On Mar 31, 11:18 pm, "e...@compellingconversations.com"
<howdo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Proverbs provide perspective
>
> "Well begun is half done," goes the Greek proverb.
>
> Short and memorable, proverbs often capture a point of view in vivid
> words. We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our
> teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. They contain
> folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a
> common human experience.
>
> Yet I like to use proverbs in ESL (English as a Second Language)
> classes for three other distinct reasons.
> 1. Students can share proverbs from their own countries. In ESL
> classes where you have students from many different countries and
> numerous first languages, proverbs allow students to affirm the
> insights and experiences of their native culture. "Home is where the
> heart is."
> 2. Students can easily memorize proverbs. Using the right proverb at
> the right moment gives students a tremendous sense of competency and
> fluency in English - something that immigrants often struggle to
> achieve. "No pain, no gain."
> 3. Studying proverbs from around the world helps create a more global
> education, and counters the fears of English displacing the insights
> and words of other tongues and times. "The sky is blue everywhere" and
> "birds return to old nests."
> 4. Sharing proverbs shows a respect for tradition and the past while
> students expand their vocabulary in a new, modern language. Many
> immigrants, particularly older ones, have very mixed feelings about
> their new lives in an English speaking nation. "Old habits die hard."
> et "you're never too old to learn" gives hope.
>
> For instance, an older immigrant from rural Korea learning English in
> Los Angeles might find themselves also learning to live in modern,
> culturally diverse city for the first time. While the formal subject
> may be English, immigrants are also discovering new ways of living and
> thinking in the school. Proverbs seem to affirm the concept that "the
> more things change, the more they remain the same" and "the unexpected
> always happens."
>
> When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and
> international students from many different countries at Santa Monica
> Community College, I usually introduced conversation topics with a
> classic American or English proverb. Students would soon be paired up
> to interview each other and share experiences. When we returned
> together for a group discussion, I noticed that students often
> explained their answers using proverbs. I decided to "go with the
> flow" and build proverbs into course materials. It works.
>
> After all, "everybody is a student and everybody is a teacher.."
>
> Ask more. Know more. Share more.
> Create Compelling Conversations.
> Visitwww.compellingconversations.
>
> Eric Roth, the author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and
> Quotations on Timeless Topics, includes over 200 classic proverbs, 500
> witty quotations, and 1400 questions in his first book.
I have been teaching English in the USA, Korea and Japan for over 15
years and have a degree in English Linguistics as well as one in
Teaching English as a Second Language.
In my experience, teaching by proverb, idiom or cliche is dependent on
the level of the learner as well as the current environment of the
learner (in an English speaking country or in their native country).
The primary reason is the cultural references that surround these
sayings are generally accessible to the senses of sight and sound
(sometimes taste and feel) in an English speaking country, which
positively reinforces memory retention enabling the speaker to use the
saying more naturally.
A few problems I have seen are overuse, misuse in the English speaking
country and complete lack of comprehension when taught in a foreign
country.
Personally, I cannot stand to listen to my students recite these silly
phrases when they can just as easily use common terms.
Finally, these people learning English as a second language are
depending on us to assist them in communicating ideas effectively to
improve their lifestyle. Thus, I do not think idioms are an essential
part of the spoken vocabulary, though they certainly are necessary at
times for understanding in conversations.
|
|