Yesterday I had my second session with the young people (“les jeunes”) who are going on Leonardo projects… I was so tired! I don’t even know why… I’d been speaking my own language and there were only 3 people there!!! But I think they enjoyed it more than last time, which is a definite plus.
Once again, I had a lot prepared and no time to do it… How time flies! I found that they ended up writing and were fairly quiet most of the time, so next time I will try and have them up on their feet and speaking… I’ve discovered that it can be fairly difficult to get people my age motivated to learn hehe! I’ve gotta make sure it’s really interesting stuff.
I began with a quick exercise called “Lie Detector”, where everyone said 3 things they did the day before, with one a lie… the others wrote down which they thought was a lie and at the end everyone revealed their lies (phew that’s a lot of lying!). It was good fun and I joined in, so I’m pleased with that!
I then did an alphabet race, which Yves (the boss) joined in. There were therefore 2 pairs racing against each other. Yves’ pair won and when both lists were complete, the pairs took turns to explain their lists… I found that this sort of exercise could be very good for developing vocabulary, particularly if you limit the words that the learners can use! Though on reflection and with input from Yves, it would definitely be possible to get everyone on their feet and really active and involved with this one!!!
The third task I worked through with the young people was an outline of useful phrases and structures for presentations, as I assume they will have to give presentations whilst volunteering. I put key words on the board and then tried to brainstorm with them possible topics they could do a practise presentation on… It was like trying to get blood out of a stone! Everyone claimed to not have a clue. In the end one guy chose to do the difference between Japanese and American “Cosplay” (look it up, I had to hehe). The other two people did a short presentation on “Places to Visit in Nord-pas-de-Calais” (that was as far as my imagination stretched to get both people involved lol). After 20 minutes each mini group presented what they had planned. I was so pleased to see that they had understood the structure and what I was asking, as well as doing very well with pronunciation and grammar.
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| Explaining the Presentation Information |
Just to finish off on I covered another song with a gap fill sheet but it turned out it was too hard… I am definitely going to have to listen in a lot of detail to songs if I want them to be effective! Regardless of this, I feel that the “Atelier” (workshop) went well and will think more for next time about getting everyone on their feet and talking more.
Today, I had planned on working on a booklet for the people who will be leaving (and for future volunteers), although I am yet to do that. In the booklet, volunteers will be able to keep a log of events and discuss things such as preparation for leaving, expectations, skills, details about themselves ready for presentations and many more aspects of the volunteer experience as a whole. It is definitely inspired by Everything is Possible’s “Passport Portfolio” so thank guys ;-) This morning I recapped all the vocabulary I have learned (on my last count around 400 I think phew… I’m so proud wahey!). I learned 60 or so this morning… Can u believe I dreamed last night about my vocabulary exercises… Can’t a girl get some rest!? J
For now I’m going to head off… I shall try and be more productive with my time now for the next couple of hours before I leave, and then rowing this evening. Rowing, now that’s a story for another time… J
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