tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post116382728751010737..comments2023-10-27T00:40:33.652+09:00Comments on Jimbo's English Teaching in Japan Blog: Problems Encountered When Reviewing VocabularyJHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-7223929059864951552010-04-02T09:46:38.735+09:002010-04-02T09:46:38.735+09:00Veronika,
Thanks for the great advice. I will try ...Veronika,<br />Thanks for the great advice. I will try it!<br />JamieJHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-21971778669103410342010-03-28T08:34:02.333+09:002010-03-28T08:34:02.333+09:00Hello Jamie,
I am teaching word formation now and ...Hello Jamie,<br />I am teaching word formation now and it is extremely difficult for my students. I would suggest you to hand out a "long" table of words to your students and ask each group of 5-10 students to tick the words they KNOW. Then work with those words only... It is much easier to start with the "easy words". My students were happy to understand all forms of inform: inform, information, informative, informer, informatics, informed, informing... and they were eager to make sentences :-)<br />First they were scared because they hate the FCE type exercises, but they enjoyed the lesson then...<br />Veronika.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1166722014849511052006-12-22T02:26:00.000+09:002006-12-22T02:26:00.000+09:00Hi Chris,Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I...Hi Chris,<BR/>Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I teach a class of 40 students between the ages of 18 and 20. I usually try some kind of icebreaker; I find the simpler the better. For example, simply putting students in pairs and have them ask each other a list of questions is effective. I find that the crazier ice breaking is, it is more likely to have a negative effect with this group.<BR/>I really liked your idea about group sentence writing: Having students write the sentences individually and then share it with their group of 5. I think that would work and will try it! However, I find that the types of learners I teach ignore me when I ask them to produce something in quantity and ignore the quality. For most of the learners, quality cannot be ignored. <BR/>JHJHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1166687561548150712006-12-21T16:52:00.000+09:002006-12-21T16:52:00.000+09:00Hi JH, interesting to read about your experiences ...Hi JH, interesting to read about your experiences with teaching a class of 40 students here in Japan - that's a pretty big class of adults. Maybe if there was some kind of funny icebreaker to get things moving at the start might help the students relax more? How long have they known each other? Not too long by the sounds of things, and the big class doesn't help. How about a kind of 'Pictionary' game at the start of the lesson with the words you want to review cunningly hidden in amongst some other easier words? <BR/><BR/>Also, after they've practised the formation of sentences containing those words the students could be split up into groups of 5. Give them 5 minutes to write as many sentences as possible individually (emphasize mistakes don't matter, only quantity does at this stage). After the five minutes, each student reads their sentences aloud to the group, who write it down and discuss amongst themselves whether it's right or not. Another 5 minutes. Finally get them to decide which in their group are the best/funniest/interesting sentences, and have them read them out to the class, where you can discuss/correct them on the board if necessary.<BR/><BR/>Hope this helps!chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764459236116217795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1166321829304046082006-12-17T11:17:00.000+09:002006-12-17T11:17:00.000+09:00Hi,This is really off the subject but,I have some ...Hi,<BR/>This is really off the subject but,<BR/>I have some teaching questions. <BR/>I am teaching Englsih in Japan currently private, and I have a question about teaching TOEIC. Sorry if I am off in left field, I am not sure if you teach this. But, now the TOEIC includes many English languages that even I have trouble listening to. If you do have any advice on the subject of this exam, or if you know someone who may, please point me in the right direction. Thank you. :DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164762354515407702006-11-29T10:05:00.000+09:002006-11-29T10:05:00.000+09:00Take more time memorize words.I think that we don'...Take more time memorize words.I think that we don't have confidence.<BR/><BR/>Toshihiro.AAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164761109883189082006-11-29T09:45:00.000+09:002006-11-29T09:45:00.000+09:00I got to know your enthusiasm. Your class will be ...I got to know your enthusiasm. Your class will be good through your enthusiasm.<BR/><BR/>YOSHIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164732987879821392006-11-29T01:56:00.000+09:002006-11-29T01:56:00.000+09:00Daiki.MDaiki.MAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164732838464101702006-11-29T01:53:00.000+09:002006-11-29T01:53:00.000+09:00Your son is great! He may be a genius. I can not s...Your son is great! He may be a genius. I can not speak two language. I want to speak English more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164339754735023412006-11-24T12:42:00.000+09:002006-11-24T12:42:00.000+09:00Please hold out. Dream will come ture.Please hold out. <BR/><BR/>Dream will come ture.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1164158133540023092006-11-22T10:15:00.000+09:002006-11-22T10:15:00.000+09:00Rintaro,Thanks for the great teaching idea; I thin...Rintaro,<BR/>Thanks for the great teaching idea; I think I would like to try it.<BR/>About how long does it take you?JHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1163934337996260682006-11-19T20:05:00.000+09:002006-11-19T20:05:00.000+09:00Rintaro,Thanks for the great teaching idea; I thin...Rintaro,<BR/>Thanks for the great teaching idea; I think I would like to try it.<BR/>About how long does it take you?JHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-1163888558873247882006-11-19T07:22:00.000+09:002006-11-19T07:22:00.000+09:00Hi, Jamie! I know it's not easy to make students u...Hi, Jamie! <BR/><BR/>I know it's not easy to make students use English actively. But the opportunity for output is crucial to acqure practical skills of English. We should let them know how important it is to learn English by making mistakes.As you say, students don't want to make mistakes. This must be because of accuracy oriented exams. Maybe our English education system must be changed from accuracy to flency, though it may take time. The followig is the example of output activity I often use in my high school classroom. <BR/>1. Students make groups of two and one is to stand facing the blackboard and another against it. <BR/>2. A new word from the textbook, for example, “Hero”, which is a new word in the section 3 of Lesson 1, is written on the blackboard. <BR/>3. A student facing the blackboard describes the word “Hero” in his/her own English, and the partner guesses what he/she means. When they arrive at the correct answer “Hero”, they can sit down.<BR/>4. The role is reversed and they do the same activity with another new word “Winner”. <BR/>5. After the activity they are required to write sentences they wanted to produce but actually couldn’t by using dictionaries or grammar books.(In some cases a teacher may have to explain grammatical rules students have not yet fully understood.)<BR/> <BR/>The most important thing, I think, is to let them know how exciting an interesting it is to speak and write English. We teachers should do this by being a shining model example.<BR/><BR/>RintaroAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com