LLC Conversation Club 9/20

This was a conversation club attended by around 10 students in the beginner level. The theme was “Getting to Know You.” Before all the participants arrived, the teacher did an informal conversation practice with a few students. She asked them the questions “Where are you from?” and “What’s your favourite dish from your culture?” This was a great ice breaker and prevented the students who were already there from being bored.

The first main activity was practicing WH questions through 2 Truths and a Lie.  The teacher spoke slowly, matching the students’ comprehension level. The students had to ask questions using what, when, where, or why about the statements in 2 Truths and a Lie, such as “Where is your sister?” In the next activity where they try to find out 2 things they have in common with a partner, they practiced simple present sentences such as “Do you like Canada?” (or Do you like pets / movies, etc.) The students were also introduced to IF sentences. For example, “If you could speak to anyone from the past, who would you speak to? and “If you were an animal, what animal would you be?” These sentences were typed out so it was easy for the students to follow along. The final activity they did was a Would You Rather game with questions such as “Would you rather live in a cave or a treehouse?” and “Would you rather be infamous in history books or forgotten upon your death?” which allowed for explanation of new vocabulary.

There were some challenges due to the online format, such as when the breakout rooms didn’t work. The teacher was calm and helpful in instructing them to manually join breakout rooms. When that didn’t work either, she turned the activity of “find 2 things in common with your partner” into group work with everybody. The online poll was used in order to look for something we all had in common with each other and it turned out to be pretty fun. Another challenge was when a particular student didn’t understand the two truths and a lie game which was evident from his WH questions which were unrelated to the statements. The teacher dealt with it by telling him “Someone else can demonstrate and we will come back to you.”

I liked how there were visuals used in the online presentation of the activities and games, as it helped clarify topics and made it more interesting. The structure of Conversation Clubs, by default, is casual and allows students to converse naturally and without fear. The teacher’s relaxed, friendly demeanor further facilitated the flow of conversation.  She also always asks “Why?” after students’ responses, so they get as much practice as possible in speaking. Sometimes students took a very long time thinking of a response and depending on the situation, I might try to get them to keep thinking and tell them I will come right back to them.