"It is only by contact with the art of Foreingn Nations that the art of a country gains that individual and separate life that we call nationality". Irish Writer Oscar Wilde.This is how I love to work....This is how we enjoy the Learning- Teaching English process...Just we want to share it...Hope you enjoy it!
Learn a foreing language is the process of learning about the others, their beliefs, motivations, backgrounds, history social environment, culture and intentions. It is other people´s experience which the learner has got to come to grips with. It is a process of perceiving other´s people experience, which is a new level of experience making (Edelhoff, 1964). This things can be posible when existis a pact of meanings on language interaction... So that´s what we try everyday in the classroom: experience ...
Since they are very little, Enfants are able to understand English through gestures and mimics, and naturally one day the period of silence breaks like "a kind of magic". It happens when they perform their first words ... by experience and expontaneously, ... Just a little patience in our work as teachers..Do not stop, give love during teaching actuation and keep the faith always in them!
Let´s see one of our favourites, a Nursey Rhyme called "Humpty, Dumpty"..... very useful when you want they to be sat down properly on their chairs: - Do you want to fall like Humpty? No, no...Teacher!!
Regarding with the name of our blog....Why Celtic Knot?
I discovered the wonderful world of true experiences with the language. I usually tell in Primary Lessons my own stories and feelings through English and my pupils from Primary really love them, because is a way to offer them my personal background as an heritage for them .
One of the most successful stories were the ones based on my experience in Ireland. Ireland has got a particular background with a very special and magic knot with our region in Spain, Galicia. It´s said that Galicia is a Charmed Land (Terra Meiga, in Galician), full of magical legends about witches, wizards, druids, fairies and haunted places, like de "Emerald Isle". Our galician "celtic" remains made me remember that megalitic stones and celtic symbols impressed on stones, pictures, silver jewelly...could create a kind of curiosity in my pupils about a green isle bathed by the same Ocean we are bathed, something mistic and misterious. Even the dance and the folk music has got a point of brotherhood which surprises my pupils and increase the curiosity for other cultural backgrounds using English.
Our land is green as Ireland is..That´s why our conecction with celebrations and classroom works are so connected with this Country. And it works !! We never forget to celebrate Samhaim (in Irish) or Samaín (Galician) or Saint Patrick.
We use the language to know more about countries and people in the Planet. We have started with a brother country, ..that´s only the beggining. Our intention is to be global citiziens and to learn how to share things to the rest of the World , helped by English.
Some songs are eternal and meaninful. Since I´m a teacher, I have got the theory that vocabulary and grammar can be taught through original versions better than songs promoted by books.
I pact the meaning of each one with 5th and 6th level, and they know the purpose of the song. They know they are the World, the are the future....
They assume that they will be the voices....in the future.
