Language Residents

an archive of lesson plans

Category: Communication (Page 1 of 11)

About slang, proverbs and expressions, gestures and sounds, jokes, anecdotes, compliments, lies, apologies, pick-up lines, accents, grammar

RU S23: NEWS: TRUTH AND FAKES

May 5, 2023 /

Language Resident Name: Aleksandra Bystrova

Date: 02/09/2023

Class theme/topics discussed: NEWS: TRUTH AND FAKES

Goal of the class:

  • Students will identify for themselves news media where they can read the news
  • Students can distinguish truth from untruth in Russian
  • Students can lie in Russian

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up. Good News (10 mins)
    Share the good news; what positive and interesting things happened to you in the past week?
  2. Activity 1. Discussion about news (10 min)
    Students discuss the following questions in pairs: Where do you read/watch the news? What was the last shocking news item you read? How do you recognize fakes? Is it difficult?
  3. Activity 2. What words are associated with the newspaper? (5 min)
    I write the word newspaper on the board and ask students to write all the words they associate with it.
  4. Activity 3. Objects create news (15 min)
    Create a news story with the items from the picture. In pairs, choose three items from the picture and create a news story.

5. Activity 4: Fake News
In pairs, students choose one news story that is real and make up a fake one from it. They can use their phones to do this. They then tell both news stories to the class, and they have to decide which one is true and which one is fake.

6. Wrap-up. Do you agree or disagree (10 min)
Read these statements. Decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Think about the reasons for your answers.
– Now that we have the Internet, print newspapers are no longer necessary.
– News reports are always biased.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I really enjoyed this class. The students are very interested in the topic of news in Russia. They talked a lot during the discussion. The picture activity, where they had to choose several subjects, was very interesting. The students were very creative. Also the last activity worked well. Students were able to practice their presentation and lying skills.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

I wouldn’t change anything. In my opinion, the class went very smooth, even though I was a little nervous to talk about news sources.

INT-НОВОСТИ-ПРАВДА-И-ФЕЙКИDownload

DE 23 ADV/INT S23 Image Description – in different ways, How to be accurate

May 5, 2023 /
TopicImage description
Goals of the ClassHow do I describe images in a very accurate way. What sentences do I use PronounsEffects of pictures
Warm UpSmall Talk about the first weekend back at the College. Expectations for the semester
Activity 1One person had a picture and the other person had to paint the picture. By describing the person with the picture. Then change partners with a new picture.
Activity 2How do I describe a picture. Input from my side: – What are the characteristics- background, foreground, on the right/left side, …- Pronouns (on, under, beside,) Each person got a picture and had to describe it with the given input.
Activity 3Everyone was allowed to choose a painting or a picture from the Internet:- Tell something about the artist and the painting- Describe the painting – Why do I like the painting / what effect does it have on me?- does it tell a story?
What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)? the students had a lot of fun and were able to quickly implement and use the phrases they had learned. The initial activity went very well, and the students’ drawings were very good. Next time I would probably choose simple pictures that are easier to draw.
BildbeschreibungDownload
Bild-beschreibung-Download

ES ADV: Podcast

December 9, 2022 /

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Podcast

Goal of the class: The students discover new podcasts in Spanish.

Class structure:

Warm-up:

  • Do you listen to podcasts?
  • What is your favorite podcast?
  • What topics are you interested in?

Activity 1:

We watch a video of my favorite podcast: Estirando el chicle.

Activity 2: What is your favorite podcast?

We made an incredible list about podcasts in English and Spanish. My students had great taste.

Activity 3: Influencers

What do you think about influencers?

Activity 4: Malas personas https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5068394/0/victoria-martin-anuncia-con-un-hilarante-trailer-su-nuevo-podcast-malas-personas-donde-entrevistara-a-famosos-cancelados

Backup: The worst influencers’ controversies

Resources used:

Estirando el chicle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FC6bJBugLk

What worked well? What did not work?

This class was great. We discussed a lot of different topics and we all discovered a lot of different podcast.

ES INT: Health

December 9, 2022 /

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Health

Goal of the class: The students learn the basic vocabulary to survive in a Spanish-speaking country in case they get sick and have to go to the doctor.

Class structure:

Warm-up: Brainstorm: parts of the body and diseases

The students have 3 minutes to brainstorm about this topic.

Activity 1: Useful vocabulary

Hola, quiero pedir hora para una cita.

Doler: me duele el estómago/me duelen las rodillas

Estar: estar resfriado/a, mareado/a, enfermo/a, herido/a

Tener: tener fiebre, covid, tos.

Dermatólogo, oculista, cardiólogo

Tarjeta sanitaria, radiografía, ecografía, análisis de sangre, análisis de orina, una receta, una receta, farmacia, pastillas, jarabe, la crema

Ir en ayunas, la baja/el alta

Una operación de corazón/apendicitis

Activity 2: Situation

Juan tiene dolores abdominales desde hace unos días y tiene que ir al médico de cabecera para la revisión. Naima, su cuidadora, pide una cita y lo acompaña a la consulta.

The students have to come up with a theatrical situation with the following characters: Juan, Naima, the doctor.

The students show their theatrical piece to the rest of the students and, after that, I show the students one video with the actual situation and they ask question related to vocabulary.

Resources used:

What worked well? What did not work well?

This class went very well. The students had a lot of questions, so three activities were enough. They were very interested when I explained them cultural things as the ”tarjeta sanitaria europea” concept.

JP F22 INT/ADV 政治や外交・歴史や人権、人種差別の問題について話そう！Let’s talk about complex subjects such as Politics, Intl relations, History, racism and Human rights!

December 9, 2022 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Cozy Enrique NAKADA (Koji NAKADA)

Day and Date: 14th week (29th Nov and 1st Dec 2022) 

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Conversation project

Goal of the class: To be able to express on the academic interest they have

How did you structure the class?

29th November 2022

16:15

              Talking about bilingualism and economical success in California

              Talking about a documentary film about heritage language

and social exclusion in Korea

17:15

1st December 2022

16:15

              Talking about microaggression and racial justice

              Talking about minority / majority issues in Japan

17:15

What technology, media or props did you use?  

   Handout, YouTube video

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

It was great two consecutive session to talk about their themes that they’re passionate about. They learned many higher / abstract words.

マイクロアグレッションの問題を説明する動画。

人種差別の無知を笑いで切り返す、爽快な動画。考えるきっかけとして最適

日本における「外人」差別をデフォルメして描いた動画。もちろん実際ここまでの人はいないにしても、多かれ少なかれ差別はあるよね。

学生の一人が制作に携わった、韓国のドキュメンタリー。いわゆる「ハーフ」の子達が、自らのルーツと向き合うためベトナムに旅行する、そのインタビューも載っているとのこと。非常に参考になる。（全て韓国語、たまに日本語も）

ハーフ達

日本における「ハーフ」のリアルを描いたドキュメンタリー映画。本当に力強く、マジョリティの「純ジャパ」と自称する人たちこそ見て考えを改めるべきで、その参考になる作品。

DE F22 INT Stereotypes

December 9, 2022 /
TopicStereotypes
Goals of the ClassKnow stereotypes and describe them with adjectives. Form opinions about them and be able to explain them
Warm UpCity land river game
Activity 1Video about German stereotypes with subtitles. The text of the video was printed, and the most important adjectives underlined. Input on the descriptive features – adjectives of the video. I – You – We (Think – Pair – Share) What can you see on the picture? Describe what the picture has to do with Germany?
Activity 2What is your experience with stereotypes? What do you think about them? True often/ True sometimes/ Not true at all?
Activity 3What stereotypes are there about the 5Cs 😀 Which ones about other countries?Do you know any stereotypes from TV? NerdsCheerleaders egos?Athletes? What are these stereotypes like? Find adjectives to describe these stereotypes Think of a stereotype Act out the stereotype
What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?  The topic of stereotypes was very well received by the class. Since many students in this class come from different countries, it was very interesting conversations about possible stereotypes. The warmup game also went very well, in which the students had to find a city, a land, a river, a food and a brand for a certain letter. Stereotypes is an interesting topic for multicultural classes.
stereotypenDownload

FR S22 INT/ADV – Votre Week-End idéal

May 6, 2022 /

This class was done online and could also be done in person.

Warm –up (10 minutes) –group discussion = (main zoom chat : send the link of the Google Doc with vocabulary on the routine as well as the following questions students have to discuss in breakout rooms)

•Quel est selon-vous le WE idéal? Qu’est-ce que vous aimez faire en général le WE? – What do you think is the ideal WE? What do you usually like to do on weekends?

Activity 1: Video ‘French people describe their WE’ (20 minutes –8 minutes for the video, 10 minutes for the group discussion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmu4yKfBg0

• Instructions: jot down what you understand from the video –écrivez sur une feuille de papier / sur votre ordinateur -ce que vous comprenez dans cette vidéo: Quelles sont les activités que les personnes interviewées aiment faire le week –end ? – What are some activities that the persons interviewed like doing on Weekends? Qu’est-ce qu’ils aiment faire avec leurs amis ? – What do they like doing with their friends?

Then we discuss it as a class and the students share what they understood and think about it –10 to 15 minutes –

Vocabulary input: What do these words mean? (Habituellement, Je bosse, aller en boîte, le confinement, se balader, faire un tour à…, profiter, la province); If there is some time left I propose a game they would play in Breakout rooms– ‘Qui est-ce?’ OR ‘Tu préfères’:

Tu préfères…Voyagez dans le monde entier sans pouvoir revenir à ton pays d’origine ou jamais sortir de ton pays ? Arriver toujours 1 heure avant à tes rendez-vous ou toujours arriver 1 heure en retard ? Passer toute ta vie à manger de la junkfood ou ne plus jamais manger tes plats préférés ? Vivre dans la maison de tes rêves dans un quartier chaud ou vivre dans une maison moche dans le quartier de tes rêves ? Être pauvre aux côtés de l’amour de votre vie ou être multimillionnaire sans jamais connaître l’amour ?

Resources:Vocabulary sheet (google doc provided)with expressions and words to be able to talk about one’s routine, Zoom Screenshare, Youtube, Powerpoint

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 1) [Zoom-class]

May 6, 2022 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 1) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Learn about “Konjunktiv II” (When and how to use it)
Discuss “Kunstfreiheit” (artistic freedom)
Put pictures in relation to “Kunstfreiheit” and discuss their historical context
Compare artistic freedom in Germany and the US
Discuss the content of a music video based on isolated pictures

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.20:        Welcome (Welcoming students to class, talking about how they feel and getting all the technology starting)

4.20 – 4.33:        “Was würdest du machen, wenn…” (Practicing the Konjunktiv II with the “würde”-form, e.g. “What you would do if you were to win a million dollars?” “I would buy an island if…”. Students join breakout rooms and ask each other one of the two questions in groups of 2-3 people. Three rounds with 2 questions each + always different groups)

4.33 – 4.37:        Review Konjunktiv II (short review of when to use and how to use the Konjunktiv II with its two forms. One of them the “würde”-Form, which we practiced in the task before)

4.37 – 4.45:        “Kunstfreiheit” + pictures (The term “Kunstfreiheit“ (artistic freedom) is introduced and students are then asked to look at 4 pictures, describe them, tell the group what is depicted in the pictures (and the context) and then put that in relation to “Kunstfreiheit”. If the students do not know about some of the pictures, the teacher can help them and explain their context. After that we take a quick look at how artistic freedom is embedded in the basic law for Germany)

4.45 – 4.55:        “Kunstfreiheit” experiences (students join breakout rooms first, and then come back to share with the group. They are asked to share their experiences with artistic freedom. Either because something that they themselves were involved, or something they have heard of and that has a relation to artistic freedom

4.55 – 5.00:        “Danger Dan” impression (“Danger Dan” is the name of the musician we are going to hear a song from. The students are asked to share their impressions when hearing the name)

5.00 – 5.05:        Pictures from the song (students see 4 pictures from the music video to the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt”. They are rather provocative and can be interpreted in different ways and the students are supposed to share their impressions of those pictures, and also what they think the video could be about and what it is supposed to express. Students discuss that in breakout rooms)

5.05 – 5.10:        Watch music video

5.10 – 5.15:        Music video impressions (students share their impressions from the music video and compare it with what they had shared before, when they just saw 4 isolated pictures from the music video)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

The introduction worked really well because the students seemed to be really engaged with the questions, as they had a lot of fun thinking about those scenarios and “what they could do, if…”. Also, it was a really good introduction and transition to explaining the Konjunktiv II, which is used a lot by Danger Dan in his song and therefore offers a great grammatical foundation for working with the song later on.

When we looked at the pictures, the students were able to identify most of them and put them in connection to artistic freedom. I chose the pictures because two of them are important pieces in the history of Germany, the Charlie Hebdo-picture is important in the context of contemporary European affairs, and the last one was a fun, little story that is connected to artistic freedom. We took a look at the basic law, and the exchange of their “Kunstfreiheit” experiences was really interesting. Same can be said for talking about the name “Danger Dan” and the pictures from the music video. Finally, we watched the music video and the students shared their impressions. Generally, it was a good mix of learning about current affairs in Germany, pop-culture and Konjunktiv II on the one hand, and sharing their impressions, thoughts and experiences on the other hand.

Konjunktiv-Kunstfreiheit-Teil-1-1Download

DE S22 INT/ADV: Subjunctive & Artistic Freedom (Part 2) [Zoom-class]

May 6, 2022 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Konjunktiv & Kunstfreiheit (Teil 2) [Zoom-class]

Goal of the class:
Analyze the lyrics of a song (describe in own words/research context/interpret what artist wants to express)
Compare different parts of a song with each other
Discuss differences and possible interpretations
Discuss whether the song “Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung (insult)
Discuss whether Böhmermanns „Schmähgedicht“ is an example for Kunstfreiheit or Beleidigung

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.23:        Recap (Recap last class and thereby make a transition to this class’ topic)

4.23 – 4.35:        Group work (students have to get together in 3 groups and analyze the lyrics of one verse based on 3 questions that ask them to describe the lyrics in their own words, research the context of the song and interpret what the artist wants to say and how he writes his song in order to achieve that message. Each group meets in one breakout room, while they have access to the questions and a vocabulary list on our GoogleDoc)

4.35 – 4.55:        Presentation group work (Each group presents their findings according to the 3 questions that were given to them – there is a particular emphasis on finding the Konjunktiv-forms, as they are an important instrument for Danger Dan in his song and also connect to the last class and the grammatical topic)

4.55 – 5.00:        Bridge (We look at the bridge of the song and try to analyze in which ways it is different from the rest of the song and why that is the case)

5.00 – 5.07:        Positionsline + discussion (students have to locate themselves along a position line ranging from Kunstfreiheit to Beleidigung. Based on that they have to discuss their own position)

5.07 – 5.13:        Böhmermann-Affäre introduction + video (Most students probably see the song as an obvious example for Kunstfreiheit, thus I present them a case that could be more critical to evaluate. The so-called “Böhmermann-Affäre” is introduced in a few minutes, and then we watch the video of it)

5.13 – 5.20:        Positionsline + discussion (students are again asked to locate themselves along the same position line and then discuss what led them to their judgements)

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Power Point Presentation
Google Doc (Questions + vocabulary list)
Zoom (+ Breakout rooms & annotate functions)
Pictures & videos (see Power Point Presentation)
(Jan Boehmermann Erdogan poem) https://vimeo.com/163537121

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

This class worked really well! It was a good conclusion to this 2-class-topic, which connected a song as a cultural element, with an important contemporary topic and a grammatical input. The class had different elements (discussions, group work, interpretations, media consumption etc.), a coherent structure and a few take-home messages.

The addition of a vocabulary list to the group work was very important and ensured efficiency, which allowed for a greater focus on the presentations and the discussions later. In those discussions, the students were really engaged and seemed interested in both the topic as well as the others’ opinions.  The position line worked really well and also as I expected (everybody saying it is Kunstfreiheit), which allowed me to introduce the “Böhmermann-Affäre” as a less clear-cut example for that topic. It is worth mentioning that the class ended about 5 minutes later – which is acceptable considering the complexity of the topic and the importance of the last discussion.

Konjunktiv-Kunstfreiheit-Teil-2Download

DE S22 INT/ADV: Music & The Voice

May 6, 2022 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Music

Goal of the class:
Learn about German music from the last ~25 years
Discuss music by elaborating on what you dis/like about it

How did you structure the class?

The class started of with an Introduction, explaining the rules of the game which focuses on German music. It doesn’t necessarily matter how many different artists you take and which one you focus on – I took 8 artists and tried to have a diverse range of artists (from Herbert Grönemeyer to Nena to Helene Fischer to Rammstein [the latter being rather well known in the U.S., though maybe not so much for their criticism, which can be talked about in class]).

The game works somewhat similar to “The Voice” – the students hear an artist for a maximum of 1 minute (they have the chance to raise their arms when they already know what they want to vote – if every student raises their hand, the song will be stopped before the minute is over – which happened when Rammstein was playing for example) and think about whether they like it and want to give it a vote to get to the next round or whether they dislike and want the artist to be “disqualified”. Then, they have 2 minutes to discuss the artist in the group and then vote on whether they want them to be in the next round or not.

In the first round there are 8 artists, in the second round 5, in the third 3 and then you can go for a winner. In my class I had 7 students, and when one artist had 4 upvotes they got into the next round. But that also means that when the students have already voted 5 artists in the next round before having heard the last ones, they won’t get a chance to go in to the next round (vice versa: if the students have already disqualified 3 artists in the first round before having heard the remaining artists then the remaining ones make it to the next round nevertheless the actual vote).

BUT there is one more rule to make it a bit more interesting: every student gets the name of one artist who bribed them. They get one point by having their candidate win “The Voice” (thereby you have students arguing for one artist who most dislike). Also, to give them something to “do” when “their” artist should have been disqualified in the first round – every student also writes down the name of one artist who they don’t want to win. If that candidate doesn’t win, they also get a point.

Rules for 2 students: For 2 students (in my conversation class intermediate) I slightly changed the rules. The students get 8, 7, 6, 5… points for the first round and can give each point-number to any artist. They listen to the song – they discuss it (which is a point where they can deceive or trick the other student, by saying they really like that artist but then giving only little points) and then they give points: for example student A gives 7 points, student B gives 4 points: artist has 11 points and depending on how many points the other artists get will make it to the next round or not. Student A cannot give 7 points to any other artist in this round, student B cannot give 4 points to any artist in this round.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Computer with music + music box
Whiteboard to write down names of songs, voting results and rules

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

Generally, the class worked really well. The students learned about different German singers/bands (which they specifically asked) for and I incorporated that into a game which forced them to discuss and engage with each other, while trying to convince the others from their point of view and being somewhat embedded in the structure of a show that most of them know (“The Voice”).

I did not tell them the names of the singers before they were disqualified to make it more of a challenge for them to decipher which candidate is actually the one that they support (e.g. if their singer-name seems like a female, and there are 3 female singers, they know that one of them has to be their candidate, but they do not really know which one exactly is their candidate) – I’m not sure if this was necessary though and if it might not have been even more engaging when they would know the names right out of the gate.

Other than that I wouldn’t really change anything. The introduction took about 10 minutes, which was fine, because the timing of the rest worked out really well.

Intermediate: The rule change for the intermediate class (with 2 students) worked really well. They were very engaged and tried to deceive each other a lot – which was particularly fun for me, as I always knew why they would say or do something (because I knew who they supported). Great class here as well!

FR S22 INT/ADV – La routine matinale (the morning routine)

May 6, 2022 /

Warm-up (15 minutes): Questions to discuss in group around Morning Routines and habits

The students have to discuss the following questions in groups of 3 to 4 students: Avez-vous une routine le matin? Que faites-vous habituellement après le réveil? (petit-déjeuner? Douche? Sport? Yoga? Lecture? Méditation?) – Do you have a morning routine? What do you usually do after waking up?

Qu’est-ce que tu fais en premier le matin?–What is the first thing you do after you wake up? Quelles sont les bonnes habitudes que vous aimeriez prendre le matin?–What are some good/healthy morning habits you would like to develop?

Qu’est-ce que tu manges au petit-déjeuner?–What do you usually eat for breakfast?

Est-ce que tu es un/une «lève tôt» ou un/une «couche tard» – are you an early bird or a night owl?

Provision of a vocabulary sheet with a lot of words, expressions and idioms pertaining to the morning routine in French (I included more difficult expressions/turn of phrases and idioms for the advanced level class). This sheet is designed to be a support for the following activities as well.

Activity 1: (20/25 minutes)

The first activity is based on creativity (writing) in groups of 2/3 students. First, I ask them to individually write on a small sheet of paper one word in relation to the word ‘Morning’. Then they all give them to me, I shuffle them, I create groups of 2/3 students, and each group randomly picks two papers. Based on the words they picked, they have to come up with a short story of about 100 words. This activity not only calls on to students’ imagination and creativity, but the way it is designed (team work) also makes it a good way for them to practice speaking in French by working on writing their story. They really liked this activity and it took them approximatively 20/25 minutes to write their story, after which each group chose to either tell the story or act it out. The whole class had a lot of fun!

Activity 2:

Another activity that could be done in this class is the following:

Les Français nous racontent leur routine matinale dans les rues de Paris –French people tell us about their morning routine in the streets of Paris : Video screening of Parisians interviewed in the street on their morning routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lMIShoMuIk.

This video is very good not only for the vocabulary and expressions used by the persons interviewed but also because it teaches the most accurate ways of expressing one’s habits in a colloquial manner.

Instructions: Jot down what you understand about the interviewees’ daily routine; what did they understood about the interviewees’ morning routines: Quelles sont les routines matinales des personnes interviewées dans la video?

The last part of the activity can be a little quiz on words and expressions mentioned in the interviews that are either colloquial or idiomatic. Activity 2: Another activitythat could be done in this class is the following:•Les Français nous racontent leur routine matinale dans les rues de Paris –French people tell us about their morning routine in the streets of Paris -: Video screening of Parisians interviewed in the street on their morning routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lMIShoMuIk. This video is very good not only for the vocabulary and expressions used by the persons interviewedbut also because it teaches the most accurate ways of expressing your habits in a colloquial manner. •Jot down what you understand about the interviewees’ daily routine;•After watching the video, I ask them to tell me what they understood about the interviewees’ morning routines: Quelles sont les routines matinales des personnes interviewées dans la video?•The last part of the activity can bea little quiz on words and expressions mentioned in the interviewees that are either colloquial or idiomatic.Resources: PowerPoint, Vocabulary sheet, Youtube

DE S22 INT/ADV: Role Playing

May 6, 2022 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Rollenspiele

Goal of the class:
Communicative practice and fun!
Learn how to have an argument
Learn about basic vocabulary connected to state founding

How did you structure the class?

4.15 – 4.20:        Welcome (Welcoming students to class, talking about how they feel while introducing the topic)

4.20 – 4.45:        Role play (students get a role card and have to discuss the topic on their card with their respective partner. They have about 5 minutes to come to a compromise. After that they draw a new card and thus get a new partner (if more than 4 people), a new role and a new topic to discuss about)

4.45 – 4.50:        Discussion (quick follow-up discussion on how students handled the different situations and what solutions they found)

4.50 – 5.10:        State foundation (students get a worksheet that gives them the task to found a new state)

5.10 – 5.15:        State foundation – Presentation (students present their new state to the other students – after that, students are asked which state they would like to join

What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?

The class worked really well. The role playing was very communicative and lots of fun – students had to get into new roles all the time, adjust to the situation and the person they are talking to and at the same time trying to find a compromise with a person that has the opposite opinion to theirs. The short discussion afterwards was helpful in order to compare the different solutions – on one hand as an exchange of knowledge, but most importantly to give the students a stage to share their interesting/funny solutions. I decided not to do it after every round in order to give students the chance to experience a new situation without having heard before how another group has solved it.

The state foundation task was a nice addition, even though – for the sake of coherence – it would be nice to find a smooth transition from one task to the other. If not, it’s two really neat tasks – which is also fine.

Students were really creative and came up with “interesting” states – some of the vocabulary might be a bit too complex – but they also did not really have that much time to take a deep dive into all the aspects but should rather focus on a general idea and for that the task was certainly sufficient while giving them the chance to create something creative as a group together. The following presentation gave them the opportunity to present their state and make other people join that state – either because the idea is very funny or because the state seems really promising. Students can certainly take different paths to finding a solution to that task.

Rollenspiel-SituationDownload
StaatsgrundungsspielDownload

Es F21 Adv Dating

December 10, 2021 /

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme: Dating

Goal of the class: dating/relationships/describing a person vocabulary and having a date in the target language

Warm up: What adjectives do you use to describe a person?

We write all of them on the board.

Activity 1: Red flags and green flags

The students write on the board what are red and green flags for them when they meet someone. After that they have to explain what they wrote down to the rest of the class.

Activity 2: Are these green or red flags?

  • They criticize your physique
  • Both are compromised with the relationship
  • They don’t like High School Musical
  • They don’t take your feelings seriously and say you are crazy.
  • Both share the same goals and lifestyle.
  • They criticize their exs.
  • They don’t value your achievements
  • They are responsible with their selves
  • They criticize you and/or your friends
  • They joke about your insecurities
  • They take your phone
  • They don’t treat their family well
  • They are still sleeping with their ex
  • What they do matches what they say.
  • They think your work is not important.
  • They cook for you when you are sick
  • They don’t know where Canada is.
  • You change your behavior when you are with them
  • You love each other
  • They don’t ask you questions. They are not interested in you.
  • You must fight to have you place in the relationship.
  • They are sincere and you trust each other.
  • They are married
  • They are cheap
  • The communication is not good
  • You empower each other
  • They manipulate situations and feelings
  • They respect your space and priorities
  • They control you on social media
  • They treat waiter/waitress respectfully
  • You both communicate your feelings and necessities in a freely.
  • You listen to them, but they don’t listen to you.
  • They like cats and they aren’t allergic.

The students have to agree if these are green or red flags form them and explain why they think so.

Activity 3: We have a dateThe students get a Tinder profile with 5-6 adjectives/characteristics, and they have to have speed dates with other students.

Resources used: Powerpoint and fake tinder profiles

Reflection: This class worked very well. The students liked to give their opinions on red and green flags. I found the speed dating activity very good because you can do more or less rounds depending on the time you have left. I also think that this class could be improved with another warmup activity in which the students work in pair, because they always share more opinions when they are talking in pairs.

JP F21 ADV: 大きな数、否定疑問文、ジェスチャー（Big numbers, negative question such as “Do you mind if ~~”, Gestures)

December 10, 2021 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Cozy Enrique NAKADA (Koji NAKADA)

Day and Date: 12th week (15th to 19th Nov 2021)  

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:  ちょっと文法コーナー（ややこしいこと、大きな数や単位の計算について）、ジェスチャー・寸劇

Answering to questions with negation (Complicated issues such as big numbers, calculating units.), Gesture; Making a short skit

Goal of the class:

Students can learn the linguistic / cultural differences of responding to questions, different gestures, different meanings.

How did you structure the class?

16th Nov 2021

16:30

Check in with students (to wait a little bit for some students from different campus.)

16:40

Explain the grammatical difference on 否定疑問文, let students make 3 example sentences to practice the grammatical pattern.

17:00

Students learn big numbers, look for some statistic data

17:20

Students calculate temperature of different places

17:30

End

18th Nov 2021

16:30

Wait until students fully come to the class by checking in

16:40

Show video about misunderstanding with air quote: https://youtu.be/4DqoQq1zME8

The funny aspect of gesture, reflection from students

16:45

Explain each Japanese gesture

17:00

Students start discuss with partner to make a short skit

17:18

Starts presentations (everyone)

17:30

End

What technology, media or props did you use?   

Students’ mac laptop, handouts

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Almost everyone seem to enjoy. But compared to intermediate class, they are not fully satisfied with the lecture. ( I do not know the needs of students,,, ) (Or it is just because they are too tired to do things due to mid term examination.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ handout ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021年11月16日（火）

ちょっと文法コーナー！〜否(ひ)定(てい)疑(ぎ)問(もん)文(ぶん)の答(こた)え方(かた)〜

日本語(にほんご)の日常(にちじょう)会話(かいわ)でもよく使(つか)われる否(ひ)定(てい)疑(ぎ)問(もん)文(ぶん)。返事(へんじ)の仕方(しかた)を練習(れんしゅう)しましょう。

今日(きょう)ってテストじゃないよね？We don’t have exam today, right?

       ⇨ うん、テストじゃないよ〜。No, we don’t have one.

　　⇨ いや、テストだよ！ Yes, we have!

ごめん、先(せん)月(げつ)借(か)りた30ドル、まだ返(かえ)してなかったよね？

Oh, I didn’t give you 30 dollars back yet which I borrowed from you last month, did I?

　　⇨うん、まだ返(かえ)してもらってない〜＞＜

　　⇨いや、もうもらったよ。先(せん)週(しゅう)の水(すい)曜(よう)日(び)にスタバで会(あ)った時(とき)にくれたじゃん。

ポイント：日本語(にほんご)では、相手(あいて)の質問(しつもん)の正誤(せいご)を最初(さいしょ)に判断(はんだん)してから、自分(じぶん)の意見(いけん)を言います(い　　　)。

  • パートナーと一緒に、否定疑問文の例を作ってお互いに質問しましょう。

♪メモ用紙♬

ややこしいもの・こと

一いち　One
十じゅう Ten
百
千
万
十万
百万
千万
一億
十億
百億
千億
一兆

アメリカの総人口

　　　　　　　　　　　人

日本の総人口

　　　　　　　　　　　人

ハワイ州の人口

　　　　　　　　　　　人

沖縄県の人口

　　　　　　　　　　　人

〜年時点で

As of (year ~~)

♪お互いに大きな数字を使うクイズを出そう！

気温について語ろう！

華氏から摂氏への変換方法

（F°− 30）÷２≒C°

例）Los Angeles 73°

（73―30）÷２＝21.5

DE F21 INT/ADV Desert Game

December 10, 2021 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:
Nicolai Diener

Class theme/topics discussed:
Desert Game

Goal of the class:
Finding a compromise
Finding the (best possible) solution as a team
Debate & discussion

How did you structure the class?

4.30 – 4.35:        Introduction & Scenario (Welcome students to class and introduce them to the topic “desert game”. Tell them the scenario in a dramatic fashion! [students on a plane/plane crashes/they are all by themselves in the desert and were able to save 15 items, which they have to rate according to their importance for their survival/their ratings will be judged compared to the solution and then reflected)

4.35 – 4.40:        Questions & familiarize with items (Make sure that every student understands the scenario and quickly introduce the 15 items – it is really important that the students know what those items are and if they have no idea what an item could be used for it doesn’t hurt if there is a short exchange about them within the class)

4.40 – 4.48:        Step 1: Work on your own (each student now has 8 minutes to think about the items and rate them from 1 to 15, depending on how important they think a certain item is to survive in this desert scenario)

4.48 – 5.00:        Step 2: Small groups (students are divided into small groups and within those small groups have to discuss the items and then come to a shared solution. It is not allowed for students to have different solutions within the small groups, so they have to discuss with each other and find a compromise together)

5.00 – 5.10:        Step 3: Plenum (students have to come up with a solution for the whole class. As in the step before, they have to come up with a shared solution for everyone – so they have to be able to find a compromise. Depending on the size of the class or the number of small groups there are two ways on how to handle the plenary discussion: a) every group selects one speaker that has to represent and argue for their solution in the whole class, while the others of the small group have to help and assist him with arguments or questions for the others, or b) everybody can speak.

5.10 – 5.20:        Solution (the teacher reads out the solution [find in documents] – students have to compare their own, small group and class solutions with the solution offered by the teacher and calculate the difference to their solutions. While reading out the solution there will be lots of surprises and students want to discuss that. If not you can always ask “Are you surprised by this” or something like that to engage small discussions)

5.20 – 5.30:        Reflection (ask students questions to allow them to reflect on the solution finding process, like: “How did the initial group process go? How did you proceed as a group to find a solution? How did you feel about the discussion in the group? How did you manage to reach a good result? Were all group members equally involved? What was the leadership like? Did a team leader emerge? How were decisions reached?”

What worked well in this class? What did not work (how could that be improved)?

The class worked really well – students were very engaged in the discussion and had a lot of fun thinking about how to survive in this scenario by making best use of the offered items. They were also really surprised by the solution – reading that out might take longer than expected and is a bit much teacher-focused. I really enjoyed that part, how surprised the students were and the discussions that followed that – but maybe there is a better solution, like handing out a handout and then having the groups discuss in small groups again on what they think about the solution. In general, it is important to give them enough time to discuss everything – otherwise they might feel that they were being rushed. But at the same time the class is really tightly scheduled, so it is important to keep an eye on the time.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

WustenspielDownload
Das-Wustenspiel_HandoutDownload

Internet resource (solution and further information : https://butterflying-akademie.de/team-challenge-wuestenspiel/ )

JP F21 INT : 芸術の秋　Art related activities

December 10, 2021 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Cozy Enrique NAKADA (Koji NAKADA)

Day and Date: 11th week (8th to 12th Nov 2021)  

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:  芸術の秋１・２（Artistic Autumn part 1, 2）

Goal of the class:

Art 1

Students can express how to describe shape, texture, size, and impression in Japanese.

Art 2

Students can introduce their favorite films, books in Japanese.

How did you structure the class?

9th Nov 2021

16:30

Wait until everyone comes, by showing Intermediate class’ video.

16:40

Explaining the procedure of competitive drawing game. Reviewing all the expressions.

16:45

Game start! (for 3 different drawing, so that everyone have opportunity to draw at least once.)

17:25

Students put phrases which they want to know, on google sheet.

17:30

End

11th Nov 2021

16:30

Wait until everyone comes, by checking in with students who came on time.

16:40

Explaining how to describe feelings, thoughts, introduce film / book to others. Demonstrate teacher’s example.

16:45

Preparing short paper to talk with partner.

17:00

Start talking with partner

17:15

Presentation of favourite films by 3 students (2 assigned, 1 volunteer)

17:30

End

What technology, media or props did you use?   

Students’ mac laptop, handouts

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Handouts always help both students and me. For the advanced class, they seemed to enjoy the activities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ handouts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021年11月8日（月）

芸(げい)術(じゅつ)の秋(あき)　〜アートに触(ふ)れよう　その１〜

☆あみだくじをひきます。

☆当たった人は絵を描きます。

☆クラスの後ろの方に座り、壁の方を向きます。

☆ジェスチャーを使うのはOKです。

☆できるだけ英語は使わないで相手に説明してください。

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

丸い

三角の

四角い

ふわふわした

ギザギザの

やわらかい

かたい

線

ゆるやかな

急な

右側

左側

上

下

中心

とがった口

眉毛が　太い　細い

鼻毛が出ている

おでこ・ひたいにしわがある

ほっぺたが赤い

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2nd handout ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021年11月10日（水）

芸術(げいじゅつ)の秋(あき)　パート２(ツー) 　好き(す　)な本(ほん)や映画(えいが)について話そう(はな　　)！（口語(こうご)）

♪表現(ひょうげん)したい内容(ないよう)を簡単(かんたん)にメモしてから、知りたい(し　　　)単語(たんご)をSheetに書く

Q1. その（本(ほん)・映(えい)画(が)）の評(ひょう)価(か)を一(ひと)言(こと)で言(い)うと？

（楽しかった(たの　　　　　　)　悲しかった(かなし　　　　　)　切なかった(せつ　　　　　　)　爆笑(ばくしょう)だった　怖かった(こわ　　　　)　叫びまくってた(さけ　　　　　　　)　）

Q2. 簡単(かんたん)なあらすじを紹介(しょうかい)

　主人公(しゅじんこう)は（　貧乏(びんぼう)　金持ち(かねも)　女性(じょせい)　男性(だんせい)　高校生(こうこうせい)　）で、（　1960の東京(とうきょう)・1992年のロス　）を舞(ぶ)台(たい)に、（　世(せ)界(かい)を救(すく)う・正(せい)義(ぎ)のために戦(たたか)う　）　という話(はなし)！

Q3. 　一番(いちばん)心(こころ)を動かされた(うご)のはどんな（内容(ないよう)・シーン）ですか？

Q4. 　この作品(さくひん)を誰(だれ)に勧めたい(すす)ですか？

Q5.　それはなぜですか？

例）

♪わたしがオススメしたい映画(えいが)は　「コニー　アンド　カーラ（Connie and Carla）」です。主人公(しゅじんこう)は売れない(う　　　)女性(じょせい)歌手(かしゅ)二人(ふたり)で、殺人(さつじん)現場(げんば)を見た(み　)せいでアメリカ中(　　　　じゅう)を逃げないといけなくなり、ドラッグクィーンの世界(せかい)で大活躍(だいかつやく)するというドタバタコメディーです。逃げる(に　　)中(なか)で主人公(しゅじんこう)が自信(じしん)を取り戻して(と　もど　　)行く(い　)様子(ようす)がとても好き(す　)です。いまとにかく、何(なに)も考えず(かんが　　)笑いたい(わら　　　)！そういう人(ひと)におすすめの映(えい)画(が)です。

JP F21 INT : The difference of medical system between US and Japan : 日米の医療制度の違いについて

December 10, 2021 /

Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Cozy Enrique NAKADA (Koji NAKADA)

Day and Date: 13th week (22nd to 26th Nov 2021)  

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed:  

Goal of the class:

How did you structure the class?

23rd Nov 2021

16:30

Check in with students (to wait a little bit for some students from different campus.)

16:40

Explain the difference of medical system, health insurance. Expose my own experience at Urgent care and Emergency room in Pomona.

17:05

Students start explaining to their partners

17:20

Students start presenting their ideas to entire class

17:30

End

What technology, media or props did you use?   

Students’ mac laptop, handouts

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Everyone loved speaking ill of medicare system in US. The story of my own experience was somewhat relatable to students.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ handout below ~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021年12月1日（月）

ちょっと文化紹介コーナー〜日米の医療制度の違いについて〜

・日本とアメリカ、そして各国で医療制度・社会保障制度は異なります。共通しているところ・違うところを見てみましょう。

毎月の保険代

日：　                      　米：　　           　　　その他：

病院のかかり方

日：　                      　米：　　           　　　その他：

  1. 直接病院へ
  • 基礎情報の確認
  • 整理券を受け取り、

番号で呼び出し

4.診察

5.会計

実際の医療費（自己負担分）

日：　                      　米：　　           　　　その他：

使えるフレーズ

Q1:あなたの出身地で、毎月の保険代はいくらぐらいですか？

Q2: あなたの出身地の病院のかかり方はどのようなものですか？

Q3:実際に支払う医療費はいくらぐらいですか？

Q4:今までに救急車に乗ったことはありますか？

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

新出単語一覧

医療制度

社会保障制度

保険代

基礎

情報

確認

整理券

呼び出し

診察

会計

自己負担

病院にかかる

＝医者にかかる

CN F21 INT 新牛郎织女 A New Story of Niulang & Zhinv

December 10, 2021 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Feiya Suo

Day and Date: 2021.09.15

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate

Class theme/topics discussed: 新牛郎织女 A New story of Niulang & Zhinv

Goal of the class:

By the end of this class, students will be able to creat their own story about Niulang and Zhinv, and be able to perform their stories in front of the class.

How did you structure the class?

Warm-up: The story of Niulang & Zhinv

  1. Questions:

When is the Valentine’s Day here in the U.S.? Why is it on Feb. 14th? Is there a story about it?

When is the Valentine’s Day in China? Do you know the story of it?

  • Presentation: A brief introduction of the story of Niulang & Zhinv
Niulang & Zhinv
  • What would the story look like if it happens in modern times?

Characters: Niulang, Lao Niu(the cow), Zhinv(the weaver girl), Wang Mu Niangniang(the queen mother)

1. How did Niulang and  Zhinv meet each other?

2. What did Lao Niu do?

3. Wang Mu Niangniang(the queen mother) doesn’t agree that Niulang and  Zhinv fall in love. What did she say? What should Niulang and Zhinv do?

4. How does the story end? Is it a good ending or a bad ending?

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

PowerPoint slides (23 in total)

Handouts

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Things that worked well:

Students need to get to know the orginal story first, and then creat a modern version of the story. They really enjoyed creating a story by themselves! There was a group created a story like: Niulang was a student in CMC, while Zhinv was in Scripps. While they were watching a basketball game, Niulang was hit by a cow and then taken to a hospital and met Zhinv… The stories they creat were pretty convincing, and the words and sentence structures they used were actually exceeded my expection.

The thing that did not work:

The story that I presented to they was a little bit hard for the intermediate group to understand. So I adjusted some words when telling the story. Since there are many pictures about the story on the slides, students were able to understand what was going on eventually. However, I think to make it easier for students is a good idea.

How could this class be improved/ modified?

The text that I put on the handout should be modified into a easier version in order to match students’ level.

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

Time/stepTeacher focusStudent focus
PresentationWarm-up (5 mins)Warm-up: The story of Niulang & Zhinv1)Questions: When is the Valentine’s Day here in the U.S.? Why is it on Feb. 14th? Is there a story about it?When is the Valentine’s Day in China? Do you know the story of it?– Greet the instructor 
Presentation (10 mins)A brief introduction of the story of Niulang & Zhinv
很久以前，有一个善良的小伙子叫牛郎，他和一头老牛一起生活，他对老牛很好，老牛一直都想报恩。有一天，天上的织女来到人间。老牛突然开口说话了，它说……。于是，牛郎听了老牛的建议，晚上去河边找织女，他们俩果然一见钟情。织女于是留在人间，和牛郎结婚了。不料，这件事被王母发现了，她……。老牛不忍他们分离，撞断头上的角，牛角变成一只小船，让牛郎乘船追赶。突然王母在天空划出了一条一望无际的银河，小船无法渡河，夫妻二人从此只能隔河相望。这件事感动了喜鹊，……		 –  Understand the story.
Guided & Communicative practice (25 mins)Ask students to think about the questions below:1) How did Niulang and  Zhinv meet each other?2) What did Lao Niu do?3)Wang Mu Niangniang(the queen mother) doesn’t agree that Niulang and  Zhinv fall in love. What did she say? What should Niulang and Zhinv do?4) How does the story end? Is it a good ending or a bad ending?2.Ask students to write a story outline with your partners(In groups of 3/4)3.Ask students to make some props for the performance4. Ask students to rehearse the story5.Ask students to perform the story – Think about the questions;- Write a story outline with partners-  Make some props for the performance- Rehearse the story- Perform the story
Communicative practice (5 mins)Evaluation of each group’s performanceDiscuss in the whole class.
牛郎织女Download

FR SP21 INT/ADV Advertising & Slogans

May 11, 2021 /

Language Resident: Marie Segura

Class theme/topic discussed: Advertising

Goal of the class: learning vocabulary about advertisement, learning more about French culture and especially the advertisement culture. 

Structure:

ACTIVITY 1 – Slogans

  • Show the students a list of French slogans and a list of brands and ask the students to pair them up.
  • What are the characteristics of a good slogan? (repetitions, rhymes…)
  • In pairs, ask the students to come up with the best slogan to sell a simple object (something they use everyday).

ACTIVITY 2 – Discussing (French) commercials

  • Brainstorming: what aspects do publicists rely on to sell specific types of products? (eg for coffee: seduction, luxury…)
  • Show the students a French ad and ask them to guess what it is trying to sell + what aspects  are emphasized 
  • Reflection: show them an infamous car ad that was taken down and ask them what they understand + what they think about it. What is it trying to sell? Who is the target audience? Is it efficient?

ACTIVITY 3 – Create your own commercial

  • In pairs: give each group a picture of an impossible object. Ask the students to write the scenario of an ad promoting it: what is the target audience of the ad? where does it take place? Who are the characters? Is there music? What happens?
  • Present your ad to the rest of the class. 

Resources used:

Bouygues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSAuAd9mcc4

Kinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zSl7xldK8U

Powerpoint, pictures of impossible objects

ES S21 ADV NASA

May 11, 2021 /

Language Resident Name: Tamara Olivos

Day and Date: April 20, 2017

Language and Level : Advanced Spanish

Class theme/topics discussed:

Goal of the class:

How did you structure the class?

Reminder of cultural activities

Warm up: pictionary. Using the whiteboard, ask students to draw something. The rest of the class has to guess what the drawing is.

NASA activity: See attached link

Set the mood and give context using this story.

“Each one of you is part of the crew of a spaceship that is going to meet the ‘mother ship’ on the illuminated part of the moon. Due to some mechanical difficulties, the space ship had to land about 350km from the original meeting spot. During the landing, a big part of the space ship equipment suffered considerable damage and due to the fact that the crew’s survival depends on getting to the mother ship, you must select the most important material to take with you, and leave the least important ones behind.”

“Cada uno de ustedes forma parte de la tripulación de una nave espacial que iba a reunirse con la “nave nodriza”, en la superficie iluminada de la luna. Debido a unas dificultades mecánicas que surgieron, la nave espacial tuvo que alunizar en un lugar que dista unos 350 km. del sitio donde tenía que encontrarse con la otra nave. Durante el alunizaje, gran parte del equipaje de la nave en que iban ustedes, se estropeó o sufrió daños de consideración, y puesto que la supervivencia de la tripulación, o sea de cada uno de ustedes, depende de que puedan llegar a la “nave nodriza”, tienen que seleccionar el material más importante para llevarlo, dejando lo menos importante.”

Read the list of objects and equipment that were left unharmed after the forced landing. The participants must rank them according to importance and usefulness in order to get to the mother ship. 1 = most important, 15 = least important.

Fist step : Each student will rank the objects individually (column labeled indv)

Second part: Depending on your class size, you can create groups or pairs. Ask students to share their individual rankings, and then rank the again under column group.

Third part If you used pairs in part two, you could create bigger groups and ask them do rank them again. If not, provide the official ranking made by NASA and compare with each groups’ ranking. Students share observations on the process.

Collaboration, active listening, and flexibility are key for this class.

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

Students were really surprised about the results. They collaborated a lot and they realized how talking to others improved their chances.

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

You can find the items list in this link:

https://jugamos.jimdo.com/juegos-cognitivos/el-juego-de-la-nasa/

ES S21 ADV Accents and Stereotypes

May 11, 2021 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name: Tamara Olivos

Day and Date: February 2, 2021

Language and Level : Spanish Advanced

 Class theme/topics discussed: Accents

Goal of the class:

  • To talk about different accents in English and Spanish.
  • To talk about how accents influence our perception of people

How did you structure the class?

Ice breaker: “House Treasure Hunt”. The instructor will post items on the chat (one at a time) and students must try to find the item and bring them back as soon as possible.

  • A kitchen item that starts with a “C” (cuchara, cazuela, cubeta, copa)
  • The longest book/textbook you can find
  • Something yellow
  • Scissors
  • A small box
  • A broom

Warm up: Which accent is your favorite in Spanish and in English? Which accent is easiest/hardest to understand in Spanish? Why? Are you good at imitating accents in English?

Activity 1: We watch a video about the different accents in English. What did you think? Did she do a good job? Did you like her accent? Where is she from? Because the video is pretty long, the instructor can pause after each accent and discuss the questions above.

Alternative: Watch this video instead about Spanish accents, although it’s in English.

Activity 2:  We watch a series of videos by HBO Latino where they discuss stereotypes and their lives in the US. We discuss the videos. What is the stereotype? What is the situation in their states?  How can we change this? What’s the main reason for the rejection of people different from us? Has anyone made fun of your accent, in English or Spanish?

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

Zoom, YouTube

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I skipped the accents video because my previous class didn’t enjoy it very much. I added an alternative because it may be easier for students to talk about Spanish accents. This class loved all the HBO videos though and had lots of comments. Because we skipped the first one, we had a lot of time to spend on the HBO videos.

JP SP21 INT/ADV: Asian Stereotypes

May 11, 2021 /

Language Resident/Assistant Name:  

Kozue Matsumoto  

Day and Date:  

Tuesday March 3 & 16, 2021   

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):  

Intermediate & Advanced 

Class theme/topics discussed:  

  • Stereotypes towards Asians and Half Japanese people 

Goal of the class:  

  • Think about stereotypes  

How did you structure the class?  

  1. Language Table Reminder (5 min) 
  1. Study Break date? (1 min) 
  1. Good News? (10 min) 
  1. Asian Stereotypes (45 min) 
    1. What kind of Stereotypes exist towards Asians and Half Japanese?  ? 
    2. Have you had such experiences?  
    3. High school experiences? students hang based on race? 
    4. What is stereotype?
    5. Why does this happen? 
    6. Internalized racism in Japanese people?
    7. Why do we need to talk about?  
    8. What stereotype do we have?
    9. What can we do for that? 
  2. Asian history and now
    1. Idea of model minority  
    2. At the same time no matter how hard we work, there are hate crimes against us 
    3. Hate crime against Asians over covid 
  3. Japanese history 

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)  Class agreement, breakup rooms 

Zoom 

What worked well in this class? What did not work?   

Intermediate:

  • Today’s topic was complicated and not easy to talk about. So I was wondering how long this was going to last. But students shared a lot of experiences and thoughts around the topic.  
  • We are all Asians in this class. I believe that this fact helped them to talk more honestly and share their own personal stories.  
  • I appreciate their honesty and effort to discuss the complicated and sensitive issues. And they had a lot of ideas, thoughts, and experiences related to it.  
  • They said that the more they think the more difficult and complicated the issue looks, but they said that such complexity shouldn’t discourage them to keep talking about it.  
  • There are a little more silent this time as they needed to think and find a way to say in Japanese. At the same time, things that they said were a lot longer and more complicated than other classes.  

Advanced:

  • We talked about stereotypes. This turned into a little different topic from the 11.1 class. Students in the 11.1 class are all Asian Americans who live in the USA. Students in this class are half Japanese and lived in Japan. Experiences around stereotypes created the topic around “why do Japanese people think about us that way?” 
  • They also witnessed Japanese people’s reaction to their white fathers and had some thoughts around that.  
  • They also think about their Korean friends and Japanese people, and how different their attitudes towards their own cultures. 

How could this class be improved/ modified? 

  • Depending on students’ awareness on the topic, some introductory video or a good ice breaker might be helpful. This particular group of students have some awareness already, and all are Asians. This situation might have made it easier to discuss the topic.  
  • I also shared some of my own experiences for a few times, which helped them encourage them to share their stories and related ideas.  
  • It was interesting to hear what they say about the topic. They have a lot to talk about. It is possible to spend multiple classes for this topic.
  • Also it would be interesting to spend another hour to think about Japanese culture as national culture and more regional cultures, such as Kyoto culture, Osaka culture. Some peole think that their culture is Japanese culture. Some Japanese people think their culture is their regional culture (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Tohoku, Okinawa, etc.) instead of general Japanese culture

DE SP21 ADV – German politicians & Social Media

May 11, 2021 /

Day and Date: 3/23/2021

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: Current German politics, Social Media

Goal of the class: Get to know party leaders (= candidates for chancellor)

How did you structure the class?

A) “Word of The Day” Game: Students are given a very specific and not well known word that fits the topic of the day (For example a slang word: “lindnern” or “verschlimmbessern”). They write a quick description of what they think the word could be (on a card, piece of paper, or in Zoom they would privately message you). When all have submitted their description, you read all of them, including the correct one and let the students guess which one is right. I do this at the beginning of every class as an ice breaker, but it can also be done as a quick random activity.

B) Instagram Profile Revamp: Each student is assigned an important politician (leader of a party or chancellor candidate). They look up one of their Social Media profiles (for example, Instagram or Facebook) and think about how their page could be re-done in order to speak to them as an audience. Alone or in groups, they work on a new Profile Image, Instagram handle (Name), a concise logline, three lines of bio description and three posts consisting of a picture of the politician with a post text. Use of emojis is strongly welcomed. This activity can take about 25 minutes. (Note: they do not create an actual Instagram account, that should be made clear. They can do the task in a Word or Google Doc.)

C) Presenting their work/politician: Students present their revamped Instagram pages to each other, so that the students get to know each politician in a fun and engaging way.

D) Discussion: Compare to existing social media accounts and talk about the differences.

E) Optional extra activity: The students record a selfie video telling their friends why they should vote for this politician’s party.

Example: One student went above and beyond (which was not expected) and photoshopped his answers so it looks real. Can be part of the exercise as well.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.), Props: Share Screen function in Zoom, Google Docs or Word Doc for students to write down their Instagram material

What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The class worked well. The students seem to enjoy the creative exercises.

How could this class be improved/ modified?
The Instagram task could also be done as homework, if applicable, and the class can be used to talk more in-depth about the parties. If the Instagram task is done in class, the selfie-video exercise can also be done as homework or done in a previous class about politics and watched before the exercise.

« Older posts

© 2024 Language Residents

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑