Author Topic: Giving praise / encouragement / condolences.  (Read 1977 times)

Offline Brian

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Giving praise / encouragement / condolences.
« on: October 22, 2008, 08:04:01 pm »
Here's a really simple thing I did for one of my after school classes with about 10 mid-level middle school students.  Just a way of finding ways to offer someone praise, encouragement, and condolences besides "ok," "fighting," and "that's too bad," respectively.  This was prompted by a discussion of "you go girl" in a previous class on Music English, and the difference between "girl" and "gull."  It's from a popular song by 이효리, if you haven't heard it like sixty times a day yet.  They're surprised to learn that "you go boy" doesn't really work.

This is just a sample, so customize it anyway you want.

Anyway, we brainstormed different ways of saying "잘 했어요" in English.  I gave them the first sheet with a selection of things to say as praise (칭찬), encouragement (격려), and condolences (애도).  I didn't translate those words for them, but they figured it out.  We went over the subtle differences between the similar phrases, and brought up situations when they might be appropriate.  That took 5 - 10 minutes.

Then I cut up the cards in the second attachment and gave one card to each pair.  One student read the half of the dialogue, or the prompt, and the other student answered with a proper answer.  Walk around to check if they're on point, and offer tips if they're not.  Have them practice a few minutes until they get it.  Change cards with another team if you want (5 - 10 minutes)

Then each pair did their dialogue aloud.  I reminded them again the importance of tone and sentence stress, and when they should sound excited and when they should sound sad (10 minutes)

Then on the back of the first attachment I printed the third attachment, a list of all the prompts.  The students listened and repeated, paying attention to the inflection.  Students then practiced saying each prompt and responding to their partner (8 - 10 minutes)

It's also a good time to work on pronunciation, since students pronounce "cheer up" and "shut up" the same.  They mix up sh/ch and 이/으, and also usually say both with the same flat tone.  They enjoy saying both side by side, and saying "shut up" aloud a lot, if you permit it. 

« Last Edit: October 22, 2008, 08:06:03 pm by Smee »
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