4th Meeting: Game of life - How Many Years Do you Have?

¿Cuántos años tienes? is how old are you in Spanish. But the direct translation is How many years do you have?
That just throw an interesting way of looking at life, isn't it?
It's like for every time you are asked, you are reminded of time you've passed and how many more you can expect to live for. You are reminded of how you live, did you use your time wisely, do you hurt anyone in your journey, any unfinished business? because if you do, you still have some more years to make sure you ticked all the boxes.
O well, that has nothing to do with Spanish class but I cannot resist being a bit philosophical when it was being explained in class. Of course, I thought about my daughter whose 2nd birthday was just 2 days before I had to leave her in the care of my mother in laws and left for England.
(Sniff sniff.. Ah yes... life...  C'est la vie... Así es la vida)


As it is with our previous class, this class we play hangman (ahorcado). This is her way to get us to review the alphabet and the vocabulary. One thing for sure,  our teacher always tries to insert some sort of game or physical movements in every class. so far we have played:

• - pass the magic marker
• - team racing
• - Battleship
• - pass the 'ball'
• - hangman

The games helped the class to bond, to work with each other and it creates a great atmosphere for learning. o well, when I mentioned this to a friend of mine, he said that it's impossible, surely a competitive nature will make the class uneasy... well... that might be, but I feel that it is not the same in our class. We have those not-so-quick-to-learn students and what happen is the fast learner really helped them.


In the matter of game, Aydan Ersoz in The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 6, June 2000 taken from TeflGames website

'Language learning is a hard task which can sometimes be frustrating. Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target language. Well-chosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students to practise language skills. Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation.'

 During my BA study, we learned that games in classroom are useful and beneficial. and during my years of teaching, the choice of games to go with the specific focus on language and specific learner group are even more crucial. Teachers need to possess a pedagogical reasoning skill to sense and decide which games (or other strategy) is most useful in their classroom.
This include the consideration on
- what kind (of games or strategy)
- how often and how long will it takes up the class time
- how the class is divided
- age group and ability group appropriateness
- culture awareness (ex. don't put girl student with boy student together in a group where the local custom and religion says otherwise)

In my Spanish class, each games takes no more than 5 - 10 minutes, usually used for reviewing and/or summarizing the day's learning. Looking back at my own teaching, I know i tried to incorporate games or other fun activities and it always works beautifully. Last week, I chatted with a former student now studying to be a doctor in Japan and she remembers us playing 'word bingo' and 'word snake-and-ladder'. These 2 games are my adaptation from the favorite kids games during their time. (mind you, kids these days are all about computer games and console). She mentioned that it helped her to get over her shyness and helped her to remember the vocabulary. My other students, remembers the 'head-shoulder-knees-and toes' song and other physical movements songs and activities.

Prior to writing this post, I made an effort to contact my former students and managed to chat with 5 of them. I taught 2 of them when they were in Elementary and Junior high school, the other 2 was when they were in their high school and 1 of them was in her University years.
I asked them to think back at their studying days with me and mention the first memory they have on our study time. They said (in no particular order):

Student 1:  Hangman and scrabble
Student 2: Word and Letter Bingo
Student 3: Flash Card guessing game
Student 4: "who wants to be a millionaire" Game
Student 5: The songs and nursery rhymes.

I asked them to think why their memory sprung those activities that when I asked them the questions. They said:
1. It is simple and helpful and they can reproduce/play it themselves with friends outside class
2. Help them to 'use' the English they are learning
3. Help them with vocabulary learning and how to put the word into sentence. (in word games, the next stage is to put each of the word they produced into sentences).
4. Helped them to get over their shyness and to love the class.
5. (because of the game) The class is not boring

Another worth mentioning note is that the teacher begin to have us talk in Spanish only for 5 minutes or so during pair work and games. This is good. we are practicing.

Right, Now I know that using games, fun activities etc are helpful for me and the students. I feel touched that after all these years, they still remember (and remember them fondly) the games and our learning. Nevertheless, I myself still remember my failed attempt to apply certain games to class due to the violation and neglect to consider the points of consideration I mentioned above. Lesson learned for me. -