My name is Joris and depending in which etymological name dictionary you look it up, it means either farmer or dragon killer. I kind of prefer the first one. The long o sound in Joris doesn't really exist in English amongst other languages and has proven quite tricky for family, friends and people I work with. They usually …
Category: Geen categorie
Multilingual Activities for Fast Finishers
A couple of months ago I came across a gem of an online downloadable resource book called '100 Activities for Fast Finishers' by Rachael Harris . "A hundred different activities which students can undertake autonomously within the language classroom". Most of the activities on my blog are tweaked versions of well-known existing ESL activities. By 'multilingualising' …
My favourite home language quotes – Part 2
Spanish grannies and Flemish elevators In 2005 I moved to Valencia in Spain and taught ESL for 5 years in a private language academy. My two children were born in sunny Valencia and I can confirm that the Spanish absolutely adore children. People will give up their seat on the bus for young children. Children of all ages are welcomed and will be handed a …
My favourite home language quotes – Part 1
A while ago I did a series of lessons with all my EAL learners on the importance of home languages. During this lesson the students wrote a quote about their home language. What does it mean to you? How does it feel to speak or hear your home language? How does it feel if you can't use it? Home …
Collective Translation
Many big companies, museums and councils translate their websites in numerous languages but one organisation leads by a mile. The Jehovah's witnesses website has been translated into a staggering 805 languages and they are still adding more. For obvious reasons that is not the site I use for the following activity but many others can be easily …
Portraying Proverbs
A fun translanguaging activity with the more advanced language learners is to explore different proverbs in different languages. A great introduction to this is the painting of Pieter Bruegel the Elder called “Netherlandish Proverbs" in which approximately 112 identifiable proverbs and idioms are hidden in the scene. This easily generates discussion and proverb exchanges for a whole lesson and …
L1 karaoke
Karaoke is a great language development activity across all skill areas. Many of our EAL learners love singing, especially in their home language. Using this in class can be very powerful and motivating. Activity: Ask your learners to find a karaoke song in their own language. There are many specialised websites (see list below) or your students will probably be …
EAL-time 