I kind of did my teaching career backwards - starting out teaching business English in corporations in Tokyo, Japan, when I was 26 and spent many years doing that, as well as working as a lecturer in a UK Further Education College and in a university language centre in Vietnam. I enjoyed it all, meeting hundreds of interesting people and getting to not only travel, but to deep dive into local culture while working in satellite cities and provinces, where few tourists ever go. I was always extremely grateful for the experiences doing all that afforded me.
But I had never taught younger kids, even though this is usually how English teachers start out. Until the madness began in 2020 when I somehow became stranded away from home for 10 months, desperately trying to find a way back home to Vietnam (at that time). Eventually, I found a job that could provide me with all the tedious paperwork and flight, even though I had heard "bad" things about the company.
It turned out that the company were equally as "bad" as their reputation, but like everywhere, there are always good people in bad organisations. (Well.. some... most leave, right?)
And it turned out that I really loved working with the Juniors (age 7-11) since they were so quick to learn, curious, imaginative,and just so .... huggy!!! These pictures below were taken in a Vietnamese classroom of the kids doing groupwork in English. They totally loved playing with colours, and paper, and glue, and scissors, as well as online games and corridor games I made up on the spot. The time flew by and it was a honour to share space with the kids.
Fast forward a couple of years now, and I moved to Mexico for the time being, so I now have a few online kids' classes - some are one-to-one while others are groups. They totally LOVE my dog Marley. I like to give the kids a screen break and I usually bring Marley or my cat, Rosie on screen after the quick break as a kind of show and tell. All kids love animals. It's a perfect way to engage with them and a good starting off point for so many discussions and games you can play.
It's all About the Play
If adults were really honest with themselves, they'd also say that playing is their favourite way to learn. Playing to learn is experiential learning where you not only learn by doing, but learn about the consequences of what you are doing too. And it doesn't put learners in a box. They can stretch and challenge themselves.
Online Games for Learning Languages
My favourite games to use online to help my students learn in a playful way are:
Kahoot www.kahoot.com
Wordwall www.wordwall.net
Baamboozle www.baamboozle.com
Mentimeter www.mentimeter.com
These aren't just for kids though - and not just for English. There are many languages and many subjects to play with, so why not give them a try?
Have fun!
Emma and Marley