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

Tips from Charlie: Learning Tools

I used to think that tutoring was all about using my own knowledge and my tutee's textbook.

Then I started tutoring younger kids and it changed the way I tutored forever.

Kids can be great to work with.  They are enthusiastic (most of the time), are honest about what they do and don't know, and have a very different way of learning...they also, like myself, have shorter attention spans than most grown adults!

I started realizing that my tutoring sessions with kids were just not as exciting and full of zest as they could be.  So, I sat down and did some thinking.  What did I respond to at a younger age? What bored me?  What got me enthusiastic about learning?

The answer, as it turns out, was using learning tools during our tutoring sessions.

Learning tools can turn a drab tutoring session into an exciting learning opportunity!

I used simple experiments to tutor the concepts of electricity and chemistry.  I brought games and activities that showcased the exciting world of math.  I dug out my old microscope and brought simple slides to go over biology concepts and make them more interesting.

In other words, any tutoring tool I could get my hands on (that related to the subjects I tutored), I brought with me to tutoring sessions.

The results were amazing, and I noticed that not only was I getting more excited learners, but I was getting happier parents.  One mom told me that I was the only person who had managed to get her son excited about science.  He had hated the subject before our tutoring had started.

An unexpected benefit to this new technique were the referrals I was getting from other parents.  I was known as the fun tutor who could actually get kids to learn boring subjects.  I was honored, and thrilled to have the "title."

So, if you are looking for a way to spice up your sessions, thrill parents, and garner referrals, look no further than tutoring and learning tools!

~ Charlie