Eight Ways To Support English Learners.

By Tanya Wheatley.

Hi, I’m a longtime teacher of English to international students and a homestay host. I have seen how homestay can be a huge boost to language learning.

If you have that magic combination of an eager student and a host with a little extra time to give, then here are eight tips to help support your guest’s English. Of course, not all students are interested, and not all hosts have time, in which case, file away these ideas for the future, or just grab one or two small things to work into your week. They will appreciate it more than you can imagine.

1. Put a whiteboard on your fridge.

Small magnetic whiteboards are inexpensive and easy to find in Kmart, Target and Officeworks. A lot of conversation happens in and around the kitchen, so pop it on your fridge along with a whiteboard marker. When your guest learns a new word, or you are having difficulty explaining something, write it on the board. They can then copy it into a notebook. Don’t wipe it off! Leaving it there for a few days or a week gives you the opportunity to refer back to it and ask your guest ‘do you remember what this means?’

2. Do quizzes together.

If you have covered all the usual ‘get to know you’ topics around the dinner table and are wondering what to talk about next, google ‘general knowledge trivia quiz questions for kids’ and print off a list of about ten questions. You can take turns to be the ‘quizmaster’ and read out the questions over dinner. Questions pitched at primary school kids level should be accessible for a student who is at an English language college.

 3. Phone translation.

Open the web browser on your phone and type in ‘English to (Japanese/Spanish/Thai) and a handy translation screen pops up. It’s very quick to put in a word and show your guest the translation if you are having trouble getting your meaning across.

4. Grade your language and learn their level.

Get a feel for the vocabulary that your guest knows and stay with that level of vocabulary when explaining things. If they are learning a new word, work backwards from that word and use simpler language to explain. If you start trying to use bigger words and expressions or ‘sayings’ to explain something, they will get more confused. English colleges do placement tests and put students in levels. These levels are usually named Beginner, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate and Advanced. Show some interest in your student’s level by asking to see their class coursebook. This will give you an idea of how much vocabulary they have and save you (and them) some frustration.

5. Ask them what they studied in English class.

Don’t ask ‘how was school?’, ask ‘what did you study today?’. If they say ‘grammar’ or ‘vocabulary’, ask them exactly which grammar or which vocabulary, and ask them to explain it to you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know all the technical grammar names, you can still have fun talking about examples, and imagining why we might say ‘I’ve been cooking’ instead of ‘I have cooked’. Good luck!

6. Teach a recipe.

Recipes are great language learning tools. If they like a particular dish you’ve made, get the recipe out and teach it to them (it may help to give them a copy one day before so they can read through it), then cook it together, talking about what the words mean (whisk, dice, preheat, milligrams are some examples). Or ask them about a dish from their country. It’s easy enough to go online and find an English language recipe for just about any international dish. They will get a kick out of seeing their beloved recipe written in English and no doubt argue about the ingredients and methods. You could also cook something together for them to take to school. If they are able to proudly take a batch of homemade cupcakes in to share with their classmates they may suddenly have a new group of friends, which is great for their mental health. I’ve often been surprised by how many of my guests had never baked a cake in their life!

7. Turn on the subtitles.

If your guest wants to watch television with you, turn on the English subtitles. It’s helpful for them to hear the word and see it written at the same time.

8. Show photos.

Our phones are full of photos. If they are talking about their hometown, pets or family, ask them to show you a photo. Very quickly the phone will come out and they will be describing the photos to you, giving a great prompt for conversation. You can show them yours too!