The Wonderful World of Eikaiwa

you might need to throw in some games (pictionary or taboo maybe, stuff where they can guess things), or else have them shadow instead of read (i basically have very easy articles that i read out loud for them and follow me sentence by sentence). also, if you have a list of grammar patterns that you go through you can force them to make conversations just based on that (ie, "I like" or "I want to"). it's what i do in my 初級 class

for people learning more advanced/serious study, I know the BBC puts out decent online business English materials. I used them a couple of times with a private lesson student several years ago (who had graduated from college and was planning on being sent overseas for work soon). Those seemed like good resources for doing self-study and just moving at your own pace

I imagine the same BBC site would have beginner hulemdoly materials too, but I'm not sure how user-hulemdoly it is for Japanese people specifically, since if speaking bluntly beginner English for Japanese vs other Western countries' people can be pretty differentね

Looked through the Eikaiwa thread on here and there were excellent ideas in here I can try for games like Two Truths and A Lie, Never Have I ever, etc.



However, my Eikaiwa has many rules in place for what we cannot do with the students. The following are not allowed:



-Worksheets (unless they are vocabulary/grammar explanation sheets)

-Card games (think UNO)

-Board games like Monopoly, etc.



For CIRs who have experience leading a Beginner class, I have two questions for you:

1. What subject(s) do your students often enjoy learning about the most?

2. Any game(s) in particular that your students loved in your class?



I’m open to trying anything as long as they don’t fall under any of the three categories above for possible activities to do with students.

Yeah it is odd, apparently we used to be able to use some worksheets occasionally or do a few card games (just to encourage people to talk about anything while we played).
However, I think our last UK ALT we had ruined that for everyone because that was literally all she did. Like every lesson – UNO card game and worksheets to fill in the blanks for grammar or vocab. Every. Lesson. XD
-then again idk why my placement must have all the strictest rules for nearly everything but anywho-

I love the human bingo idea! I also love line bingo which is similar with pictures found online, so I will give those two a try starting today : v Thank you Dee as always!:DD

It was kinda funny, I could tell she had her favorite activities to do – One activity we also aren’t allowed to do because that was all she did was Mystery Box, where we use Powerpoint slides to play a True/False-type game and students who guessed the right answer won more points. It was a great game idea, but to do only that led to us not being able to do it anymore looool

I also noticed my students like English lessons relating to travel so maybe I can come up with ways to incorporate several and not just one p:

has anyone ever done an adult-level eikaiwa class on picture books and children's literature?

some of the students in my thursday class (which is mostly senior citizens) have expressed an interest in my upcoming yomikikase event, but of course, that's for children...
however, a few of my students are past educators, and i also took an amazing course in college on children's literature, so it made me think that a lesson using picture books could work even with adults?

i'd probably check out about 5-6 different english (or bilingual) picture books from the library, split the students into pairs or small groups, and have them practice reading books to each other and summarizing/discussing the stories.

but i'm worried it'd feel infantalizing? or that they'd think it's a waste of time? so i want to do vocabulary & grammar lists or find a way to tie it into a more 大人向け topic, but i'm not sure

you could also focus on what makes a picture book a picture book?

obvs, you would have them summarize BUT i dont think that is as "childishly easy" as you might think. 

what words or sounds are repeated. what patterns do you hear or see? what about a rythm? 

back to the summary, you could essentially make them give... an elevator pitch about the book? not only the overarching story but also why people should choose the book. 
"Its about a caterpillar that eats and eats and eats but after having a bunch of junk food gets sick and realizes that it should eat what is good for its body. in the end it becomes a butterfly. its fun because the pictures are fun and colorful and the pages are interactive, keeping kids attention"


most importantly, they expressed interest, so no matter what you do, at least someone will be happy i think! 

its actually kinda fun seeing what other countries' kids books talk about and how they use language differently (or similary!) not to mention how different art styles and story lines might be. 
that said, i would suggest using books originally made in english, not translated from japanese (tho including one might be fun so they can compare and contrast! they could think about what has changed and why and if they would do it differently)


YO THIS CLASS SOUNDS FUN