Field Notes: Food and Drink in ESL Tutoring

Field Notes: Using Food and Drink in ESL Tutoring

After my ESL students and I got back from our field trip together, I realized that I had another tip to share about how to make ESL tutoring a huge hit, a lot of fun, and educational all at the same time!

This ESL tutoring technique is all about food and drink (something we plenty of at the farmers market).

Yes, it is great to bring in food to work on vocabulary (apple, banana, carrot, cookie) and grammar (this is a cookie, these are carrots, etc.), but the learning with food and drink realia for ESL tutoring goes beyond that.

Food is a very cultural product.  What is completely normal to eat in one location may be completely outside of the realm of "normal food" for another culture.  I'll never forget one student I had who was so excited about sunflower seeds.  He had never tried them before, and it was love at first bite! 

Try bringing in a few foods to your next ESL tutoring session.  A few students may love the foods, and a few may hate them.  Either way, a good time will be had by all, and the conversation will be flowing.

The point is, sharing foods from each of your cultures is a great exercise in cultural learning, vocabulary, grammar, and traditions.  I believe that when learning a language, it is important to immerse yourself fully in that culture.  Seek out foods, try traditional drinks, listen to the music, watch the cartoons...whatever gets you involved at a cultural level.  Food is a huge part of this immersion. 

Food as ESL tutoring realia is also a great chance to learn how to follow directions in English.  If you are comfortable doing so, all of you can meet at someone's home, and make some type of food together.  Better yet, make it a full on meal, with each ESL student following a different recipe.  This will allow your ESL tutees to gain confidence in reading comprehension.  Plus, who doesn't love a good meal prepared with enthusiasm?

~ Tammy

Field Notes: ESL Technique, Realia

I was reading the blog the other day, and noticed someone asking about ESL terminology.  Well, that got me to thinking about my own ESL tutoring, and I wanted to share a great technique that always works well for me and my students.

It's "Realia."  In other words, it is "stuff" that I bring to my ESL tutoring session.  Kind of like tutoring props. 

By using real objects during my ESL tutoring, I can help my tutee increase his or her vocabulary, act out English speaking scenarios, and improve his or her conversational skills.  Plus, it gives my students real, actual, tangible things to use when working through sentences and grammar.

A great example of realia I use all the time: travel brochures and play money.  My student and I go through the travel brochures together, and then my tutee chooses where he or she would like to go on vacation.

Then, my tutee tells me how they want to travel (train, ship, airplane, car, etc.), where they want to stay (good for learning basic travel/hotel vocabulary), what time and date they would like to leave and return (great for learning numbers, time, and calender dates), and how they want to pay for the vacation.  If my tutee wants to pay with cash, it gives my tutee a chance to practice counting money in English. All while looking at some great pictures of travel destinations!

Also good is the fact that this kind of realia is easy to travel with, because it folds flat, and is lightweight.  A definite must if, like me, you ride a bike to your tutoring appointments.

So far, I have had a lot of success with this technique, and my students really seem to love it!
Tammy from Eau Claire, WI