teaching english in india

Deviate

Hi all...

I am going to Tamil Nadu next week for 3 months of volunteer teaching work where I will be working with primary and secondary aged school kids. I have tried to get details about the work from the host but she is not very communicative. Just wondering if anyone else has done this kind of work and what sort of experiences, problems, circumstances they encountered???

Valini

Hello Deviate,

Yes, I have taught English in India to ages ranging from kindergarten up to 18 yrs exam prep. The best sight for you to check out for teaching ideas and helpful hints is the following:
www.eslcafe.com
if the link doesn't work google daves esl cafe.
Arm youself with lots of gold star and sticky labels to reward good work. even the older kids like it.
Note, Indian schooling is much stricter than in Uk/Oz schools and as soon as they realise you are "layed back" in comparison to their other teachers they will push you far... So be firm yet fair!
Lots of pictures/photos will always be welcomed to help animate your lessons.

Have you taught english before?
What kind of experience or training do you have?

If you're not used to teaching a few things to remember when teaching ESL. Use the communicative method: ie
the students learn by communication not by translation (i assume you dont speak the local language).
student: I go to the cinema yesterday"
teacher: ok, good, .. I WENT to the cinema yesterday.... and you?"

by stressing the word the student recognises his her mistake and repeats. This is just a breif description of how you can correct and teach. You'll find your own method depending on your personality.

Don't forget, too much teacher talk is boring and the students dont work. Get them to talk and to show you things, make it interactive but not chaotic and remeber if they are having fun, they will learn more!!!!!

If you wou;ld like any more help of information on teaching ESL in general or specifically in India don't hesitate to pm me!
Victoria

Deviate

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for the tips I have been here a week now and the teaching is going ok.

In answer to your question, I have done a CELTA and I tutored an adult student from Iran for awhile in Melbourne.

The job here is quite different though, I am taking students out of class six at a time and doing intensive conversation practice with them. I find that as you said, they are very used to strict classes and teacher-centred ones. The challenge so far has been taking the focus off me and getting them to practise speaking English to each other. Also the textbook they use is obviously not written by a native speaker and has a lot of grammatical mistakes in it which makes teaching grammar hard...I feel that my explanations may be useless when their mistakes are reinforced by the book and the other teachers.

Are you in India at the moment?

ranjan154

Most of the people in southern part of India knowing basic english, Grammatically it wont be correct but i guess they are able to communicate.. As far as my experience of seven years at bangalore and some parts of chennai goes..

__________________
Rakesh Ranjan
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/travinfoindia/

Valini

Hello deviate,

Glad to of be some help.
So, you've got a CELTA, which is excellent but isn't it more adult orientated? I'm sure it's valuable for you now!!! I'm leaving tomorrow morning for India but this time i'll be training and assuring quality of english lessons via the internet given by Indians to french school kids!!!
So, it's not quite the same kettle of fish.
As for your grammar textbooks, I know how hard that is!!! How can you insist that what you are telling them is the correct rule when their book tells them otherwise!! not easy...

What I suggest is that you teach them the grammatical rule as used in British English (i think you're australian so it works) and tell them that this is the rule in other english speaking countries. The rule they know is used in India (it isn't wrong) but if they were in England etc it would be a mistake. That way, they can understand the difference between different English ie Brit/ "Hinglish" / US eng etc
That is a challenge I will have to overcome again too, but i have a good fallback: Even though the English used by the Indians is at an excellent level, it doesn't follow the rules taught to the french students (brit eng) and if they copied the 'difference' they would lose points in a test, so I can insist that it is purely in the interest of their students, and if they learn too - even better!

Good luck for your remainding two and a half months, I'll be further up north in Uttar Pradesh, but keep me updated how you go on!!
It's always good to know how others cope
Enjoy yourself

Victoria

Tamz

Which organisation are you volunteering with?