The Education Blog

Posts Tagged ‘language’

If one is and has always been talking in English, trying to learn the Arabic language can be quite difficult. For one, the Arabic language has high guttural sounds that are not natural to the English speaker. And when it comes to writing, the words are written from right to left instead of the English way of writing words and sentences from left to right. However, there are only two verb tenses and several grammar rules to follow so if one were to master them, students can easily make sentences in Arabic. But the problem is how can one instruct Arabic as a second language without losing the learner’s interest? Here are a number of ways.

To begin off, you can let them know the Arabic loanwords in English. For example, words like “gazelle”, “admiral”, “alcohol”, “lemon”, “average”, “magazine”, and other words that are originally Arabic words. This way, your students will be healthy to associate the words and expand their vocabulary at the same time.

A great way to learn things are to include other senses while learning, other than listening. One of the ideal examples for this is to show Arabic films to the class. Using this method enables you to do a few things at one go, from catching their attention, letting them learn new words or phrases, learn the appropriate facial expressions to go with them, and learn about the culture in general. If you can't bring the film to class, you can advocate a number of Arabic films for them to watch online, or make it into a review assignment. You can also use Arabic songs as an alternative, as with tune, instructions will not be as dull.

Another sensation you can bring into class is taste. With the many dishes acquirable from the Arab world, it is a good opportunity to expose them to part of the culture. Let them learn the obloquy of apiece dish and ingredient in Arabic, and instruct them about the Arab food culture. Make the class into an Arab food party, and your students will definitely be happy to participate in it.

One more intent is to use interesting topics for assignments. Do not give assignments that are too general which do not really play close to the heart. For example, if your classroom consisted of teenagers, you can ask them to write on issues like bullying, stress, love, and so on. Topics that students can easily relate tend to flow much easily from heart onto paper.

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American Sign language (ASL) is a beautiful expressive language. It is a visual gestural language, a language all its own with its own grammar and word order. Learning the signed alphabet called fingerspelling is a easy way to begin. One can describe sign language as a moving poetic language, a language of expressively writing words in the air.

Up until recently, signing had to be taught in mortal or using costly video conferencing equipment. Now with the advent of desktop video conferencing, signing can be taught affordably to students right in their own home using their personal and the Internet.

Sign language is offered in many schools and Universities as an accredited foreign language. The field of working in signing is an open one because there is a growing need for sign language interpreters. The job pays well and there are many different work settings to select from.

It is used in schools to make learning more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing children. (In elementary educational settings most signing is closer to English word order.)  Sign language is used in medical, legal, religious, business, and many other settings where deaf persons need accessibility in communication. It is also used in video relay service which enables Deaf and hard of hearing persons to use and interpreter to make visual phone calls to hearing persons through high speed world wide web connections and a video phone.
 
Sign language is not a universal language. Most countries have their own version of language. For example, British signing is very different from American signing. Some countries such as Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico use American Sign Language
 
ASL in USA has an interesting history. In 1815 a Protestant minister titled Thomas Hopkins pedagogue traveled abroad to find a superior method to educate the deaf.  In England he met a French deaf man titled Laurent Clerc. Clerc concurred to instruct him this special language to bring back to America. Clerc returned to USA with pedagogue and together they founded the first American school for the deaf in Hartford Connecticut – from there American Sign Language began to spread as more deaf schools were established in other places. This day it is the fastest-growing foreign language in the United States, according to a San Diego Say University article.
 
Signing seems to accelerate cognitive development, with one study showing an increase in IQ of between 8 and 13 points for kids who learned to sign versus those who didn’t. The difference was still evident when the kids were tested years later. Other studies have shown that this language can benefit special needs kids in remarkable ways, helping accelerate speech in autistic children.
 
Desktop video conferencing has been perfected to where students can see the teacher’s hands very clearly and they can learn the language easily. Desktop video conferencing uses the student’s and teacher’s laptop webcams and the World wide web to connect to apiece other. The instructor can also talk with the student and relate how apiece sign is prefabricated and then demonstrate apiece sign.
 
Learning sign language is a beautiful experience and a rewarding one in many ways. Now with the advent of new technologies such as desktop video conferencing, students can become proficient in signing skills and never have to leave their home.

After coming to Nihon to support England at the 2002 World Cup (that’s soccer for anyone who doesn’t know the world sport!) I knew that I wanted to experience more of what the country had to offer. Returning to England I soon quit my job, enrolled in a instructor training course at International Home in London and within six months was on my way back to Japan. This time with a one year contract to work as an assistant language instructor in a Asian junior high school.

Assistant language teaching is a large industry in Japan. There are a variety of recruitment firms that hire abroad and bring native English talking instructors to Nihon to work in the say school system. The Nihon Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) is also a favourite way to enter the world of the assistant language instructor (ALT).

The great thing about ALTing is that there are many positions where talking Asian is not a job requirement.

Not talking Asian is one attribute that can make a great ALT simply because most communication with instructors and students will be in English which is what ALTs are paid to do!

After working in London for a few years I was keen to experience more of a countryside vibe and landed a job in Shizuoka prefecture at the foot of Mt. Fuji. It’s a great area with plenty of wide open spaces, fresh air and great tasting water. At the same time with the excellent Asian bullet train network I am less than one and a half hours from Tokyo.

I work as an ALT in Susono where I have lived for the last six years! There are various options while working as an ALT. You could simply come for a short period of possibly a year or two and not take your job seriously and treat your time in Nihon as a big party.

This option definitely has its merits!

Another option would be to really get into the Asian way of life. Work hard, play hard is certainly one way to describe the Japanese. I had heard all about their work ethic before I moved here but after coming I discovered the Asian also know how to party! Working as an ALT I create a variety of ALT lessons as a record of my time working here and also to be used as a resource by anyone looking for an ALT lesson plan.

You loved the original Toy Story that came out 15 years ago, didn’t you (has it been that long already)? The motion picture spends a lot of its time demonstrating what you should feel about Andy and Sid’s rooms. Sid’s room is all about the budding inventor in the child – the child is always ripping toys apart and trying to rebuild from parts; and the screenplay seems to somehow pity those toys. Andy on the other hand has all the Toy Story characters that you’ve come to love – and they are in pristine condition. That’s not what children’s toys are supposed to do, are they? They aren’t just supposed to sit there and look squeaky clean – kids are supposed to get some use out of them, to be creative. If your aim is to be teaching your kids to think on their own and to create on their own, the answer isn’t in anything like giving them toys to play with. It’s getting them toys to create with. And that is exactly what the new children’s personal program, Scratch, is all about.

Scratch as a programming language that’s aimed at kids five years and up. You have seen how kids love to play with Lego blocks, haven’t you? They just knock them together, and build entire cities with them. Scratch works somewhat similarly – except that kids here snap together blocks of code that are colorfully and appealingly ordered out. It’s the futuristic tool for teaching kids with that we’ve come to hope for ever since we first heard of personal decades ago; the program was invented at the MIT Media Lab at their Kindergarten for Life project whose mission is to dream up the most innovative new teaching tools ever.

It’s caught on like wildfire, and the official Scratch conference a tiny while ago had enthusiastic students trying to participate from mostly each country in the world. The thing is though, that the kids who participate don’t usually learn about Scratch through their schools. This is strictly extracurricular. Going by the uploads of Scratch-made programs on the official websites (children have place together about 200,000 scratch projects so far), kids love it.  Finally, here’s vindication for the view that supporters of creative teaching have always held. If pupils at a school are not interested in what is being taught to them, it is probably just the curriculum and the teaching method that is to blame. Teaching kids isn’t even required when you give them Scratch, usually. They delve in and see vast possibilities for creativity on their own.

The study Scratch comes from the techniques that turntable artists use to create new songs with existing works. They mix clips, slow down and speed things up, and somehow take something that existed previously, and create something completely new with it. Scratch, the programming language, has a large media library, and lots of pre-existing program snippets that kids can place together to create unexpected and wonderful things. You have a palette area, and lots of blocks around with descriptive descriptions. You drag the blocks into the scripting area, and you see them react in new and exciting ways. Teaching kids has never been about finding the right books to have them slave over. It’s about showing them how wonderful learning can be. And then, nothing can stop them from making it their own.

The answer to this query is not straightforward & depends on the one who’s thinking about taking the course. Due to the immense types of courses available, it is sometimes difficult to choose which one is the ideal for you. This article will lay out the various types of TEFL courses on offer & which type of mortal apiece one is suitable for.

The first option – No TEFL Certificate:

Here the choice is to not take any formal TEFL training nor acquire any certificate. This option doesn’t stop you from becoming an ESL teacher, but it might hinder your chances. Why wouldn’t you take a TEFL? Lots of people like to instruct short term as a way to fund travelling, this option would therefore be the lowest priced option available. This option would be appropriate for individuals who’ve no desire to become an ESL instructor for any length of time & some countries & schools employ instructors with no qualification or experience. In more developed countries, however, it is far more likely that you will require some qualifications and/or experience. I do know instructors with no qualifications & they found a job with no issue at all, however, this doesn’t go to state that this is the same for in each single place. Do your research first, if you can work where you require to travel & find work with no formal qualification perhaps this option is for you.

The Second Option – Online Only Based course:

An online based TEFL lets you complete it over the net, these types of courses are widely acquirable from lots of different operators. This work might be more suitable for somebody who’s not planning a long career in teaching. It gives you the basic information necessary, but no class room practice. All the world wide web study in the world, won’t prepare you fully for your first ever class! How do you know you can speak in front of a sizable group of people if you haven’t tried it before!

This type of work has some advantages over the class room based work. For example, it is much less costly & faster to complete. Moreover, you can complete this work in your own time & fit it around your life. You can study at any time you require to! This work would suit a busy one who’s thinking of a career alter & wants to inquire in to teaching ESL further.

This option would also suit somebody who’s thinking of travelling & needing to work to support their travelling. It might also suit a one who wants to become an ESL instructor & gives a great introduction in to the world of ESL. These types of courses can give you the information you require to be a teacher, but if you’re thinking about teaching as a career or require to receive a higher paid position & have more options of where you can work, you might want to read option 3.

The Third Option: The Classroom Based TEFL.
This type of TEFL is often  costly & can range from 0 for week work to over ,000 for a month long TEFL. This option is more suitable to individuals who are serious about a chaange in career & become ESL Teachers. You will find that you can acquire a higher remuneration than those with no TEFL or  an online based certificate. However, the price of this work makes it reasonable that one must be definite that they want to instruct English as a Second Language because it can be  an costly buy if you don’t like teaching or only want to instruct for a few months.

This option is usually the most recognized by language schools. Instructors have finished a classroom based TEFL with a prescribed amount of hours that can range anywhere from a few days to a whole month. This option will give the prospective instructor more options for teaching than any other option, you will find more schools would be willing to employ somebody with a classroom based work.

The ideal advice for getting your TEFL would be to ask yourself what it is you require to do with it & research the country or countries where you would like to travel. For example, some countries need higher forms of qualifications, e.g. CELTA whereas some need non whatsoever. Finishing a TEFL would be a great way to kick begin a used career, but you can in some places instruct with no experience or qualifications.

In conclusion, you would choose one of the choices acquirable to you depending on what you require out of a work & what your designs are concerning becoming a instructor of English as a Second Language. If you’re serious about becoming an ESL instructor & require a career in teacher, both options 2 & 3 would be more appropriate. Option 3 for those who are 100% definite that they require to instruct ESL for a length of time. If you  require to do a small teaching  to finance a 6 month trip, then option 1 might be applicable depending on your location.

For more information about TEFL Certificates, see the ESL Corner’s TEFL Page, http://www.eslcorner.org.