After a small introduction of myself and where I am from, I begin: “Today I am going to help you improve your English. I have heard that many of you, although only 10 or 11 years old, are very good in English. So today we are going to focus on your spoken skills! I know that each and every one of you has learned English since you started school and some of you may speak English with your families. I am confident that your reading and writing skills are fairly good! So today I want to focus on your speaking and listening skills. Are you ready?”
“YES!” the students scream in unison. Their response was so quick and loud that I see it as a sign that they must have understood everything I just said. Their listening skills are already up to par. Now time to test their speaking skills.
“Great. So rule number one with me is only speaking English! If I hear you speaking Malay, Chinese, Tamil, or anything else, you are in big trouble! Rule number two is that you cannot be shy and cannot make fun of other students! Now everyone, pretend you have a hat on. This is your ‘shy hat’ as I call it. I want all of you to follow me.” I lift my hand to the top of my head and pretend to be taking off a hat. “Now, take off your shy hat, and throw it out the window!” I yell as I make a throwing motion towards the window. The students laugh as they follow my lead and throw their ‘hats’ out the window. I glance around the room and try to read the students faces, hoping that they are ready for the activities I have planned.
“Let’s start out with a game! Games are fun right? Each of you is sitting in a row. That row is your team. Now stand up. The game is called ‘two truths and one lie.’ Everyone in the team will take turns telling three things about themselves. Two of them will be true and one will be a lie. I will start: My name is Ben. I have blue eyes. I love eating onions. Now guess which one is a lie!”
“The onions!” one of the students yells out from the back.
“That’s correct. OK, now your turn! Everyone take turns telling two truths and one lie with your group.”
The students seem confused a little at first but at least a couple of students per row understand what I have said. Those that understand motion to the other students to stand up and begin to explain the instructions again.
“Remember, everything is in English!” I reiterate over the microphone.
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