Getting a Feel for ESL
I have only one word for you this week: Velvet!
My students mirrored my blank face as I sat there for several seconds which felt like hours as I tried hard to think about how I could describe what Velvet felt like. What was velvet in Korean? I couldn’t recall. How do you describe something using words and examples that could depict what I could only recall as being a cheesy material used in the 1970’s to outfit Dodge Camper Vans and the occasional bell bottoms and waist coats collecting dust in my mother’s closet?
I was at a loss for words as there was nothing in my class that even resembled velvet. I was reduced to trying to help my students understand by comparing cotton with the blackboard eraser. Needless to say my students were anything but impressed nor were they able to grasp such a simple concept taken for granted by most.
Possible Activities
The English language has a lot of words often many describing the same object, material, etc… so it is no surprise that our students find themselves scratching their heads thinking they must have taken the wrong language course when their English teacher is comparing twenty objects to each other in an attempt to describe one thing.
Start collecting pieces of material even if it means taking pieces from old clothes that are ready for the bin. By cutting squares of material and placing them into a scrap book your students can than handle them in class. The information transmitted to them through touch is priceless as it helps associate the English name to the sensation of having that object in their hands.
Just like listening and tasting, it is giving your students a one to one lesson that can be applied to other parts of their English language education. Furthermore it leads to excellent class room exercises or homework as you can have your students write down in both their native language and its English equivalent how the item feels to them.
At the end of the day I never had a chance to get a piece of velvet to show my students hat I was on about. Being better prepared than I was will allow you to make for an interesting and enjoyable class. If you can think of another example of how to use ‘touch’ as a way of learning let us know by starting a discussion on this topic!
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