Learning English With a Ball

There are many methods for learning English, some unconventional, and some just plain boring. I use a method that is perhaps unconventional, but it is not boring!! I think you can too if you find a friend or two to work with.

Have a Ball - Fun!!

I use a ball for simple pattern practice. I use it for both adults and children. In all cases, the response is postive (sometimes mixed with surprise, until they get used to it). All my students smile when we work with the ball.

Have a Ball - Social!!

When we stand up to throw the ball, the dynamics of the class changes; our relationships to each other are based on a whole new set of criteria (height, position we stand in, posture, etc). This immediately presents the brain with stimulation - we are social creatures. In a sense, when we stand up to throw the ball, we enter a state of hyper-awareness, even if only briefly. Of course this is great for learning English... we are thinking more, more engaged to the task at hand.

Have a Ball - and a Longer Memory

Throwing the ball back and forth while we are learning English allows the brain to 'couple' the memory of the English being practiced with the memory of the throwing actions. Physical memory (kinesthetic memory) is longer than visual and verbal memory. We can use this as a 'piggy back' effect to help us remember the practiced English longer than normal.

Have a Ball - and Forget the Ball without Worry!

Now here is one of the strange parts: we can remember better by coupling our verbal memories with the physical memories; then we can forget the original path (physical memories) that helped us remember, but still keep the new language memory!

Some Suggestions
When you use a ball for learning English, keep in mind the following keys:

Practice the language pattern perfectly - don't make a mistake or you will learn the mistake.
Practice a simple pattern at first - later as your skill improves, you can try more difficult passages but start simple so you don't break key number one (above).
Don't practice too long. This is a great tool, but if you overdo it you will stop enjoying it, and then it loses some of its power as a useful technique.I recommend five minutes or less.
Use it for large lexical 'chunks' - I used it recenly with one student to work on the chunk "Keep track of" We merely asked each other 'What do you keep track of?'

There are lots of other benefits to using a ball that I have not mentioned here. Go ahead and try it! Have a ball!!

Just One More Call

Verb List
1. Narrow down     to make something (like a list, choices, options etc) smaller and clearer by removing the less important items
2. Ask out         to invite someone to come with you to a place such as the cinema or a restaurant as a way of starting a romantic relationship
3. Bear with       to be patient and waith while someone does something
4. Make away with to steal something
5. Hang up       to end a telephone conversation by putting the part of the telephone that you speak into back into its usual position

This text will be replaced

Jennifer is meeting Chris for lunch, and she is excited about it. Chris is told her to wait for a few minutes while he finishes some work, and she is not happy. He asked her to bear with him for a few moments while he talks to some people. Chris is a detective, and he has to narrow down the list of suspects in a theft case. Someone made away with important documents in a local law firm, and Chris has to find who did it. Jennifer is getting angry, since Chris asked her out and now he is making her wait. He said he just wants to make one more quick telephone conversation and he will hang up right away if there is no answer after three rings. Jennifer said ok reluctantly, and she thought about what a serious person Chris is.

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