We would like to talk about our last discovery for children. There are some exercises called Jazz Chants with wich students repeat rhythmically words and short phrases to music. A "Jazz Chant" is a rhythmic expression of natural language which matches the rhythms of spoken American English to the rhythms of traditional American jazz. We felt absolutely fascinated with this due to our love for music.
People usually confuse jazz chanting with rapping, nursery rhymes, or songs, but the difference is that these distort the spoken language for poetic effect, and Jazz Chants don´t do this at all. The rhythm and intonation pattern of the chant should be exactly what the student would hear from a native speaker in a natural conversation, and this is what makes it special.
But to help you to understand what we are talking about, here you have a video where all these things are explained. :)
The creator of this technique is Carolyne Graham, who worked with this Jazz Chants during her twenty five years of teaching in the American Language Institute of New York University. She has produced many Jazz Chants books, and other language teaching books, all of them published by Oxford University Press.
My question is: Why not use music in English classes? Nowdays all children listen to music frecuently, in their mobile phones, in the computer, in the radio, in the television... Everywhere. It is a great resource that is within our reach, it is too fun and easy work with songs in classroom. What are we waiting for? There are many ways in which we can use music to help our English students. Just listening to music in platforms like Youtube while they are in their computers. It will probably help to improve their pronunciation, vocabulary and English listening skills. How?
Pronunciation: Singing along with their favourite English songs will help to learn how to pronounce English words correctly and will also help to improve their accent. They will learn more about the rhythm of sentences and how to link words together when they speak.
Vocabulary: Listening to music will help to learn more vocabulary quickly. They are also more likely to remember new words and English expressions if they listen to them in a song.
Grammar: You might think that grammar needs to be learnt in a very structured way but listening to music will help they to remember grammar and learn how to use grammar correctly in everyday conversation.
On this website, there are many English songs with exercises and instructions.
In my opinion I think that it could be one of the best ways to motivate the children to learn English using one of their favourite hobbies. I´m sure that they will learn a lot.
The capacity that the babies have to
learn a second lenguage is developing gradually with their age. By this way, we
can say that babies:
-To
three months, they have the aptitude to learn any language, because his stutter
is equal in everywhere.
-To
four months they realize the language in you are talking about and they
understand the meaning of words and sentences.
-To
six months, the stutter already has the accent of his mother language.
-To
eight months, the baby can produce sounds of any language that he/she has
listened.
So that, as soon as possible the
baby listen other languages she/he can learn more than one language simultaneously
in a natural way without effort and achieving a perfect pronunciation.
With the methods of learning
language, designed specially for the learning from 0 to 3 years, the baby
receives an early ideal stimulation that will facilitate to him the learning of
multiple intellectual activities. The
babies take part in the groups of learning and game from 4 months up to 3 years
in company of a confidence adult.
The baby has the aptitude to learn
English, native and spontaneously from 4 months.
The parents don´t have to have a
high level in English to be able to teach his children, the important thing is
to look for the necessary tools to favour the learning.
Children are like sponges for his
enormous aptitudes to absorb new knowledge and all the information that we
facilitate to them will be good for his future learning.
When you are an
au pair you can meet a lot of people and you can know about other places,
customs or cultures. But the most important thing is learning a different
language.
For example, if you want to learn English you can go
to England, Ireland or U.S.A.
What do you have to do when you are an Au pair?
If you are an au pair you have to do a lot of things.
We can show you a timetable and au pair duties from.
Time table
Working Week – 30- 35 Hours excluding
babysitting and you would never be expected to do more than that even during
holiday times. Morning schedule is 8.00am to 9.30 a.m.
This timetable is general hours of work
during school times, however the boys sometimes have days off for odd reasons
and therefore we might ask you to work different hours.
Au Pair Duties
·You
will tidy Kid’s bedrooms.
·You
will collect the children from school.
·You
will have to clean the house.
·You
will care children.
·You
will have to cook some food for all family.
·Sometimes,
you will have to baby sitting.
Money
It depends of the place and the family but normally
they will pay you €100 per week.
Everybody thinks that it´s a lot of money but when you
are living abroad you know that it´s not too much.
How can you find
an Au pair Job?
The most convenient way to find a job is through
websites that allow families. We can find a lot of websites that are free.
If you aren’t
sure with these websites, there are a lot of companies where work with it.
Here, they will help you with everything what you need.
Now, you can
watch a video from a girl who was an Aupair.
We are the psychologists at the University of
Massachusetts, and we want to share with you a method of relaxation useful for
everyone, but especially for those who work with children.
The first thing we will do is explain to you the
meaning of Mindfulness.
Mindfulness is an ability of the mind to be aware at any given time, the
ability to focus on one thing (such as breathing) so relaxing our body and mind
of things that worry us.
¿When is it good for us to practice this technique?
Mindfulness practice is really beneficial at any time, but especially
beneficial when we notice that children are worried about something, for
example before an exam or because of an argument with a friend.
It is also a good idea to practice mindfulness at the end of classes, in order
that they return home with a calm mind.
Mindfulness is
a way to regulate our own emotions and thinking reducing symptoms related to
anxiety and depression. It´s use extended from clinical psychology to education
and work.
The three
central components in the practice of mindfulness is the intention, attention
and attitude. It is based on the observation of inner experience and external.
But equally important is the why and the how. The motivation to practice
mindfulness seems to change with experience, ranging from self-regulation of
one's thoughts and emotions to the self-liberation and development of
compassion. Meditation requires contemplation of thoughts and emotions without
interpreting, judging or evaluating them.
There are many people who enjoy travelling around the world. They decide to visit different countries to know more about the culture, eat and drink their typical dishes and drinks or simply forget the routine or have a good time with their families or friends.
Nowadays, more and more people, especially young, decide to travel to learn or improve a foreign language. They have different ways of travel like an Erasmo, an academic exchange, a language immersion programme, a scholarship or even to work as an au-pair.
As far as the country chosen is concerned, surveys show us that young people prefer English speaking countries like United Kingdom, United States or Australia. Nevertheless, they also choose other European countries or even Asian to learn other languages like German, French or Chinese.
Why should we choose to travel abroad to learn or improve a new language?
There are many reasons but maybe the most important are:
A language immersion in a foreign country is the best way to learn a language.
You will learn faster and better the language.
It is not the same study that live with it 24 hours per day.
You will listen different accents.
Living in a foreign country and learning a foreign language provide more opportunities to find a job.
Once that you decide to travel, the problem is when you arrive in this foreign country and you can’t understand natives speakers because they speak too fast or they have a close accent. Another problem can be that you don’t speak their language or you can’t express yourself in an appropriate way due to your English is not good. For these reasons, we explain some tips to enjoy more with the adventure, especially the first weeks.
1. You have to know some cultural traditions of that country.
All countries have their own cultural traditions, for this reason, before travelling, it is very important to search for information of the country that you want to visit like traditions, social customs, symbols, dress code...
We have to respect their traditions and we should also get dressed in a suitable way to the place we visit.
2. You must learn basic vocabulary and common expressions.
When you travel to a foreign country is important to learn some basic vocabulary of their language because they don’t have to understand English or another language that you speak. Besides, if you learn some basic expressions, you will get on better on your trip. You can find words or expressions in a printed dictionary or in an online dictionary.
Make the most of the trip to have a basic knowledges of a new language.
3. If you have to ask something to somebody, be polite and speak slowly.
When you ask somebody a question, don't forget be polite. It is also very important to use a suitable tone of voice and speak in a correct speed. People will treat you in a more respectful way.
4. Use the help of images, gestures or indications.
When you arrive in your new city and you don´t understand a lot, you can use the help of different pictures and gestures. Moreover, it is important to buy a map to locate better places.
How can you improve or learn a foreign language once that you are settled?
Once that you are adapted to your new atmosphere, you should not forget:
1. Speak,speak and speak 2. Observe all things that surround you. 3. Visit different places. 4. Meet new people.
If you decide to go to study abroad, you can visit this blog that contains a lot of information about travelling abroad. It shares other people travel experience and their own experience. It also shows useful links and advices.
If you don't have the opportunity to study abroad, you have other ways to improve your language skills. Some of them are: 1.Watch films, series or TV programmes in original version
It is good for improving your listening skills because you listen different types of speeds and accents. First, if you want, you can put subtitles but in same language as the original version 2. Read books.
Reading a book in original version, you are learning a lot of new words and you are also improving your speaking. Moreover, the more books you read, the better you write. 3.Read foreign newspapers.
Besides be informed, you can improve foreign languages. Sometimes, reading a newspaper can be difficult because it uses typical vocabulary and it often omits words. However, you practice reading skills and you learn new vocabulary of distinct topics.
Normally, general press is easier than specialized press. In any case, you should choose a topic that you like. 4.Change the language of your electronically devices or social networks.
If you change the language of your devices, you will be able to understand a lot of new words. 5. Listen music of different foreign singers
It is a good way to practise listening while you have a good time. Moreover, you can learn new words and expressions. You should choose memorable songs with simple lyrics and a singer with a good articulation.
6.Look for apps where you can speak with native people.
Talking with native speakers is the best way to improve language skills. Nowadays, it exists many apps like busuu, italky or skype where you can speak with people of whatever place of the world.
If these advices are not enough, here you have a video of how to improve your English speaking skills (by yourself):
Video games can be an excellent source for learning English. Being in front of a console or a computer and playing video games can be a good interaction with English. The stories, the tutorials, the dialogues, the texts… everything can give you the chance of looking at the words, phrases and sentences as they were applied in a real context.
In some cases, it involves more than listening and repeating words. It requires using the language to keep playing because the instructions or hints are included in either phrase the character say or the text you find along the way. Besides, what the characters say is part of the story, so it’s like reading a book in which the action is being described.
There are as many interesting stories and challenges in video games as there are novels and topics in books. Elements like questions, expressions and, of course, a lot of vocabulary are some examples of how games show and apply grammar rules that students learn in school. This means that it doesn't matter what your preferences are, you will always find something for you.
Incidental learning
Playing video games doesn’t have to be a waste of time. Actually, game players can learn a lot through the engagement and immersion provided by the game. This is known as incidental learning: unintentional, unplanned -but not unconscious- learning which results from other activities. This happens through repetition, observation, social interaction and problem solving.
Video games lead players through a series of levels and situations. These changing situations challenge the players to solve the different problems they face. In order to do that, games have to provide the information and tools required to solve these problems. Thus, the need for understanding this information becomes crucial to keep playing and progressing. In this regard, the combination of verbal and visual information in a game can create a much better environment for learning.
The fact that video games involve incidental learning -as opposed to intentional learning- and the playful spirit of the different tasks the players have to perform prove that this form of entertainment can be also an excellent resource to second-language acquisition.
As you can see in this video, a cutting-edge Chinese school is currently using online video games for teaching English.
Adventure Games for learning English
An adventure game is a video game in which you play as the protagonist of an interactive story. The main feature of these games is they emphasize on the story; this allows them to be based on other narrative media, books or films. So, the essential elements of this kind of games are: exploration, storytelling and puzzle solving.
Pointing and clicking are the two actions that a computer user can do with the mouse: moving the pointer to different locations of the screen and pressing a mouse button, usually the left one. This is a method used in adventure games: pointing the mouse over different objects and pressing the button to complete actions or to move the character. In spite of these simple control actions, you have to choose among a finite number of possibilities.
In most games, the possible actions you can do appear, as infinitives, in a lower menu. So, the more you play, the more you get used to the meaning of those verbs. In addition, the semantic connection between those verbs and the items of the gaming environment can be learned through trial and error. For instance, I can’t select “close” while I’m pointing another character, so I must use it with doors and other elements which can be opened/closed.
Adventure games players are required to connect the meaning of some written words with the pictures of the elements displayed on the screen. This connection means knowing not only the name of the objects, but also actions associated with them. Thus, players can improve and expand their vocabulary. Moreover, learning new navigation controls during the gameplay can enhance memory training and, as a result, it can increase the vocabulary absorption capacity.
These games are also known for representing the dialogue as a conversation tree. This means that players have to choose among different sentences when they interact with a non-player character. One specific choice triggers one specific response from the game character and it also determines subsequent choices until the conversation ends.
Conversations can reveal clues about how to solve immediate problems or puzzles and they can even have far-reaching consequences. Game characters may also be convinced to reveal their own secrets, either through conversation or negotiation -by giving them something that they want.
Since the meaning of the given sentences in a dialog tree is, of course, directly related to what the player has done or what the player is about to do, understanding the intentionality of each message is very important. In terms of communication, players have to be aware of the communicative problem in each case and they also have to employ a strategy to solve it. Communicative competenceinvolves not only the knowledge of the language (grammar competence) but also the knowledge of how to use the language and express a message in a variety of circumstances (pragmatic and strategic competence). Thus, success in these games depends very much on the knowledge of the connotative meaning of the different options in a conversation tree.
In conclusion, adventure games can be a very useful -and also motivating- tool for ESL learning because of the:
Semantic connection between written words and the pictures of the objects and elements displayed on the screen.
Pragmatic competence required to choose the best branch of dialogue in each case in order to accomplish the goals of the game.
And now...
Take a look at the short video that we specially made for the occasion:
