Carl Teacherman
ESL teacher
Location Evreux, Normandy, France.
Activity
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My daughter is the same. Born in London but raised in France. We had to perservere with her in both languages. It was completely 'natural', in the beginning.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
I started teaching (5 groups per week) online during the Covid pandemic. It was all hit and miss but somehow we got there! I am here to see how it should be done now that some form of online teaching is here to stay.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
The assignment should be an obligation to obtain certification IMO.
I also believe the certificate is rather expensive. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
45 minutes is far too short a time for a 500 word essay assignment IMO.
I spent much more than that on primary research alone.
Then to actually write the article with good grammar and syntax would have taken more than 45 minutes. I know, I'm a slow writer, haha.
After my research I then used (shamlessly) artificial intelligence to write the bones of an... -
Carl Teacherman replied to Beatriz Lopez
Hello Beatriz. I reviewed your assignment and found it engaging and interesting. I didn't know this language existed.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
I have chosen another Celtic language but actually England itself.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
I have friends who speak Corsican. This Latin language was under threat in the 1970s. It sounds very similar to dialect of Italian or even some Romanian, but it is its own unigue language full of rich cultural history. Corsica is part of France where successive governments have to tried to impose imperialist rules on so called regional languages. Thanks...
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
I don't think you can say "no" to the first question. I would ask, how important it is to engage with the migrant community. I notice that you use the term 'migrant' and not immigrant. That's another subject perhaps...
The second question is not easy to answer at all. It can depend on so many different factors such as race, discrimination, religion, political... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
I'm really surprised to see British Sign Language listed as unsafe/endangered.
I did some research and found a declining number of deaf people are learning it. It seems a lack of qualified intrepreters put off due to the high cost of training. The internet and technology has had an impact too. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Gaeilge is really the Irish language. That's what most Irish people have advised me to use.
Also, what about language gain where migration introduces different words to the new host country? Examples can be found in French from North African migrants. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
What happened to please in the British examples?
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
One person's politeness can be another person's rudeness. Being polite can be very subjective.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
To read and understand text in original language you need to have some knowledge of that language in terms of vocabulary and even grammar.
Shakespeare wrote "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day. Thou art more lovely...." Shall, thee, thou, and art have all changed their meaning since, yet it is all part of English. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Words are not enough!
You can often translate much more easily with images or better still, dramatise!
A metaphor I have used is from the London Underground, "Mind the Gap".
You can translate textually the word 'gap' into any language, but the word or expression 'mind' is quite difficult as it can mean many things. Your mind = brain, to mind something =... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
There is a famous phrase used in WW1 and other conflicts.
In Spanish - No pasarán, French - Ils ne passeront pas, but in English - They shall not pass (not, they will not pass).
There is a strong but subtle difference with the word 'shall' that is difficult to translate fully into French and Spanish. This word evokes an even stronger feeling of resistance. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
'You' was formed from Shakepeare thou (tu in French) and ye (vous).
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely......" (sonnet 18)
You can sometimes still hear thou, thee, thine plus other inflected grammar in some cultural British dialects. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
I believe that language and culture are intrinsically linked. I think it's very difficult to master a language without understanding at least some of the cultutre of the countries and people(s) who speak it.
There appears some excellent content to follow in this week's course. :-)
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
A baby is an object in English! How horrible, or is it?
"Congratulations on your newborn baby. Is it a boy or a girl? What's its name?"
English can be quite a gender-neutral language for good and bad. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
I believe you need to live and feel the language to make it translatable. Sometimes words alone are not enough.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
A topical subject, third-person gender-neutral pronouns.
English is a gender-neutral language at birth. A newborn baby is referred to as ‘it’ until we know its gender. The gender-specific pronouns he/she, him/her, his/hers only exist in the singular form. Unlike many other languages, there are no gender-specific plural pronouns. French, for example, has... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
When we say language here, I presume we mean vocabulary or the style of vocabulary, which can obviously influence our thoughts. Journalism is the most evident.
However, if we really mean using different languages then 'yes' as well. If you are multi-lingual, you often think (culturally) in the language you are using. I do anyway (French/English). Do other... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
There are vocabulary concepts that are not directly translatable within specific languages themselves. This occurs with generation language evolution and demographic change. Every time I return to Great Britain I learn new 'English' words because of cultural development and attitude. Some of this you just cannot translate back into an older generation's...
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Carl Teacherman replied to Audrey B
They used to exist around Shakespeare's time. Thou and Ye were used in a similar way to French Tu and Vous. You can still hear this occasionally in old provincial English dialects, for example: "What hast thou done today?"
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
From my experience teaching pre-school children, it's about exposure and labelling. Children are like sponges and will absorb what their senses observe and is put in front of them. This is very powerful, and can lead to multi-lingualism at an early age.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
The question says:
"Can we always translate and communicate fully between languages?"
But responses 2 and 5 don't quite make sense IMO.
I you reply, "most of the time" or "some of the time" + we can always translate and communicate fully between languages. It sounds a bit odd! -
@MonicaSchiavolin Hi Monica, good to see you again. I won't be doing the whole course as I did it a couple of years ago. I will be dipping in and out to catch up with what's new. It is a very useful course and the educators are nice!
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@JoshuaUnderwood When I'm in France I drink tea locally pretty much as the French do without milk or sugar and often flavoured such as lemon and from a small cup. As soon as I cross the channel it's back to a large, stained, cracked mug filled with strong tea, milk and sugar!
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Carl Teacherman replied to Scott Kilmartin
The problem with L1 can be as you say Carolyn which L1.
As I work in a French establishment it is usually easily defined except for the case you mentioned, which does actually happen from time to time in my classes.
However, about 12 years ago I worked at the Disney University at Marne la Vallée, east of Paris where there were about 100 different languages... -
@CarolynWestbrook Thanks Carolyn. I don't want to keep going on and on like the needle stuck at the end of the record (you won't remember that.....) but I have to say that this course has been a game changer - now that's a great contemporary fad phrase. But seriously, my boss received a copy of my certificate with the course objectives....and wow, ( all his...
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Félicitations pour votre fils. Le Bac n'est pas donné !
Yes Iulia, I am on Linkedin somewhere under my real name Carl Hibbs.
Please keep in touch and share ideas. That's the greatest yet the humblest way to progress. -
@RolandoRamos Please elaborate Rolando about 'humane values'.
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@CarolynWestbrook, We have already implemented some changes for next year. The biggest triumph is more time allocated formative assessment WITHOUT numerical evaluation. They (administration) have agreed to accept terms such as 'skill acquired' or 'partially acquired' and with direct reference to the CEFR.
Having my course certificate on their desk... -
@CarolynWestbrook Yes indeed Carolyn, and as part of that re-evaluation or reflective practice I will encourage my colleagues to participate in this course in the future.
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Carl Teacherman replied to Scott Kilmartin
@ScottKilmartin, Hi Scott, thanks for asking. I've actually tried sitting on the fence but I keep falling off and not always on the same side!
My current personal philosophy is everything in simplified clear English but repeated in French where and only absolutely necessary to avoid injustice, confusion and safety and security issues. This follows similar...
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Carl Teacherman replied to Scott Kilmartin
@ScottKilmartin This is a huge subject that concerns me too. There are strong arguments for and against using L1 in instructions from both the teacher/tester and learner sides.
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An interactive task is where for example some collaboration is required, maybe something physical.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
There is another useful tool that I have used - sorry if this has already been mentioned.
http://vocabkitchen.com -
So as a result of this course I encouraged my group of school leavers to write their own end-of-first-year appreciations of themselves according to some guidelines given. I was very pleased and surprised to read them, how pragmatic and realistic they were about their abilities and how they feel they can progress.
I think this is a good example of giving... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Not sure if this is the best place but my reflection on the course if haven't done it already (it's very hot here...+°) :
Thank you to everyone, educators, moderators, organisers, organ grinders and MOOC colleagues.
This has been one of the better British Council courses in terms of valuable, useful and innovative content.
The interaction with everyone has... -
Me too Rebecca.
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@CarolynWestbrook I have already started and ruffled a few feathers!
We really must have some reflective practice in place to review our testing. -
@CarolynWestbrook Great to hear Carolyn that we are all singing the same song. Thanks.
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Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
@MonicaSchiavolin Perhaps I am more experienced, I'm not sure without comparing our careers.
But even if I am, I have learnt or been reminded of valuable teaching aspects from you and others on this very worthwhile course.
The most important aspect is gaining a global insight into what we all do and love doing in teaching. :-) -
@OlenaRossi Thanks, this is the first time I've seen this in the first person. I will discuss it with my students at the end of this week and let them loose to do their own assessment.
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@JonathanDixon Hi Jonathan. In a word, no, we don't have that facility although sometimes there are split classes where one teacher concentrates on traditional grammar and testing (TOEIC, BULATS) and another, usually me on communicative work. As we teach school leavers I believe that if streaming or leveling were to happen, I think there would be some loss of...
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Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
@MonicaSchiavolin Not being a mother is no less detrimental to being sensitive or sensible towards children. It can even work in your favour.
I agree that activities should err on the ludic side or have some play value in all the 3 age groups.
Sometimes I too revert to the students L1 as a comfort or sweetener then gradually lapse back into English.... -
@HelenTowler We are tediously coming to the end of our school year here....thank goodness....and we're having a heatwave too....I'm exhausted with still 3 weeks left.
But this week I am going to let, with some guidance, students (18-20 years old) write their own end-of-year appreciations in their own language. This will be a first and very anti-establishment... -
The utopia would be for students to self-assess by taking some control over their learning. The technology is here now to do that but I need to find a way to apply it.
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@AmandaWilliams Absolutely right there an all points. The people doing placement tests are often not teachers anyway, certainly here.
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There is definitely something there in that showing yourself to be inhibited can help learners express themselves.
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@AnnieMalcolm Thanks Annie,
We often just start with the first 4 words and play around with the stress on the different words.
This is MY voice, for example. -
Carl Teacherman replied to Ledy Sinaga
That's a bit severe! They must speak Engish even after lessons.
Does this punishment work? If so, I might try it with my students.... :-) -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
All my students speak French but sometimes not very well and even worse than me!
It's not a joke as we often assume that learners in L2 are experts in L1 when in fact we may need to be aware that some learners have little knowledge of their own language especially grammar.
This can pose problems in that we may or may not be required to correct L1 mistakes if... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
First we do a survey about how they want to learn for the forthcoming course and we discuss the objectives, goals, expectations and how we are going to achieve them together.
Then........
It's bums off seats for some reading, listening, speaking and improvisation.
We may do a song or recite and act out 'The Speaking Student's Sermon'.
"This is my... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
We do a lot of anti-discrimination work including role-play with young adults.
Some of it can be a bit sensitive and opinions can be divided over what is acceptable.
I would add that SpLD (dyslexia for example) is not a disability nor a 'difficulty' IMO. This, however, can be a real challenge as about 10% of people have some sort of 'difference' and where... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
I'm Carl Hibbs, originally from London but now teaching English in France.
The pseudonym was hurled at me by a belligerent student and it stuck.
I'm back doing some MOOCs to refresh and keep in touch.
Lovely to see and hear Claire and Suzanne - with the beautiful accent! -
@SilviaGarnica They're good for older students too. I like Queen, We Will Rock You and The Killers, All These Things I've Done. The chorus is "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier".
Great for practising intonation.
I started a Padlet recently with some songs and lyrics. I'm still adding to it.
https://padlet.com/carlhibbs1/music -
@ClaireRoss Hello Claire, thanks, it is indeed nice to be back. I'm doing a few MOOCs to brush up on a few areas. It's important to get involved, pick up some new ideas and refresh.
I mentioned you the other day as the person that suggested Padlet a long time ago and to which I am very grateful for as it has become one of my main classroom tools. :-) -
@MichaelHall 'Follow me' with gestures.
I go around the class usually in a semi-circle saying the simplest of phrases with accompanying gestures and encouraging them to copy me but substituting their own information. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
I like this course already. Straight into it.
What makes a great lesson for me is actually starting it with a cup of tea.
You can't teach without tea, it's impossible. ---chYes, I do offer my studious students a large pot of tea and Mcvities.
It helps set the cultural scene. -
I have had this where end-of-year tests were used to decide future placements and marketing for students.
An end-of-year achievement test is what it is and nothing else.
I put out a clear disclaimer that this test is my copyright (intellectual property) and what the defined purpose of the results is for.
If administrators want tests for other purposes then... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
In the light of advice this this course I shall review a number of existing tests, questioning their validity.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
Oh yes......been there!
Now where in the lost labyrinth of my desk did I put that great grammar test I created so studiously a few years ago?
Modern technology allows us to easily create, store and share tests. I would be happy to do that with with anyone here after the course. We could make a Padlet. -
I would like hear and find out more about self-assessment. This is an area that is becoming more important with online learning.
I wish my young adults would get on board with it and I'd like to explore ways of achieving this without bullying tactics! -
@MonicaSchiavolin I have not quite so adorable young 'alpha males' but with the same problem!
Padlet is my favourite tool, introduced to me by the British Council a few years ago.
Here is my general 'potpourri' of resources. But we use other padlets for all sorts of collaborative work.
www.padlet.com/carlhibbs1/english -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
A good video which tells me exactly what I thought, 'it depends'!
I generally do integrated skills tests with some spoken element as most of our objectives here are oral with projects to present.
However for certain business courses we need to test specific vocabulary so testing is focused on that, often with word lists.
Also with the newbies I often have... -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
We also have validation testing. Maybe that is also achievement testing?
This means they need to pass (or achieve a specified level in) an exam to obtain a diploma. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Placement/diagnostic testing really should take place well before a student arrives for the first lesson especially with Generation Z, the zombie generation where everything (in my part of the world at least) is 'lastminute.com' So they can at least be forewarned of the travail to come.
My primary testing tool is a crystal ball.
Good job I've read all the... -
We have similar issues. The administrators interview prospective students without any testing. We get school leavers who have often abandoned English the minute after their final test at school.
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@MonicaSchiavolin Hello Monica, I'm actually from Berkshire but I worked around the Surrey borders before living and working in London.
I moved to Normandy (in France...) about 10 years ago. I live about an hour from the coast which is ineed a very pleasant mixture of beaches and cliffs. I work in a small city called Evreux.
A few years ago I took some... -
Carl Teacherman replied to hninyu naing
Maybe try non-native speaker accents for lower levels and wean them up gradually to full-blooded native speakers. I have this problem with some French students who become discouraged and almost intimidated.
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Interesting thread about portfolios.
I use Padlet a lot in the classroom and there is version for schools called Padlet Backpack
https://jn.padlet.com/category/123-padlet-backpack
This has a sort of basic portfolio facility similar to what Kimberly describes and can be developed into an LMS.
You can try it free for one month. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Barry was talking about reading and....Reading.
My old stomping ground too. Whiteknights campus! :-) -
Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
And I had to mark some half-baked project work today which put me in a stew. I was simmering.
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Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
@CarolynWestbrook Ha, ha, what a great life you have!
Actually I really know how hard you do work as I have witnessed on my visits to British Council in Paris and even once in Taipei.A large amount of the digital/online tools I use I the classroom are from interaction on these MOOCs. It was one of your colleagues, Claire Ross that suggested Padlet to me a...
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@RolandoRamos Yes, we do use mind maps quite a bit, thanks.
With older students there is a lot of project work to do and mind maps are fantastic for that, as well as vocab building.Have you used Padlet? This is a very useful classroom tool for sharing and collaboration. There is sort of mind map function (connecting posts).
Word lists do have their...
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@QuekKingSeng Déjà vu and a bit of confusion.....It happens to me a lot this time of year, usually at the end of a long week teaching.
"Err...I'm sure I did that lesson on Monday." :-) -
@RichardSpiby They are supposed to be B1 and above but.......
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Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
@CarolynWestbrook Thanks Carolyn, and I noted some of the comments.
I picked up on two separate comments which are linked in a way."Assessing young learners should be personal". I agree with that.
"Referring to grammar, the communicative approach is like throwing the baby out of the pram." I don't believe that is the situation now. I believe we...
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I agree, the grammar needn't be tedious at all. It's just the education system (here) that often makes it so. You can learn irregular verbs in many different ways instead of an alphabetic table with 3 columns. One popular way is by families of endings.
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
We design our own tests as well as using recognised major tests.
Having read this section I think we need to be more precise and focused with our in-house testing. We tend to produce simple tests with not enough consideration for the objectives. -
Carl Teacherman made a comment
Having participated in this course, I will be inclined to build in more formative assessment at the planning stage.
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@LucyRoseMcAuliffe Sounds just like one of my students. I can easily visualise the situation especially as our B2 test (French BTS Bac+2) has no overt specific grammar demands although good grammar is necessary to express and present a situation in the test.
I have tried different approaches, communicative, PPP, EDIP etc, with little gain. This reticence is... -
@RichardSpiby Why do you say that Richard?
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Carl Teacherman made a comment
I don't think I will able to attend as I will be doing as demanded by my paymasters.
I will say enthusiastically that this been an enlightening course, thank you.
So enlightening about assessment that I seriously need to do more of it and I need to properly build it into my course/lesson planning beforehand. This is my priority during the summer recess.
I... -
@HamidHarun, I didn't actually say doing my own test that I created myself. I was talking about a ready-to-use test that would have already been piloted (or should have been) by the author or publisher.
As for clothes...I'm no fashion victim so I don't need anyone's approval, just an old cracked mirror will suffice for me. :-) :-)
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Iulia, I have created a new Padlet for music. There isn't much on there at the moment but I will add a whole load more to it over the next week or so. Feel free anyone, to use and collaborate as you wish. You don't need to have a Padlet account to access.
https://padlet.com/carlhibbs1/music -
Hi Monica, There is an excellent course here in on Future Learn for Dyslexia and Language Learning.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/dyslexia
Also a very comprehensive book.
https://books.google.fr/books/about/Teaching_Languages_to_Students_with_Spec.html?id=APg6nZjtNWMC&redir_esc=y
The BDA is great too.
https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/
It's a subject... -
Carl Teacherman replied to Carl Teacherman
@MonicaSchiavolin I would say that we do something WITH them. We mould them into hopefully great human beings. It's not just about teaching English.
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Sounds like a school in Normandy...... The book section in Leclerc in Bernay has an entire section devoted to tractors, potatoes and cows.
I learnt all this sillons stuff too!
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@BobLejkowski-Clark I think you're right Bob.
I have always told students to follow one spelling or the other....usually British of course!
However, as I teach business English I find some companies stipulate AmEng as it is part of their Lingua Franca. -
@MogamatAmeenBarnes
The problem with respect to pronunciation and British English v American English is what are they?
In writing it is fairly clear although the differences are becoming more blurred these days.
Speaking is a whole new baseball game!
The accent and really dialects from different parts of both countries is so diverse. And don't get me... -
Morphological derivation, that really got me stumped....but I found it, phew!
We do it too but I didn't realise it had such a biological name.
You can have some great fun with it, adding suffixes and prefixes, +ful, +less, adjectives and +ness for nouns, and then make adverbs from adjectives by adding +ly......but not fastly though!
Who said grammar...
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@ElenaR A small pocket-sized address book with lettered pages.
I perfectly agree with your last statement. Students need to take some ownership. -
@JonathanDixon
Thanks Jonathan. I can't guarantee that but if you come to one of our (me and the students) lessons, we always partake in a little humour even on a rainy day...and there are indeed a great many in Normandy. (France...not creepy sleepy village near Guildford).The first important warmer (quite literally) is a nice cup of tea.
Teaching... -
@HeatherBagott
For more distraction.... ;-)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/06/free-short-story-vending-machines-delight-commuters
We had them here in Paris at some of the terminus stations. -
@HeatherBagott
Try these sites if you want to go further with Flash Fiction.
http://www.100wordstory.org/category/stories/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111311.The_World_s_Shortest_Stories
And the ultimate is 6-word stories, arguably instigated by Hemmingway and his Baby Shoes.
https://www.wired.com/2006/11/very-short-stories -
We practise a lot with synonyms (and antonyms) to increase vocabulary.
Sometimes we study just one central word for a whole lesson with all its meanings and uses. Recently we did the word 'tip'.
www.synonym.com -
Indeed, explore the song, vocabulary, grammar (good and bad) and more.
