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ESL forum > Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Teaching adult esl beginners    

Teaching adult esl beginners



miss_ruchi
India

Teaching adult esl beginners
 
Hi All,
 
I�ve a new bunch of adult mexican beginners two of whom are around 40-45...
 
This is the first time I�m dealing with Mexicans and don�t have a clue how to handle them...Also, their pronunciation is awful...
 
Usually in my initial few classes I get to know the student well and then start on with the teaching...however in this case i don�t know how to do it...
 
Should I start with basic sentences directly with a Spanish translation or is it a better idea to give them basic words and sentence constructions first....
 
pls advise.....

14 Jan 2009      





libertybelle
United States

I would start with a round of who they are, where they come from and what they do - in English - that way you get to know them and they speak English.
Help them along the way, but don�t correct them too much.
They are adults and deserve respect.
Remember that no adult likes to lose face in front of others.
Speak slowly and clearly without sounding like you�re speaking
down to them.
If you establish a good rapport with them from the beginning and also
tell them that it�s ok to make mistakes - then you just might have
a great time with these people who have chosen to use their
spare time learning English with you.

hope this helps
L

14 Jan 2009     



douglas
United States

Sounds like real good advice from libertybelle...probably the same way I would approach it.  I tend to have them answer the basic questions in English, but for true beginners I always do a "running" translation as I go around the room.  It also helps to provide a visual aide of how they should answer--even if they are just reading most of the sentence, they are still speaking English and internalizing basic sentence structure and vocabulary.

14 Jan 2009     



miss_ruchi
India

thanks a lot guys....
 
and yes i had a good class today..i did exactly as you say, i just let them be and got to know them in their broken language, i didn�t correct much and rather focused on how they say things (incorrecty)..this way i learnt their way of speaking and it helped me understand them and build a rapport...
this way i also understood the most important areas to be worked upon....
i also carried Spanish translations downloaded from this site and wrote them on the board...today was a basic class so they knew them but i guess it will be helpful in future...
 
thanks once again for your advise and the active contribution on this site....thanks

15 Jan 2009