"I want to be a famous rock star! My life would be the best; concerts, VIP parties, celebrities. Everyone would love me and my face would be on the cover of magazines around the world. I can almost hear the fans shouting my name as they wait outside my hotel room!"
"I always imagine that being famous must be pretty lonely. Most celebrities travel a lot and have very busy lifestyles, so they don’t have much time to see their family and friends. It makes you think about what’s important in life – I’d rather be normal any day!"
So here we are, in the middle of a hot debate about the pros and cons of being a celebrity – where grammar and vocabulary are all part of the fun.
Everyone likes a good language game, don’t they? When you think you’re relaxing, but really your teacher is really making you to practice that nasty grammar point you’ve been studying...? We all know that variety and fun are two of the key ingredients that make studying English memorable and effective, but what does this mean for you as a learner? Beyond the activities set out in your English course book, what kind of classroom practice works best for you and your individual learning style?
Some people like getting into character and acting out a role play of a real-life situation in a shop, at the airport or in the workplace. Others prefer to do extra grammar activities to repeat and reinforce what they’ve already learned. Most of us remember at least one activity that our teacher has brought to class which helped us to learn something difficult or get some stimulating practice. Can you think of a lesson that was particularly useful or good fun? Or are there certain classroom activities that you find boring, stupid or a little pointless? Post some comments and tell us about your best (or worst) learning experiences on the telc English Facebook page!
For ESL/EFL teachers, classroom activities can be an excellent means of bringing something different to your lesson plans. The best examples are engaging, communicative and provide effective practice for the particular skill or study area that you’d like to target. It also helps if they are versatile enough to be adapted to suit the needs of different class sizes, learning styles and ability levels. And since time is of the essence for many teachers, anything that requires minimal preparation is generally very welcome!
But does all of the above represent something of an impossible wish list in reality? Where do you go when you need something to supplement your teaching materials? Do teachers’ books, multimedia resources and the Internet offer the kind of thing you need? Or do you, like so many others, tend to create your own activities from scratch? Why not share some of your tips and tricks with the telc English community? If you have some comments and observations or can recommend a good book or website that other teachers might appreciate, get posting!
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this week’s topic and hope that learners and teachers alike will be able to pick up some new and interesting ideas. Why not also take a look at our new series of free downloadable telc English A2-B1 School Classroom Activities? So far there are two units available on the topics of ‘People’ and ‘Places’, with more to come. They offer some helpful practice in Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, in addition to fun Vocabulary and Language Elements activities. Keep an eye on the telc website for more downloads coming soon!
Special Facebook Launch Competition
Be one of the first to ‘like’ our page and win a copy of the new telc English A2-B1 examination preparation booklet “From A to B” which includes 2 audio CDs to help you practice for the new dual-level examination! Five lucky winners will be drawn every week until the end of August.
Discussion Topic Preview
Look out for next week's article, which will be out on telc Current News on 1 August.