Who Wants To Be A Linguist?
I thought for some time last week on how to effectively correct my pupils' most common mistakes in their essays. In the end I came up with an idea of using them in a sort of game show titled "Who Wants To Be A Linguist?" (I hope that the producer of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" doesn't come and sue me LOL). The idea is that other pupils will also benefit from their friend's mistakes in a fun way. I made three female pupils to fight against three male pupils with points at stake.
There are two categories of play - Grammar and Idioms. In Grammar category, I took some mistakes from the pupils essays and put it in the questions. For the first round, I underlined the mistakes and asked them to correct them. However, in the second round, I gave a sentence without any underlined words and pupils have to guess where the mistakes are before giving their answers. After each answer, of course, there will be notes on the mistakes and when elaborations needed, I was on hand to help them.
While in Idioms category, I used idioms they wrote, or attempted to write (unsuccessfully most of the time), by giving pictures depicted them. For example, try this picture:
To let the cat out of the bag
For the answer, triple click under the above picture. Here is the complete list of the idioms I used:
To let the cat out of the bag – (to reveal a secret) It is in your interest not to let the cat out of the bag in the company of friends or foes.
To cry over spilt milk – (regret for a wrong action which cannot be undone) If something wrong has happened, there is no use crying over spilt milk.
To kill time – (to waste time) It is a bad habit to kill time during office hours.
Out of pocket – (without money) I am out of pocket since many days.
To make the pot boil – (to earn one’s living) One has to work hard to make the pot boil.
To face the music – (to meet the consequences) If you deliberately do something wrong, you will have to face the music.
Proud as a peacock – (very proud) Every person in authority is proud as a peacock.
Hard nut to crack – (a difficult problem) Rising prices and falling incomes is a hard nut to crack.
To blow one’s own trumpet – (to brag; to praise oneself) Every politician blows his own trumpet.
Apple of one’s eye – (very near and dear) Every child is the apple of his mother’s eye.
Prick one’s ears – (to listen carefully) When the teacher announced prizes, every student pricked his ears.
To go through the mill – (to get education and training, suffering etc) You have to go through the mill before you can make a choice of your career.
82 kilograms
Even if you are not a Bollywood fan, you should watch these two films if you are a teacher - Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots. The two films revolve around teaching methods which I think could be used in our everyday classroom. Although the target audience in each film are different, the message is the same - imparting knowledge to the learner. In Taare Zameen Par, Aamir explores the life of a dyslexic student, and the methods which are best suited for this kind of disability. In reality, it is hard for us teachers to know if our students are dyslexic. We actually have to be aware of the repeated signs or common mistakes usually made by a dyslexic. Now those who are teaching the back classes should see whether the errors made by their students are the same with what were portrayed in this film.
Whereas in 3 Idiots, Aamir showcases about the difference of 'training' and 'educating'. The setting is an engineering college, and Aamir is a student who disapproves the methods used in the education system. He even points out that 'cramming bookish definition' into your memory is not the best way to learn. I like the part where he describes a book as 'Instruments that record, analyse, summarise, organize, debate and explain information which are illustrative, non-illustrative, hardbound, paperback, jacketed, non-jacketed with a forward, introduction, table of contents, index that are intended for the enlightenment, understanding, enrichment, enhancement and education of the human brain through the sensory root of vision... sometimes touch' which left the lecturer in a state of shock.
