How do young people learn best?This is something I think a lot when I am teaching foreign languages to young people.I often1that traditional teaching 2 are hardly effective for young brains to learn a foreign language.
After moving to southern Italy,I was3to have had the chance to run a private course teaching English to children under 7.I4children liked singing and enjoyed games so I wanted to use these tools to help my students5 English conversation skills. I found some fun and6songs online,which they loved very much. I also found the English version of some nursery rhymes(童谣) they once were familiar with. All of them were very entertaining and helpful but7 could still not have a basic conversation in English.
I wanted these students to be8in the language I was teaching and I also wished them to speak it. I was eager to deliver 90% of my lessons in English.9 , I knew it would be difficult to get them to talk in a foreign language they10 speak outside our lessons. So I had to11a simple yet effective plan.
One day I decided to prepare a dialogue in English and rather than simply getting students to repeat the phrases,I got them to chant(反复唱)12.I discovered that chanting was a practical way to get students to speak in English—it 13!
So when teaching English to young people now,I14them to make up their own chants to help them remember15or complex sentences.