all the pronouns and their conjugations.
2. Matching race.Split the group into teams. Give each team a set of cards with the forms of the verb and put a big card with each of the pronouns on it up on the wall. This is a relay race: only one person on each team can go up to the board at the time with one card. Teammates take turns running up to put their cards under the correct pronouns. The team that gets all their cards up on the wall in the correct places first is the winner.
For a more advanced class, give them almost complete sentences on the cards. For example, the card says “…am a student,” and the team has to put it on the wall under the pronoun I. There are different variations you can play, like putting cards in boxes. We like having students tape the cards to the wall or board, because there can be a rule that only one student from each team can have the tape in his or her hand at a time. That way, they have to run back to the rest of the team and hand off the tape to the next person, and it prevents overeager competitors from all running at once.
3. Interviews. Make up a list of questions that the students should know how to answer using ‘to be.’ For example:
Have students sit in pairs and interview each other. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Who am I? Who are you? Who is he? Who is she? Who are we? Who are you and he? Who are you and she? Who are they? Who is the teacher? Who are the students? Who is the principal? Who is your mother / father? Who is the president? Interview the students, and, when they get good at answering, have them interview each other. The questions can be changed to use students’ names, too, like this: Who are Alana and Robert? They are students. Who is Mrs. Harrison? She is the teacher. You can make it into a game and give teams points for correct answers, or play jeopardy.
4. Tic Tac Toe: Question the Answers.Set up a tic-tac-toe board and fill it with simple statements using the verb ‘to be.’ Divide the students into an X team and an O team. In order to gain a point, the team must ask and answer a question correctly. For example, Victor and Jack are on the same team and want to take the square labeled, “Yes he is.” Victor: Is Martin a student? Jack: Yes he is.
5. Movie Quotes.Find clips of famous movie scenes and show them to the class. You could give them a list of the quotes and have them fill in the different forms of the verb as they listen. Here are some movies with famous lines that include am, is, and are:
You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.
–Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront
Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
–Ali MacGraw as Jennifer in Love Story
I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!
—Peter Finch as Howard Beale in Network
There’s no crying in baseball.
—Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own
7. Mini autobiography.When the students know some basic adjectives, have them write mini-autobiographies describing themselves physically, personality-wise, and talking about where they are from. Have each student draw a picture as well. Post the autobiographies around the room and have the class guess whose is whose.
8. Grammar circle. Stand in a circle and have each person introduce himself. Then go around the circle again: this time the first person introduces herself, and the second person introduces himself and the student who went before. Each student has to introduce him- or herself and all of the previous students. The person who started has to remember everyone’s name.
Julie: I am Julie. Paco: I am Paco, and she is Julie. Ruth: I am Ruth, and he is Paco, and she is Julie. David: I am David, and she is Ruth, and he is Paco, and she is Julie.
9. I am; who is? Write I am ___. Who is ___? on the board for everyone to see. Then start the game by filling in the blanks with your name and another student’s name. The student who is called must answer with his or her name and another student’s name. Continue until all students have been called. Time the group to see whether they can improve their record.
Mrs. Harrison: I am Mrs. Harrison. Who is Victor? Victor: I am Victor. Who is Alana? Alana: I am Alana. Who is Ruth? Ruth: I am Ruth. Who is Martin?
10. “To be” Jeopardy! Create a simple Jeopardy! game using descriptions that students have written of themselves previously. A sample question could be: He is a student. He is tall and blonde. He is from Chicago. The answer, of course, is in the form of a question: Who is Jack? Harder questions would use multiple people: They are girls. They are friends. One is blonde and one is brunette. They are serious students. Answer: Who are Alana and Julie? Don’t forget to use I, you, and we.
