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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
 songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5004 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 9 22 January 2014 at 1:43pm | IP Logged |
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While James29' s is good advice, and was how the meetups I attended work, it may also be useful, in
FedericoBoston's case, also offering topics / questions for people to try if they wish. (It doesn't have to be a fixed list of "questions" they tick off one by one - see the latter half of this post.) I think there's a bit of a difference between more casual "drop in" type meetups in a bar or coffee shop where people come and go over a period of time, and a fixed one-hour session in a local library. The former has a stronger "socializing" element, whereas the particpants in an L2 conversation group often focus more on the language-practice aspect itself. Certainly, the latter's the case the for registrants of the Conversation Circle at my local library branch (for newcomers who wish to practice their English): they typically come expecting something less informal, and more structured. Having topics / questions / themes gives our Conv. Circle attendees a starting point for conversation. - Especially useful if individuals are shy (or come from a culture where they are reluctant to speak for fear of making mistakes and "losing face"). It encourages the less-advanced language-learners to say something in reply to the question. And it spares people from the same "small talk" each week. I like the idea of having an open-ended conversational theme / starter: e.g. the participant bringing pictures of his house as a prompt for people to talk about what type of architecture they like, houses they've lived in, preferences for apartments / houses, etc. Or perhaps travel brochures, or someone bringing in holiday snapshots, could be a jumping point for discussions about countries they've visited, where they want to visit (in Italy or otherwise)? Why not ask the rest of the group what they think? Maybe, at the end of each week, you could talk about a loose "theme" for the following week (or themes for the rest of the month, so if anyone misses a week, they'll still know what the topic is for the next one), and suggest people bring ideas (or things, in the case of above snapshots or travel brochures)? - It doesn't have to be an "assignment", but would give a little bit of optional structure. Even if people don't bring anything along, they'll have a chance to look up vocabulary they might like to use, and to prepare conversational "islands". Edited by songlines on 22 January 2014 at 1:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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