So being an ESOL tutor is tons of work and reaps tons of
benefits, it is the ultimate in satisfying deeds. This past week, our
second class, I had help, a student teacher named N who is minoring in Spanish.
We divided the class up into two small groups and worked on grocery store vocabulary and questions and phrases you might use while in the grocery store.
There were less students this week, only about 10.
First I had the students go over their introductions. I had them first introduce themselves: "Hi my name is Carlos, I have 3 children, this is my friend Maria, she has 4 children." I had created a chart from the information I gathered in the first class. Name, how many children, children's ages. I hung the chart up and pointed to each name as they went around.
Observation 1: I noticed that the students tend to want to say the phrase backwards which makes sense since in Spanish most sentences are reverse. They also shortened the phrases, for instance they often said "This my friend", or "she my friend." I am not sure if this is right, but I corrected them and had them say the phrase as a complete sentence.
Next we went over grocery store vocabulary. I created large pictures that I found on google and put the word in English on top.
The words we started with were:
Aisle
Shelf
Cashier
Deli
Bakery
Produce
Meats
Frozen Foods
Observation 2: Many of the pronunciations of words and phrases are completely new to the students, and some of the digraphs and blends are new also because they are not used in the Spanish language. For instance, the sh. The students pronounced it ch. Or the letter j. In the Spanish language this letter is pronounced like a y as in you, but in English it is pronounced as a g as in giraffe. I took the time to help them try to sound the words out the right way. Not sure if that is correct either, it just felt right.
Here is a list of sounds not found in the Spanish language that I found on a fabulous website called ¡Colorin´, colorado! This is "A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners."
This is such a great website!
Next we split into small groups and worked on questions and answers they might use in the grocery store using TPR and Response Drills. "Where is the juice?" "The juice is on aisle four."
Observation 3: I had them practicing these phrases and questions for a few minutes and then I realized they seemed to be repeating them fine, but I sensed they didn't really understand them. I asked them if they understood what they were saying and one woman asked "What is aisle?" So when we had gone over the vocabulary it had not clicked with her exactly what an aisle was. So I got up, went between the desks and showed using my arms that the whole space was an aisle, then they understood. I knew they understood because they started saying what the word was in Spanish.
Then another woman asked, "What is shelf?" So I went to a bookshelf in the room and pointed to one of the shelves and said this is a shelf, the book is on the shelf. They nodded and said the word to each other in Spanish.
I am starting to question the whole process of using pictures to explain things. Especially with grocery store terms.
Observation 4: Ever wonder why in the English language we say, at the back of the store, or in the back of the store and they mean the same things. Or, "Can you help me in produce", and "How many packets are in this box?" Or what about the word ON. "The juice is on the third shelf", and "The pharmacy is on your left." To us it makes sense, to ESOL students it is very confusing. I had a hard time trying to make them understand, so basically I said, "The English language is tricky, one word can have many meanings." Which is true but doesn't make it any easier for them to understand. Unfortunately they are going to have to figure it out as they go along.
The class did such an amazing job and again they are so accomodating and open to learning. I love that enthusiasm for understanding. If only we all had that desire.
Next week I am going to try a bingo game and a response lesson. Stay tuned!
There were less students this week, only about 10.
First I had the students go over their introductions. I had them first introduce themselves: "Hi my name is Carlos, I have 3 children, this is my friend Maria, she has 4 children." I had created a chart from the information I gathered in the first class. Name, how many children, children's ages. I hung the chart up and pointed to each name as they went around.
Observation 1: I noticed that the students tend to want to say the phrase backwards which makes sense since in Spanish most sentences are reverse. They also shortened the phrases, for instance they often said "This my friend", or "she my friend." I am not sure if this is right, but I corrected them and had them say the phrase as a complete sentence.
Next we went over grocery store vocabulary. I created large pictures that I found on google and put the word in English on top.
The words we started with were:
Aisle
Shelf
Cashier
Deli
Bakery
Produce
Meats
Frozen Foods
Observation 2: Many of the pronunciations of words and phrases are completely new to the students, and some of the digraphs and blends are new also because they are not used in the Spanish language. For instance, the sh. The students pronounced it ch. Or the letter j. In the Spanish language this letter is pronounced like a y as in you, but in English it is pronounced as a g as in giraffe. I took the time to help them try to sound the words out the right way. Not sure if that is correct either, it just felt right.
Here is a list of sounds not found in the Spanish language that I found on a fabulous website called ¡Colorin´, colorado! This is "A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners."
This is such a great website!
Next we split into small groups and worked on questions and answers they might use in the grocery store using TPR and Response Drills. "Where is the juice?" "The juice is on aisle four."
Observation 3: I had them practicing these phrases and questions for a few minutes and then I realized they seemed to be repeating them fine, but I sensed they didn't really understand them. I asked them if they understood what they were saying and one woman asked "What is aisle?" So when we had gone over the vocabulary it had not clicked with her exactly what an aisle was. So I got up, went between the desks and showed using my arms that the whole space was an aisle, then they understood. I knew they understood because they started saying what the word was in Spanish.
Then another woman asked, "What is shelf?" So I went to a bookshelf in the room and pointed to one of the shelves and said this is a shelf, the book is on the shelf. They nodded and said the word to each other in Spanish.
I am starting to question the whole process of using pictures to explain things. Especially with grocery store terms.
Observation 4: Ever wonder why in the English language we say, at the back of the store, or in the back of the store and they mean the same things. Or, "Can you help me in produce", and "How many packets are in this box?" Or what about the word ON. "The juice is on the third shelf", and "The pharmacy is on your left." To us it makes sense, to ESOL students it is very confusing. I had a hard time trying to make them understand, so basically I said, "The English language is tricky, one word can have many meanings." Which is true but doesn't make it any easier for them to understand. Unfortunately they are going to have to figure it out as they go along.
The class did such an amazing job and again they are so accomodating and open to learning. I love that enthusiasm for understanding. If only we all had that desire.
Next week I am going to try a bingo game and a response lesson. Stay tuned!
