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Teaching English to Children |
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Saturday, 13 March 2004 |
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Page 2 of 2 When you tell a child in the class to “go to that corner, jump three times and make a funny face”’ chances are, the child would do it. When you tell a kid to “go, touch your friend’s nose”, chances are, he would even be happy to do so. A child thinks-it’s fun.
That’s why learning can sometimes be more meaningful to children, when done in the context of play. A child is more willing, more enthusiastic, to get down on his knees and do the work in language learning. As adults, we are sometimes concerned more about not acting silly.
My third and final point is that: children speak a lot - even at times when you don’t really want them to. Some may think this to be a disadvantage in class. Perhaps, but not necessarily. When used by the teacher accordingly, this quality can actually further language learning.
Children may make a lot of mistakes and errors as they speak more. But the more they use the Language, the more they gain confidence. The more confident they are, the more motivated they become. When learners are motivated, the more they learn about the Language.
Children are spontaneous and are active learners. And when guided accordingly, they are more willing to use the Language in speech. These are but a few of the hundred and one reasons why I find teaching children a very interesting experience.
One might think, “OK, I’ll teach children. It’s easy. I’ll just play some language games.”Not quite. A lot of time, effort and energy and thought go into the preparation and the actual teaching in class. But I still think that the satisfaction I get at the end of the day has more value than the time, energy and effort I put into it.
So, if you haven’t done it yet, I do hope that sometime in your life, you would have the chance of teaching English-to children. Thank you.
A talk done as an assignment in my course on Oral Presentation Skills, 2000Recommend this article...
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