Please Say Something! 25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching: Teaching ESL, #3

​Introduction – For the Love of God...Talk!

There’s nothing worse than walking into a room of silent students. Some of you teachers that have young students might disagree with me. After all, those children run about, scream, yell, speak in their native language, and give you headaches bigger than even the worst night of drinking.

But have you ever tried to get through an hour, or God forbid three, with a class of students that won’t talk? I’ve had classes clam up on me and goad themselves on to not talk. And I’ve had more classes than I can count where all you’ll get are one-word answers, maybe a sentence at most.

It’s tough, and it really wears down on you. I mean, time moves at its slowest when there’s nothing to do, and when you’ve got a kid that won’t talk you’ve all of a sudden got nothing to do, no matter how much you may have planned.

And that’s why I put together this short eBook of 25 ways to make shy ESL students talk. It will work for classes of students but it’s really geared toward those times when it’s just you and one student – the most difficult ESL situation. Also, it’s in no way comprehensive, and I’m sure someone else could put it better than me. Still, I taught ESL in China for 5 years so I know something about this. And that’s why I want to tell you what worked for me. So without further ado, let’s begin!

​#1 – You Talk All the Time

This one’s really quite simple, and doable if you only have one hour of tutoring a day. But if you’ve got several I think you’ll lose your voice, not to mention the fact that your student will be learning virtually nothing.

I’ve had classes where I’ve talked for 95% of the hour. Often these are classes where the students are so shy, low-level, or just stubborn that they won’t talk. And when they do it’s really nothing more than one-word answers.

That’s frustrating, and that’s why I wanted to include this short chapter about you talking to get through an hour of ESL tutoring. Now, the principles put forth here can really be applied to the regular classroom as well, not just one-on-one ESL lessons.

First, I’d suggest a