Current projects

ESL Projects English Team Trainers
1

We currently are running the following courses:

  • LCCI Prep Course Dortmund This class is run by [url=http://english-team.com/wir_fuer_sie/index1.htm]Bruce Finlayson[/url] and I'm sure he soon will give us an update on his current successes.
  • LCCI Prep Course Grimma This group consists of 10 young people (aged 18 to 24) who have currently finished their vocational training program and are now preparing for an exam that is similar to LCCI English For Business, Level II. The course will run until summer 2008 and it will be our job to prepare the group for the exam.
  • BZ Nordhausen This course started on November 19 and will be running until February 8. The group consists of 10 people who want to improve their English in order to have better chances on the job market.
  • Bike Systems Nordhausen This is a so-called "outplacement" project which is run by our partner company, ibs. There are currently 5 groups with 12 to 16 people who until November 2007 worked for Bike Systems, a bicycle manufacturer.
  • BZ Halle This is a course for former employees of Karstardt Halle.
  • "High Potentials" Jena This is a program for young university graduates who are looking for a job in the Jena area.
Today I worked with one of the 5 Bike Systems groups. As of now, the group is called "group II" and today it consisted of 12 people. Since this group have already worked with Rolf and Uli, I thought I might give it a try and introduce myself in English. When I stared speaking I realized that some of the participants were not yet ready to communicate in English. I put some basic questions on the flipchart asking everyone to introduce their neighbour to me in English. Three of group members said they don't understand any English although they had learned English at school so I switched to German asking everyone to tell me when and where they had learned English and what exactly they want to achieve with the current course. Together we established that the group members have at least three different levels of English and that this is an excellent opportunity to practice our "team work skills".

We agreed that one goal of our course is to be able to communicate in English without switching back and forth between German and English. I put the following question on the flipchart: “How do you spell this?” pointing out that this will be one of our most important questions throughout the entire course. We then reviewed took turns spelling our names. They still tend to confuse “e”, “i” and “a” but by the end of the day they had made quite some progress as I constantly asked them to spell words. In the afternoon we listened to the first chapter of an audio self-learning course by Hueber which contains a number of drill exercises (repeating word groups, responding to questions, etc.)

Our goal with the bike systems project should be to reduce the amount of time that is spent speaking German to a minimum as soon as possible. We have to prepare the group for a “real life situation” in which they need to communicate with a person who doesn’t speak any German. My plan for Friday is to introduce some vocabulary that is related to production in general and bicycles in particular.

Also, there is one person in the group, Mike, who is a professional dart player – he practices for two hours every day and has been playing darts since 1992. He has been to European championships several times where he also met English players who don’t speak any German. Today Mike was rather passive and my goal is to give him materials relating to darts so he’ll have a greater interest in learning English.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A trucking terminal[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Hi Torsten , many thanks for the invitation to this very interesting forum.
Zane is interested to teach only two days in Nordhausen in January.
This way I shall work the three other days.
I propose Uli will work Monday Tuesday and Wednesday and Zane on Thursday & Friday . Is this ok? Best wishes . Uli

3

Hi Uli,

In January and February Zane wants to work Tuesdays and Wednesdays so we are going to work out a schedule that fits everybody’s preferences. In January Ray, a new trainer from New York, joins us and since Ray wants to work 5 days a week and I’m sure we’ll find a solution. As you know, we have two courses in Nordhausen, both will be running full time from January on.

In addition to coordinating the schedule, it’s important that we keep each other up to date on what activities we did with our groups. As for the bike systems project, we did the following this week:

  • revision of the alphabet (How do you spell this?)
  • creating a list with frequently used verbs
  • reviewing the weekdays and months
  • listening comprehension (audio course for beginners by Hueber)
  • review of the personal pronouns and the be-verb

Uli, please continue with the question words, the simple present and numbers and review everything we have covered so far. Please, try to stick to English so the group gets used to communicating in English rather than switching between languages. Also, please give me an update on the BZ project so I know what to do with them next week.

Regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A mass gathering[YSaerTTEW443543]

4

Hi Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your update. Could you please tell us if you used any materials in your classroom and if so which? I think “How to pass LCCI, Level II” might be quite a good choice for this group as it contains exercises that relate to their upcoming exam.

Please let me know what you think.
Regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A rural scene[YSaerTTEW443543]

5

Hi everyone,

Today I worked with one of the bike systems groups and we went through the basics again. This means, we started by reviewing the alphabet again (spelling words), then practiced using the numbers and then I introduced simple present and simple past. There were 11 people in the group today and the motivation was pretty good. Tomorrow I’ll be working with the same group and we’ll practice how to deal with every day situations such as booking a hotel room via telephone, reserving a car, asking the way in a new town, using the public transport system, etc. We are mainly using the whiteboard and if somebody doesn’t know a word, they have to ask how it is spelled and I explain the word in English. One of our goals is now to be able to communicate in English rather than switching back and forth between German and English.

I’ll send you another update in a few days. As for the January schedule, maybe Zane can do BZ Thursdays and Fridays? If you’ll be doing Tuesdays and Wednesdays then one of us will have to travel to Nordhausen for just one day which is a bit difficult.

Please let me know what you think.
Regards,
Uli

6

Hi everybody,

Yesterday I worked with the LCCI Preparation Course in Grimma again and as the other days I used recent business news from different Internet sources for economy-related vocabulary building, reading comprehension and to stimulate discussions.
For other oral group activity such as asking for and giving information on company details or leaving and taking messages I used material from onestopenglish which I had found amongst Bruce’s documents.
Regarding the writing tasks they are to accomplish at the exam I’ve introduced them to notices and memos so far and used the “How to Pass English for Business” second level preparation book for for this purpose. It does not really contain exercises that relate to exam but genuine exam questions and a model answer to each one. This means I needed to give a big deal of direction particularly concerning correct sentence building and choosing an appropriate style according to the person(s) they would be addressing as many of them tended to just copy the notes given in the question.
I will try to have a look at the student’s book which is a separate component of the official EfB preparation material to check how this could help.

I wish a Merry Christmas to everyone and am looking forward to continue cooperating with you next year.

Best regards,
Daniel

7

Hi Daniel,

Daniel, it’s great to hear you are using authentic materials as well as ESL resources with your group since their English is rather advanced and they need to use all the knowledge they have accumulated over the past few years. Your group is rather homogeneous in terms of their background and skill levels. I’d be curious to hear how the essay writing project worked out – you mentioned that you reviewed the essays they had composed. Could you please elaborate as to how long their essays were and what their thoughts were? I’m asking because you might want to give them another essay assignment. Brainstorm possible topics or go through this list to get some inspiration. Your group already has rather good writing skills and it would be great if they continued expressing their thoughts through composing essays.

Also, it’s excellent that you have introduced LCCI based exercises so they are getting a better idea of the structure and contents of their upcoming exam. In addition to written materials you might want to use some audio recordings – VOA News might be a good resource for this purpose. You can download these audio files and replay them in the classroom.

As for the BZ Leipzig course, let’s brainstorm some ideas during the next few days so we’ll be prepared when it starts early next year.

You too have a relaxed Christmas time and I’m sure 2008 will be a successful year for you.

Talk to you soon,
Torsten

Hi Uli,

Thanks a lot for your update – sound like you’ve been having an excellent time with the bike systems folks. Yes, please continue reviewing the basics with them so they are getting a feeling of accomplishment. With them it’s very important that practice pronouncing short phrases until they really have them down. What I sometimes do is introduce a word or phrase and then have every single person in the group repeat the phrase as exactly as possible so everyone hears the phrase several times and by the end they don’t have to think about the correct pronunciation. You might have them close their eyes so they can even better concentrate on the sound and are not distracted by any other information such as words on the whiteboard etc.

More on that when we meet tomorrow.
Regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: The receptionist[YSaerTTEW443543]

8

Hi Torsten

As for the length of the essays the students of the Grimma group had composed they were between one and two pages (handwritten or typed: about 500 words). Discussing the reason why English has become so important most focused on Britain’s colonial legacy and the US part in the creation of the computer industry. Assessing the advantages their most important points were that it simplifies communication and furthers mutual understanding between peoples. Most identified the decrease in importance of other languages and the fact that especially older people don’t understand English as major disadvantages. Some were more concerned with the advantages and disadvantages of speaking/understanding English for themselves particularly in terms of career opportunities.

BZ Course

Apart from basic and general language skills I think what would most benefit them could be:

  • anything related to numbers, times and dates
  • vocabulary related to the workplace (e.g. tools, products to be stored)
  • packing materials and modes of packing and labeling
  • understanding/composing different types of accompanying documents to goods (incl. safety
    and shipping regulations)
  • queries/complaints on the phone

This is what first came to my mind. Please let me know what you think.

Regards,
Daniel

9

Hi Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your great work with the Grimma group and your suggestions regarding the BZ course. Yes, it’s probably a good idea to start reviewing the basics covering all the items you listed plus the alphabet and frequently used verbs. In addition you could do prepositions of location and time. Also, describing objects and naming materials. I’ll do some research to come up with resources that relate to warehousing and elementary logistics. It would be great if we could create our own word list that contains words, phrases and abbreviations that are frequently used in warehousing industry. More on that soon.

Regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: City Dwellings[YSaerTTEW443543]

10

Hi everyone, in our Karstadt Ladies group (plus Ralf - the only gentleman in this seminar) we have practiced some exercises with the english-test.net training opportunities according to the different individual levels. Many thanks for Torsten’s advice how to improve the learning atmosphere and motivation. Next time we shall practice pronouncing short phrases until all group members will have them down. best wishes Uli

11

Hi,

Yesterday the new course at Bildungszentrum des sächsischen Handels in Leipzig started and I was a bit surprised to learn that its participants were not trainees in warehousing and logistics but young adults doing an apprenticeship as shop-assistants in various settings. So it’s basically the same as last year.
There are five groups the first of which consists of about ten students. Three of them showed a rather good level of English compared to the rest of the class. We started reviewing the alphabet, did some spelling exercises and refreshed personal pronouns and present tenses.

Regarding the warehouse workers’ course Mrs Zeisner said she was still discussing this issue with her boss and that it might begin in February.
Thanks for your suggestions, Torsten. I’ll try to come up with something as well.
Mrs Zeisner also said she would like some type of test and certificate for the shop-assistants too. I’ll work on this and it would be great if we could meet and discuss it by the end of the month.

See you,
Daniel

12

Hi Uli,

Thanks a lot for your update, seems like you had a great time with the Karstadt folks. Could you please us which exercises you used and what phrases you are going to practice? It might be an idea to introduce some vocabulary that is related to the retails sales industry such as the various kinds of stores and outlets as well as the process of buying and selling. You might want to use authentic resources such as Wikipedia to find appropriate materials.

Please let me know what you think.
Regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A girl with boxes[YSaerTTEW443543]

13

Hi Daniel,

Many thanks for agreeing to do the Grimma Wednesdays. As for next Wednesday, please start by asking the group to present their essays which they wrote on Wednesday, January 9. This time they had the entire day to compose an essay on one of the following topics:

  • Is Germany a good country to raise children?
  • What impact does globalization have on your life?

In addition they were allowed to choose their own topic. Please point out to the group that it is important for them to practice expression their thoughts on a variety of topics. Before you have everyone read out their essay you might want to explain them to the group why they chose that particular topic, especially if they decide to chose their own one.

As you know, BZ are going to run two more courses – one on Wednesdays and the other on Thursdays. They are planning to start both course after the winter break so the first Wednesday for you to work at BZ Leipzig would be February 20. This means one of us will have to take over the Grimma Wednesdays since Ralf agreed to do the Thursdays. At any rate, it’s great that you are using the forum to keep us up to date so any other trainer who is following this thread will be able to take over the Grimma course.

More on that soon,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: In a store[YSaerTTEW443543]

14

Hello,

To give a little overview of what I have been doing in Nordhausen, I generally follow this schedule:

I. First, we do speaking practice and grammar review until breakfast by asking each other questions and then reviewing the grammar that has been taught as mistakes are made.

II. Next, we usually move on to grammar review, building on the grammar they have already learned. I have written down all of the grammar I taught in the classroom journal on location, but in general we have covered:

a. simple past, present, and future
b. continuous past and present
c. conjunction words (e.g. and, but)
d. conditional sentences (if… then)
e. modal verbs (Most of them have trouble with these)
f. prepositions of time and place
g. question formation with both question words and inversion
h. negation

To review, I usually have them do worksheets, then they read their answers together. Finally, I ask them questions to get them to use the new grammar by creating their own sentences. I also have them explain to me what they have learned from Uli since I saw them last.

III. After this, I usually move on to reading and phonetics. Usually, this means a reading from the internet, but I have brought readings as well. Some of the websites we have used effectively are Kid’s BBC, National Geographic, and Discovery. After selecting an article, I have them take turns reading a few sentences, and then I reread them so that they can hear the pronunciation. Many times, I also have them pick out the grammar we are working on as it appears in the actual reading (e.g. simple past). The reader attempts to translate their sentences for the class, and the class helps with unknown key words.

IV. They also have accounts on dict.cc to create personal vocabulary quizzes from words they learned that day from readings and discussion. That way they have new vocabulary stored and can go back to it at home and after the course ends to review. Sometimes they will do these quizzes and database management next. Sometimes we will find a news report or video for them to try to understand, so they don’t just learn to understand Texan English. There is also a skype network for people who want to do a language exchange, which would be great for continuing practice after the course, but you just need to get some microphones to get it started.

V. By the end of the day, people are generally a bit exhausted, so we usually play a game like a modified version of hangman (where someone stands at the board and writes several blanks, and then people ask them ‘yes or no’ questions (a favorite is “Can you buy it at the Marktkauf?”) and guess the letters of the word). Other times, they will ask questions about culture, or we just address specific questions they have about how to say something in a context (e.g. business telephone).

All in all, it is a great group of people, and it has been interesting to get to know them and see their English improve.

15

Hi Zane,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences with us. It’s very good that you have covered a number of grammar items with the group because they do want to get information on grammar which helps them raise their level of self-confidence. Please let us know what grammar exercises you have used so can compare our materials and resources.

There are a number of things I like about your approach. First of all you created your own structured lesson plans that you followed through. This gives the group a sense of stability and continuity. It also helps speed up the learning process and make your lessons more effective. Second, you incorporated the Internet showing the group how they can use new technologies such as interactive vocabulary builders for their own learning activities. Third, you gave the group tools and techniques that they can use once the course is over and that’s a vital element because learning a language is an ongoing process and all we can do in the “classroom” is introduce resources and techniques to the learners.

Zane, you’ve an excellent job and I wish you a success with your university projects. I hope we can stay in touch via the Internet once you go back home to the US.

Best regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: An outdoor gathering[YSaerTTEW443543]

16

Hello,

My name is Ray, and I’ve finally joined the forum to give my two cents on English training. I started working with the Nordhausen group last Monday, January 7, 2008. Previously, my internet access was intermittent at best, and so this is my first entry into the forum. (Thank you Torsten for moving me into the Hotel Avena, where there is a free Wifi connection. Internet access is so important for my lesson planning and also for general communication. One thing though, when I came yesterday, the concierge had no record of my reservation… I do hope I’m in the right hotel.)

I figure I can summarize what I did last week and then describe what I did with the class today.

Last Monday was my first time instructing English as a second language and I walked in with many ideas on how to get the class going, but with no real idea of how exactly to do so. I wanted to spend time gauging everyone’s proficiency and trying to figure out exactly what I would need to do with the group, and also what the group itself wanted to gain from the next five weeks.

I began, of course, with introductions. The class currently has 6 students. One person (Leslie?) found a job, and Torsten has been ill. I assumed they would not be too interested in introduction exercises as I was sure they had repeated them many times, but I was wrong. They were very eager to start with this activity. Working in groups of two, I had everyone interview their partner, and then read their partner’s bio to the class. I corrected only when absolutely necessary, and allowed the class to help each other.

One of the main tenants of my strategy is to allow the class to speak. Speak, speak, speak. After speaking with Torsten in his office in Leipzig, I received the impression that the class, more than anything else is about conversation. So all of the exercises for that day and, for most of the week, revolved around hobbies, favorite cities to visit, their hometown and other topics that would illicit a genuine response. Also, I hoped that by hearing about people’s interests, that I could shape future grammar oriented activities around them.

I’ve found that the class likes to do crossword puzzles and word jumbles. Another game that held everyone’s interest was 20 questions, each person picking from a list of occupations listed on the board. This was preceded and followed by other activities involving: job interviews, the classifieds, and discussions about job responsibilities. Again, the main goal of all of these exercises is to get everyone to speak, and if people want to go of on a wild tangent, I allow it. I want everyone to be comfortable talking, so I don’t want to structure the conversations too much. If I hear a little side conversation going on in German I just ask them to speak in English. If they want to talk about last night’s soccer match, or a TV show, I figure its fine as long as it’s in English. I find people doing this more and more every day, though of course, when excited, German comes first.

Everyone enjoys talking except for two people. One is not very confident with her vocabulary and pronunciation, and it is very difficult to get her to speak consistently in English without getting flustered and returning to her dictionary, and German. It’s hard to figure out just how good her English is. I think she definitely needs a lot of work, but I also think that she knows a lot more than she thinks she does, and needs encouragement. The other often appears not to be paying attention and bored. This isn’t the case, but she does not participate as much as I would like, as her speaking knowledge is amongst the best in the group.

I’ve also asked that people start writing in a journal in the morning. I think it’s a nice low impact way to warm up to class, and get people thinking in English. I’ve made the journals completely private and tried to explain the concept of a “freewrite”. It’s an exercise I’ve found very helpful for my own writing. Everyone seems to like it, except for one person. I’ve found that after some free writing, or topic driven writing, that people are more likely to speak about other topics in English.

I tried using laptops with the class after a couple days, but it’s very difficult to maintain any semblance of order. Especially with the newest version of Internet Explorer because users can open up multiple tabs and really do their own thing when I am not looking.
I think it’s very necessary to have a regimented schedule prepared when using the laptops. They may be best suited for giving tests. I am able to have my laptop in the classroom, and tomorrow I will see if I can attach the projector to it, if so, I don’t see why it would be necessary to have everyone on a computer, unless it were for special circumstances. I was thinking of perhaps having one extra one in the room, but even so, the temptation to just surf the web can be disruptive.

We decided last week that on Wednesday we will go to Mittlebau Dora Concentration Camp. We will go on a tour as a class. Frau Thomas has ok’d it, and I think the school will partially subsidize it.

That was last week, in a large nutshell. I’ll make another entry about today’s class, and my expectations for the class trip. I apologize for the length of this entry, but it has been an entire week. I promise my future correspondences will be brief.

Thanks,

Ray

17

Hello again,

Today, Monday the 14th of January, I had a small group to work with. Torsten is still out, and Iris and Thomas were out to handle some business with the police. I mentioned to the class that I would not be there on Thursday and Friday, and was surprised that no tears were shed over my future absence.

In preparation for the trip on Wednesday, I had the class work on a few puzzles involving irregular verbs in the past tense. We also dealt with prepositions. Last week throughout all of the conversations, I noticed some problems with prepositions, and mostly everyone had problems with the past tense, and describing events in the past tense and the present past. I will continue with more exercises today, including a timeline of important historical events in German history, and in their personal life. (Last week this led to discussions on the collapse of the wall, and a planned trip to Mittlebau. I hope to elicit more spontaneous conversation about recent events and work on these grammar problems. I am still working on the specifics, but I would like them to have prepared for Zane on Thursday, brief summaries of their trip to the museum.

Also, last week, on Friday, we read Dr. Seuss’ “Green eggs and ham”. Dr. Seuss is renowned for his grammar, and I also thought it would be fun. I then showed them Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Saturday Night Live rendition of it from over 15 years ago. Once I explained how serious a man Jesse Jackson is, they all found it funny. Also, after a long discussion about the differences between the German and American schooling systems, I showed them a short clip from National Lampoons “Animal House”. We also, due to Iris’ insistence, watched the video and read the lyrics Pink’s “Dear Mr. President”. We went over the lyrics today, not just for translation and syntax but also for meaning. We then had a discussion on conspiracies.

We ended the day watching Abbot and Costello’s famous “Who’s on first!?” skit. After a 3 minute crash course on the rules of baseball, everyone was prepared, and found it very funny… well, towards the end, the laughs were a bit forced. I think the sketch is about 1 minute 30 seconds too long.

OK, that was basically what happened on Monday. I’ll try to make the next entry shorter and more concise. Hope you’re all well.

-Ray

18

Hey there,

It’s good to see that our team’s growing. I was in Jena last Friday and had some fun with the unemployed academics. Since I didn’t know anyone, I asked them to work in pairs and introduce their partner by exchanging PRIVATE details, interests aso. After they’d done that I asked them to quiz me and ask me questions about Ireland. This probably took care of the first 3 units. Then I asked them to prepare a 2 minute elevator pitch about themselves as professionals. I set an example myself and gave them 10 minutes to prepare their pitch. With Teutonic thoroughness, they were then working on their mini-presentation for the best part of half an hour so that I had to cut things short and make them get down to it. It worked well.

After the lunch break, we analysed some of it and discussed aspects of body language and structure. Then we started an adjective-field work and established characterisations appropriate for their jobs. In the end everyone was pretty knackered for reasons related to the strain of a long week and a general second-language overload. So I asked them what makes their hometown better than other places and we talked about Jena and the economical situation in Eastern Germany.

Looking forward to working with them on Jan 28!

19

Hi Ray,

Thanks a lot for joining the forum and doing such a great job with the Nordhausen folks. Yes, Internet access is vital for our job and from now on you should be able to log on at the school as well as the hotel. You might have noticed that WiFi is by far not as prevalent in Germany as it is in the US and a viable alternative can be UMTS. We can talk about this more later if you like.

So Leslie found a new job, that’s excellent news. Do you happen to know what kind of job he’s got now? I’m asking because this information might be helpful to the group because after all they are doing the course in order to improve their chances on the job market. I assume that somebody in the group knows more about Leslie’s current situation and maybe he would even volunteer to pay the group a visit giving you and them an update.

Yes, getting the group to express their thoughts in English is a very good idea because it helps them increase their self-confidence. If they communicate with two Americans for several weeks they develop the skills they need in their future jobs. Any topic relates to business so as long as they stick to English they are allowed to talk about anything.

Well, as long as you stick to English when giving instructions or asking questions it’s fine for them say a word or two in German. However, it’s important to point out to the group that they should involve you in their conversations. The married couple have a tendency to hold private conversations in German and that’s when I would ask them some questions in English.

Yes, one person didn’t have any English training before our course so she really started from scratch. What you might try doing is have her repeat phrases that you first speak to her. She has a tendency to want to see a new word in writing which makes it difficult for her to pronounce the word correctly. That’s why it’ll be helpful for her if she hears you speak and she tries to repeat what she hears. As for the other person, she sometimes wants more attention than necessary and you might want to give her a little project task. For example, have her prepare a presentation of her dog breeding activities or her plans to move to Florida. Anything that gives her a feeling of importance.

Keeping a diary or writing in a journal is excellent idea which keys in with a learning system that I often use with my groups. I also like the “freewrite” concept very much – thanks a lot for this! You might even ask the group to share some their entries with each other. Also, please ask the group to try and use English outside of the classroom, they can watch a movie in the original, listen to the BBC or VOA or read a book in English. These activities can be part of their diary entries.

Did you bring the films on your laptop? It’s great to expose the group to as much authentic English as possible. You also mentioned the beamer/projector, thanks a lot for mentioning this topic because I think it’ll be a very useful tool for your activities. I wish you a great Wednesday.

Speak to you soon,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: On a laptop[YSaerTTEW443543]

20

Hello,

Thank you for your response Torsten, I am impressed with it’s format. All I know about Leslie’s position is that it is in Frankfurt, and on Monday, he had a very important examination on which he did very well. He has been communicating via text with Natallia… in English. I can find out more details today.

I found all of the video clips on “youtube”. I have been considering watching some BBC news reports and discussing them together as a class. I first want to watch the special English learning broadcasts myself before showing them to the class.

Yesterday’s class went very well. Torsten (#2) had returned from his absence. I believe he was ill and unable to come to class. His eagerness to learn combined with his proficiency really altered the dynamic of the class, in a good way.

We began the class continuing with the phone conversation exercise from yesterday. We read again from the scripts I prepared yesterday, and the class prepared and performed their own dialogues. I noticed a bit of improvisation from time to time, which I found very encouraging. I think this is an exercise that I will like to try to repeat in various forms, including role playing exercises that will steer participants away from writing everything down before speaking.

This is a subject that was recommended by the group as something that they were interested in learning more about. One participant volunteered in her dialogue to offer directions to a location. This lead to spending a significant amount of time discussing directions and prepositions and, with a map drawn on the board, everyone took turns giving directions between certain points.

In preparation for being able to talk about their trip to the museum today, we went over more past tense exercises and prepositions as well as practiced talking about the past. I asked people to talk about life for their grandparents, and how they thought it was. I spoke a bit about my Grandmother, who lived in Grenada, West Indies. This led to questions and discussion about politics in Grenada and the country itself. Everyone participated and it went fairly well.