December 15, 2003 - Friends of Guinea: Special "Welcome to Guinea" Free English Lesson

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Guinea: Peace Corps Guinea : The Peace Corps in Guinea: December 15, 2003 - Friends of Guinea: Special "Welcome to Guinea" Free English Lesson

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-189-98.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.189.98) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 10:57 am: Edit Post

Special "Welcome to Guinea" Free English Lesson



Special "Welcome to Guinea" Free English Lesson

Special "Welcome to Guinea" Free English Lesson


The greatest gift that you can give an incoming volunteer is an introduction to how you lived and worked at your site. Setting goals can be one of the toughest things about being a new volunteer. Why not help them out by setting goals for them? The higher they are the better, so a bit of embellishment may be in order. To get your students into this welcoming game will take only a nudge. They will take to it like cockroaches to a latrine. This has been laid out as a supplement to MOBEL. You may want to insert it in place of one of your least favourite readings. It can be adapted to any level so you'll always be able to leave a little legacy for the incoming volunteer. After all, providing for your fellow Peace Corps volunteers is more important than whether or not your students cover the material for the BACC. And of course, the central idea isn't TEFL or education project specific. If you are a departing health volunteer, why not organize a community group with a collective memory of your accomplishements?

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Unit: ???
Summary: Students will write a letter about their deporting PCV teacher's accomplishments to an incoming volunteer.
Language: Structures learned, hyperbole, bald-faced lies

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Presentation: Reading a dialogue about fictitious accomplishments

1. Write this dialogue on the board. (Clearly it will need to be adapted for classes younter than Terminale although my 12-ieme kids handled it fine since I'm brilliant).

Alpha: Hi Binta, You appear morose. Is it because Mr. Kifer has left?
Binta: Yes. He was a saint. He was a fully integrated part of our community and a fabulous teacher to boot.
Alpha: I know. He spoke fluent Su-su, Malinke, and Pular. Further, everyone in my class passed the BACC with flying colors as a result of his incomparable pedagogy and tireless dedication.
Binta: I think his most important and sustainable contribution to our hunble community was the modern hospital he built.
Alpha: I disagree. I think the high school/library/community center he constructed was utterly phenomenal.
Binta: Be that as it may, no one could replace him.
Alpha: Damn straight.

2. Ask a series of questions to check for comprehension.
Eg. Why did these students love me so much?

Pre-Task: Making lists of things the teacher may or may not have done.

1. Put a series of categories on the board.
Eg. Native languages of Guinea, Construction projects, Gifts I would like to receive, Acts of great kindness, Positive character traits…

2. . Students brainstorm words or phrases that fit the categories.
Eg. Gifts I would like to receive: candy, a bicycle, a car, money, school supplies, a visa, a new house…

Class Task: Writing letters to the new volunteer

1. Write a sample letter on the board with blanks for the students to fill in. The students fill in

Dear _____________:
Welcome to ________. I hope you are as ________ as my old teacher ___________. He/She adapted perfectly to our culture here and spoke ________ and ___________ fluently. Everyone in our town loved him/her. She/He always gave all the students and children ______ and __________. The American Ambassador and the President came to town to inaugurate the _________ she/he built. He/she said that the next volunteer would know how to get us all visas to visit the United States. I hope that your time here will be as wonderful for us as his/hers.

Sincerely, ______________

2. Collect the letters and send them to Conakry for the incoming volunteer.


Note: In state it was often difficult to develop creative applications for practice school lessons. Luckily this lesson lends itself easily to real life situations. Emphasize to your students that a new volunteer may be very lonely upon arrival. He or she should be visited often and for extended periods of time. Practicing English is fine but it is more important to describe the wonderfulness of your service than anything else. Constant companionship is crucial and if ever there is a lull in conversation, the time can be filled by describing your alleged accomplishments.




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Story Source: Friends of Guinea

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guinea; TEFL; Humor

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