For almost 16 years I haven’t had young learners. This year I have a group of 10 year olds. I just see them once a week and our idea was to give them a chance to chat in English.
Their level of English is so basic, as you can guess .However, their enthusiasm is enormous.
Attending the 2 day-e-twinning-workshops for beginners in Istanbul, we decided to start a project with the kids.
Now my grade 5 students have an e-twinning project called my e-friend where they will e-mail, skype or publish stories of their own.
Yesterday we were in the computer room and they sent their first e-mails to their Polish friends. It was great fun to see their willingness. It was wonderful to see how much they cared about it. It was actually very touching when they shared their fears and concerns about their level of English. When they learned that their friends’ level would almost be the same with them, they felt relieved.
What will they gain from this experience?
Well, at least they know where Poland is now. They learned Chopin was Polish and they are sure that they are not the only ones who are learning English and need practise.
Now I want more partners for my classes. I know it is time consuming but the satisfaction is great!
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How exciting! When you want to find other English-learners or English-speakers outside of Europe, please come to http://www.epals.com. We connect teachers of students ages 5-19 in 200 countries. Lots learning English in Asia, Latin America. Great English speakers in US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, but you can’t get to them through etwinning because of its limits on EU countries.
ePals also offers safe and protected, free student email accounts for use in schools. Sign up at http://www.epals.com and click on “join” button on right upper corner. No ads and has built-in teacher monitoring.
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Dear Eva,
I am from Latvia, I have students of different ages – 3rd grade to 12th grade. 3rd graders have been studying English for the first year, they are 9 year old. My 5th graders are 11. Maybe we could have a project together?
tarkskene@gmail.com