[nicolo333]

I am starting a class with an 8 year old girl that knows no english. i am used to having my students know at least hello how are you my name is kinds of things. how do i go about the first class?

[Chris Patton]

Hi:

What is your student's L1? If she already uses our alphabet you can use it, along with gestures and expressions to start teaching her the basics. I think you'll find she picks things up very quickly, and will achieve that basic level in no time.

If she uses another alphabet, or symbols (Cyrillic, Chinese, Arabic, etc) then you may choose to start by teaching her our alphabet. You can start this process by showing her symbols from her own system and then gently pushing them away. Replace them with an alphabet chart and use gestures to indicate that this is what you use. Then you can begin teaching the letters using whatever system you choose.

Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll find teaching a learner "from zero" is a very rewarding experience.

Good luck!

Chris Patton
Academic Support Coordinator
EF Swara Group
Jakarta/Tangerang/Bogor
Director of Studies
EF BSD City
Tangerang
Indonesia