Teaching Kids in Grade One Science, Math And English.....

[sirchai]

It actually depends on their previous knowledge. Having some translation is very helpful. Learning a 2nd language purely by emersion without any reference can be hard on many students especially those that haven't developed their critical thinking, cognitive connection and association.

The specific target language objective can be taught without translating but reference points being translated can help.

However, the situation you describe sounds like a fail. If they are only trying to learn content and not skills, then translating would be fine, but the skill sets that you are trying to teach would be better off by doing exactly what you are doing. Using visual aids and specific examples to learn the language through the concepts.

I do wish you the best of luck but don't envy you. I think the worst part would be if it succeeds and someone else takes the credit. Or they decide to over rule your great efforts and sabotage it with more idiocy like translating your every word.

Brainpop is a great resource if you haven't used it. Awesome short animated videos with a myriad of subjects.

Be careful with the overuse of powerpoints. Just because they are visual they still lend themselves to more of a lecture based teaching approach rather than an interactive inquiry based approach.

Thanks a lot for some good points, you've made. There is no previous knowledge, as they haven't had any English in Kindergarten/Anuban before. I do translate many words into Thai, they also get the words written in Thai, to understand they meaning. But:

My plan is once they're used to English, I'll use as less Thai words, as possible. It seems to work in my own personal opinion, only had them for two weeks and it could be worse.

Thanks for the suggestion to take a look at "Brainpop', will give it a try, as soon as I've got the time. I'm not overusing PowerPoint, as I've got all their books on PowerPoint and it's so easy now to show them what they've got to do and how.

These books on PowerPoint help a lot, as I can fill in the missing words step by step and also help those who struggle.

What they need to learn now is vocabulary and vocabulary....the meaning and right pronunciation. I guess all the parent might think all kids speak/read and write a perfect English after only one year.......

Looking forward to a relaxed weekend. Wish you all guys a good one. -

[Scott]

The translation is counterproductive. I taught 7 levels of G 2 one year quite a few years ago. The top class had a teacher who decided to translate everything. A fair amount of effort went into trying to stop her, but she persisted. By the end of the year, they had gone from being the top class to being the bottom class.

They had grown very 'lazy' and paid no attention to English. They even reached the point that when I (or one of the other teachers) were speaking, they no longer looked at us, they looked at her. All I could do was get them to repeat words and sentences in English.

Best of luck, hopefully she will grow weary of it.

[sirchai]

The translation is counterproductive. I taught 7 levels of G 2 one year quite a few years ago. The top class had a teacher who decided to translate everything. A fair amount of effort went into trying to stop her, but she persisted. By the end of the year, they had gone from being the top class to being the bottom class.

They had grown very 'lazy' and paid no attention to English. They even reached the point that when I (or one of the other teachers) were speaking, they no longer looked at us, they looked at her. All I could do was get them to repeat words and sentences in English.

Best of luck, hopefully she will grow weary of it.

Thanks for your input, Scott, deeply appreciated.It's not that my co-teacher came up with such an idea. She's married to a Dutch guy has a brain, speaks English and not not too often found at Thai schools.

She agrees with me and also the parents who pay good money are not going to pay more money- for an obviously not functioning- thought of somebody at our school.

It has been a fact for so many years that a simultaneously translation does not work for Thai kids. I'm glad that they leave me the freedom to arrange all regarding this AP, which isn't different to an EP.

If they'd have a Thai teacher, who'd understand all I'm saying,translating that to the kids, then they wouldn't need me anymore, I'd assume. \

It's also cool that I've got four grade three, four grade six and four ordinary grade one classes. They'd just separated the difficult grade one kids and "created" a class with "special needs" kids. Had my first lesson this morning and couldn't stop laughing. ..

The kids started to love me, as usual and it's easy for me to teach them. But that's only possible having so many years experience with Thai kids.

I do not think that a teacher who never taught in Thailand could do such a job. Time will tell. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the good luck. - .

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