How many things does a student have to practice to be able to make lunch in English? They have to read instructions, get the ingredients from the grocery store, organize who will do what and when...so many nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to learn quickly!
When students are involved in doing things they learn what they need to know much faster. When they see someone doing the same thing later, they are able to identify with it is English. If they have the chance to do a similar activity in the future, there is less anxiety about the language because they have already experienced completing the task successfully (or learned a lesson from the mistakes!)
Decreasing anxiety and helping students to feel confident is one of the biggest challenges that English language teachers face. No matter how many times students complete fake activities in the class, there will always be hesitation and reluctance when they try to bring this 'knowledge' to outside 'real' tasks.
We are lucky at Real English Victoria because we are small enough that we can do real things with students. We cook, help students arrange meetings or volunteer work in the community, take them to libraries, grocery stores and markets, restaurants, pubs, and even high schools to show students that they can do real tasks without our help. This is where apprehension fades to confidence for our students.
So tomorrow, I will be cheering as some students make KD, or Kraft Dinner (or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese to Americans) and others will try a home recipe for Mac 'n' Cheese. I won't refuse either, but my first love is KD!
Go KD, go!!!
Unfortunately, the mac 'n' cheese beat the KD!
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