Giving students advice
Teachers are authority figures. 
In the absence of their parents and support networks in their own country, many ESL students go to their teachers for advice.
Usually, the question is something along the lines of "how can I improve my English faster?", (as if teachers had some sort of magic formula that we'd been holding back for our own nefarious purposes).
Of course, there is no magic formula, other than the one most students will already understand instinctively: come to class, do your homework, participate in the course as much as possible and use only English outside of school to immerse yourself in the language.
There are no shortcuts to fluency.
Some students will not be satisfied with that answer.
To those, I always say that people learn differently; some of us are visual learners (eg. associating words and phrases with pictures on cards); some of us learn better through repetition (eg. repeating the same phrase in context enough times that it becomes second nature); some prefer a more systematic approach of studying grammar formulas and writing out examples to see what works. Some students like to watch movies and learn directly from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's dialogue - nothing wrong with that.
Students need to figure out what works for them and do that. And they should understand that motivation plays a big part. If what they are doing is no longer enjoyable then they will need to switch up their method; ie. one week, do a lot of reading and writing and the next week practice speaking more in a less structured environment, like in a cafe with friends.
Sometimes, students ask for advice about other things; how to find an apartment, dealing with intransigent homestay hosts or dating the locals.
Dear Ai is a popular advice column website for ESL students in Vancouver. It's no good for students who are still struggling with the basics and can't read a restaurant menu, but intermediate students might find it useful. Teachers, check it out - there are some interesting topics here.
In the absence of their parents and support networks in their own country, many ESL students go to their teachers for advice.
Usually, the question is something along the lines of "how can I improve my English faster?", (as if teachers had some sort of magic formula that we'd been holding back for our own nefarious purposes).
Of course, there is no magic formula, other than the one most students will already understand instinctively: come to class, do your homework, participate in the course as much as possible and use only English outside of school to immerse yourself in the language.
There are no shortcuts to fluency.
Some students will not be satisfied with that answer.
To those, I always say that people learn differently; some of us are visual learners (eg. associating words and phrases with pictures on cards); some of us learn better through repetition (eg. repeating the same phrase in context enough times that it becomes second nature); some prefer a more systematic approach of studying grammar formulas and writing out examples to see what works. Some students like to watch movies and learn directly from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's dialogue - nothing wrong with that.
Students need to figure out what works for them and do that. And they should understand that motivation plays a big part. If what they are doing is no longer enjoyable then they will need to switch up their method; ie. one week, do a lot of reading and writing and the next week practice speaking more in a less structured environment, like in a cafe with friends.Sometimes, students ask for advice about other things; how to find an apartment, dealing with intransigent homestay hosts or dating the locals.
Dear Ai is a popular advice column website for ESL students in Vancouver. It's no good for students who are still struggling with the basics and can't read a restaurant menu, but intermediate students might find it useful. Teachers, check it out - there are some interesting topics here.
posted by Jonathon Narvey @ 1:51 PM
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