Learning Daily Life

Almost every moment here is a learning experience. I know that one can say that about life, in general, but here specifically I face the challenge of communication every time I want to say something. And so, all day long, I am experiencing the acquisition of a new language. I try to pay attention to what works. What gets me to learn a phrase, sentence, word, rule of grammar, or slang term. I am convinced that the need to articulate a thought is the best way to learn a language. Being surrounded by people who don't really understand the language puts pressure on me to learn certain messages faster than others. Greeting, are one example. Going to the store, another. These are the scenarios one find him or herself in. Perhaps recreating these scenarios in the classroom is one way to make the lesson more intersting. I have Vygotsky's socio-culture theory in my head now. It is the perspective though which I view this experience of learning another language. It leads me to believe that replicating an emersion scenario is useful. This would be like writing a mini-play for the students to act out, directing them as to when to say their line, and stopping after each scene to make sure that the students understood what was happening. This would be a lot of work, to write a mini play designed to teach, but I think that this could be useful to "learning methodologies" as a tool that implements at least one methodology. It also leads me to believe that the culture of the classroom ought to be a certain way. It must be a microcosm of another, greater aspect of life. The culture in the class must be controlled as well as fun. I think that I will either start classes with a game, or conclude them with one. The memory of learning as a fun activity is, I think, important to the experience of learning. If the learning is bereft of fun experiences to recall, then one may not want to learn anymore. And of course the material learned must be practical. They have to need to use it when they want to make conversation, ask and respond to questions, or joke. Maybe translating jokes is another activity one can do with students that is both fun and educational? You see, I am obsessed now with designing activities that will make learning both fun and fruitful. And I can't help think that Vygostky's socio-cultural theory supports such curricula and activities. Activity Idea: Have the student write lines that they think they would say at the dinner table. Let them ask questions while the are writing the lines so that they can edit their own words. This will give them a bit of experience in correcting themselves and selecting the correct word from their limited vocabulary. It will also help them acquire new words. If it is a new word, put it up on the board and discuss it with the class. Do this throughout the entire time they are crafting their sentences. The process of writing their lines is, in itself, a scene for learning. The second learning (LS) scene will relate to the first LS. In the second LS, students will act out a typical scene at a dinner table. The items will be pieces of paper with the terms they used written on them. So if one of the students asks, "will you pass the apples" there will be a piece of paper with "apples" written on it. The student will then pass the apples. I could be possible to do this game with the actual fruit, or to draw a picture of the actual fruit on the piece of paper. After they act out the dinner scene, you can discuss what happened, using this LS to continue the conversation about food and what people like or do not like. The repetition of certain phrases will be more easily recalled, as will the fact that they used the phrase or vocab word in an acted out scene. This should also suggest to the students certain grammatical rules that they will later learn.