Above: Amazing painted cardboard props or wall decor inspire anywhere! I can only take credit for choosing this fabulous photo, which is courtesy of Ksenia Chernaya from Turkey and via pexels.com
Whether you are a parent who wants to help their child learn a new language, a tutor or private language instructor, or a classroom teacher, all the tips in this article can be helpful. Learning a language is always a challenging process, especially if you try to keep young learners busy in a typical classroom. There are common problems like attention span and focus as the students explore the new rules, practice their pronunciation, and face any grammar difficulties. As a rule, young learners will look around and do their best to find something creative that can get them inspired. The only solution here is to design a creative language classroom that will hopefully reduce mental blocks that will help the students stay focused and inspired!
5 Keys to a Creative Language Classroom
1. Wall Language Reminders and Interesting Facts.
These must contain the basic rules and reminders for the learners done in a creative “thought-cloud” way. Also known as the mind map, it should contain interesting facts that will help the students memorize things easier. You can approach Writing Universe if you need to edit your writing and come up with condensed and accessible sentences. It will help you to make your presentation fit in the classroom while keeping things fun and creative!
2. Run a Foreign Language Newspaper.
Think about starting a foreign language newspaper where students can write short posts and take photographs. Be sure to create the newspaper online and consider creating a version in print as well. It will help train students' cognitive and tactile skills and help them work in pairs as they become engaged as a group.
3. Let a Student Become a Teacher.
Bring more power to the learners by allowing them to shape the lessons the way they want. For example, assign the teacher’s role to two or three students. If you need to create a plan for the lesson that will suit the young learners, consider contacting TheWordPoint for your linguistic needs, as the trained experts will make things fun and creative for the young learners. It will provide the necessary level of accuracy and accessibility. Support the young students, give them tips, and ask them to help you as they solve their own challenges.
Above: Make fun props from cardboard that can also be used as wall decor
4. Add Music and Drama to Your Language Lessons.
Why not add listening to popular foreign language songs and come up with the Voice Kids or X Country Has Talent competitions for each relevant country? You can make the children learn how to present themselves and even sing and perform in a different language! Alternatively, you can host a drama lesson by turning the classroom into a jungle or an outer-world spaceship! Depending on the story in question, you can create a story or consider choosing a foreign language book as you add the elements of theater to your language lessons.
5. Cooperation With Foreign Students.
Another way to keep things creative is to start with a joint lesson with foreign schools where young students can talk to learners from another country. It can pave a good start as travel makes you creative and helps you to build relationships when you immerse yourself into an unknown culture. Starting with online video conferencing, you can keep the students inspired as they get to know each other.
Addressing Every Student Individually
Some learners find it hard to cope with group projects, especially when dealing with a foreign language and even when working on speech skills and creativity natively. When you have a quiet child at the back of the class, you must find ways to address each issue on an individual basis by coming up with creative solutions. One of them is to turn the classroom into a road map where the quiet students can share their observations in writing and use special signs that will help you to track their progress and still keep them engaged. Likewise, it will make it easier to present the same ideas to the class.
Languages are such a wonderful way to make our world smaller, and at the same time help our brains function at their highest level, so here's to language!
