teaching English HELP!!

[moodyskydiver 0]

So I met the cutest little Vietnamese lady a few weeks ago.She said that I have a very soft voice that was easy for her to understand and now shes asked me to teach her English.I know zero Vietnamese even though she speaks very well in English IMHO.I can understand her easily if I pay attention.So now b/c shes so nice I agreed to help her with her English but I dont know what to do or where to start. Its not like I'm going to be teaching her English like a college prof or anything.She just wants to learn better pronunciation and conversation skills.But where do I start and how do I do this? I've tried learning a foreign language before and I know people say English is hard to learn so what do I do? Our first session is tonight from 6-7pm.

I hope I havent gotten myself into something over my head here.ANY help or advice would be majorly appreciated.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[wmw999 2,587]

You could use reading a play back and forth to each other as a start. Here is the drama blog of someone else who has done that.

It's structured, she'll be practicing on realtime reading, and you can work on her pronunciation. Good luck with it. You're doing a nice thing.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[moodyskydiver 0]

Luckily we're meeting at a public library so I'm hoping they might have some resources I could use for teaching ESL.I tried a book store but they only had dictionaries translated from english to other languages and vice versa.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[Nightingale 0]

Ask her to pick a book she wants to read, and help her with it. Have her read it to you, and suggest changes in pronunciation and explain cultural references and vocabulary as you go.

[wildfan75 1]

I might be a little ignorant in asking, but can she read in English? Just because she can speak it doesn't mean she can read it.

When I was taking Spanish in high school, every Friday we got to spend the first 15-20 minutes of class listening to a pop song sung in Spanish. The teacher would type out the lyrics. We'd translate the lyrics and listened to it a couple of times to listen and by the end of the year, we could even tell where the singers were form based on the accents.

[squarecanopy 0]

Hey Moody,
Teach her from the SIM. You might just get her into skydiving!
Seriously, you have gotten some great advice here. Read to her if she does not read English. That will get her to hearing you pronounce, inflect, etc and she will have questions. I personally would find out if she has a book she wants to read, if not, try a timeless classic like Moby Dick. Move on from there.

Just burning a hole in the sky.....

[moodyskydiver 0]

Thanks guys! I'm on my way to do a bit of research before our session.I think she can read some English but I guess we'll find out soon enough.I thought about music too so I'm taking my iPod b/c it has music and audio books on it.

Wish me luck and thanks again everyone!

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[Broke 0]

I like of mice and men

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[sartre 0]

I think this could be a lot of fun! My only suggestion would be to read from more current things...even *gasp* something like People magazine. The classics are awesome, but they aren't exactly conversational english of this period.

Even just window shopping together, or hanging out with others who can help immerse her in our language and culture.

Have fun with it!

[willard 0]

My parents hosted an exchange student from the Czech Republic. His English skills were marginal at best. The most effective tool we found for helping him improve his conversation, pronunciation, reading and writing in English was playing Scrabble. Simple to learn and a constant learning experience.

[Jumpervint 0]

Welcome to my world! It's what I do every day, in a high school.

One thing about the Vietnamese - they have great difficulty putting an 's' on the end of words. So, plurals and he/she/it forms of the verbs (walks, talks, eats) are difficult to pronounce and to our English ear very noticeable when they mispronounce it.

Here are some sites which I use and you might find something on. Look at the games sections of them - there's often something on English/language that is useful, in your case. English/Vietnamese.

If you end up with some questions, let me know.

http://www.eslcafe.com/

http://www.esldesk.com/index.htm

http://iteslj.org/

http://a4esl.org/


Vint

. . . . .
"Make it hard again." Doc Ed

“A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free” Nikos Kazantzakis

[moodyskydiver 0]

Well, I waited for over an hour and she didnt show up for our meeting.Maybe she forgot or something got lost in translation.

I guess this gives me more time to learn how to teach if she decides to try another meeting.But one thing I did learn is that our library has a free literacy program that teaches you how to tutor/teach others English.The next class is in July though.So maybe thats something to look in to.

Thanks again for the info guys.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."