The New Lesson

This week's lesson is our first attempt at "conversation" in Conversational English. Since only one in ten is actually capable of a conversation, I provided them with a script, with only their specific information to fill in:
A: Hello, my English name is ____________. What is your English name?
B: My English name is _____________.
A: Where you born? How old are you?
B: I was born in _____________, and I am _______ years old.
...
A: What do you like to do in your spare time?
B: I like to _____________.
A: What other hobbies do you have?
B: I also like to _____________.
... and so on. Each table has three people, so person #3 is the policeman, who makes sure they speak only English. Then they switch roles until everyone has asked and answered.

In the next activity, each student writes four new questions, and they take turns asking them to each other. We spent the last ten minutes with me randomly selecting someone to ask a question, and then randomly choosing someone else to answer. This was to encourage listening, as you will look silly if you don't know the answer: for instance, the student who informed us his favorite color was to become a medical doctor. I said, "Wow, cool! Medical doctor is my favorite color, too!" It was a Korean knee slapper.

The first few times, I stand near the student I will pick to answer--you want to model success; only after a few good trials should you call on a student who is off-task. Anyway, this lesson seemed to go pretty well, so if you are here for ESL help (although I can't imagine why), give it a try. If you're here for another reason, too bad, it's what I've got for today.