30 Hot Conversation Lessons

There will always be days when nothing goes right.

You spent hours planning a great lesson. But it falls flat from the start. What should have lasted 90 minutes, is dead in the water after 15. Oh shit.

Time for the “Emergency” lesson.

What works for one nationality may not, however, work for another. For me, in Italy, the infallible “Emergency” lesson deals with the subject of food.

What do people eat in your region? What are the specialities? How/when do you eat that stuff? What’s the recipe?

Italians, being curious people, are soon asking me about what people eat where I come from, and that’s my cue to pull out the “Emergency” lesson: brief history of my region of the UK, description of typical dish, picture on board, dication of recipe (with key vocabulary for food preparation and lively discussion of words for root vegetables), and bingo! Now you tell me (or eachother) recipes from your region.

If I’m lucky, I get out alive, and with a cookbook of regional recipes.

Surely we all have ideas like this to fall back on in times of crisis. Why not leave a comment and describe YOUR “Emergency” lesson?

I’m an opinionated person. I have strong views. Sometimes I can’t stop myself, and a conversation lesson can quickly turn into a rant.

That’s not good. My students’ faces go blank. They look polite, but disappointed. My laments about the government or the Pope are not hitting the spot. That’s not why they paid their money.

Note to self: it’s not about YOU. The secret is getting THEM to speak, and to find a theme that they can chat about passionately in English. Estaban being a latin lover, Giulia’s lousy salary,  holidays in camper vans. NOT the Pope.

Listening is good, too.  Everyone likes to be heard.  If you really want to be a success as a conversation class teacher, learn to listen.

But if all else fails, there’s always the Pope.