Sniffing, then squinting and holding up a kiwi, a Chinese student muttered something he wasn’t sure he wanted to translate. A classmate from Brazil leaned over and pointed to a picture in a picture dictionary. Two Korean ladies laughed, their hands covering their mouths.
The lesson on food was bombing in a big way. When the ESL class ended, none of us were satisfied, but at least the topic had been addressed. “Check your vocabulary materials before the next class,” I encouraged. They were all new to the United States. Some had only been in their new country for a few days, others a few weeks. Some for a couple of months or so, but none had yet moved into the realm of everyday communication in English. I had to do something to help my multicultural class of ESL students begin to internalize the language. Thinking of my own struggles with the French language in Paris and French Canada, the answer struck me. The next class was ready.
“Okay, everyone, let’s go,” I ordered. They all gave me quizzical looks.
“Where we go?”
“Just wait. You’ll see.”
Previously, I had arranged with the manager of a local supermarket located three blocks from where we had our English classes, to bring the 15 adult students on a field trip. Representing Colombia, Brazil, Poland, China, Korea, Puerto Rico, and Vietnam, the group made a curious sight as we stumbled through the remnants of a week-long blizzard. Many of them had experienced snow for the first time just a few days ago. Two of the newly immigrated Chinese men wore sandals. I kept my comments on this to myself, sure they’d learn soon enough. I just hoped they didn’t have pneumonia.
“Okay, where are we?” I asked.
“The store”
“The supermarket”
“grocery store”
“Great market”
It didn’t take long to realize that neither of them had ever been to a large supermarket. For the most part, they bought food from small local grocery stores that catered to the tastes of their immigrant neighborhoods. Their reactions ranged from shock and disbelief to shock and amazement. There was more than a little curiosity present as well.
For the next forty minutes with open notebooks and notebooks, we methodically wandered down one hallway and down the other, exploring the food and container vocabulary introduced in earlier lessons. Stories we exchanged in broken English. Anecdotes arose. A student offered to push the shopping cart to pick up items that he would have to pay for later.
“No, you can’t buy just one egg,” I explained.
“At home you can buy just what you need,” several students responded.
“Two eggs or a cigarette, even half a loaf of bread or a cup of rice” they explained as best they could.
They fingered grapes, sniffed, licked and nibbled on new fruits and strange vegetables like Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and acorn squash. I bought watermelon, varieties of apples, canned goods, jars of sauces, pretzels, and pickles to bring to class to try. That class outing used “realia,” or real physical objects, to make the lesson “real” for the students. It spawned discussions, jokes, and humorous stories into the following spring and beyond.
Use real objects and items instead of just pictures to make your language learning real and more natural. Think about the difference it makes to have a can or jar of something in your hands versus a picture of a can or jar in a book. Other containers, box, bottle, bag, package, roll and tube, came to life and were instantly assimilated by the students who brought containers full (or empty) of products from their respective countries. Try a nearby animal zoo, museum, pizzeria, movie theater, even a local park to bring your foreign language classes to life and reality like we did. Issues? Yes, some, but you and your students will be amazed at the difference it makes in internalizing the language. Whether you’re an EFL or foreign language teacher or language learner, using realia will go a long way in making your new language “real” to you. It will be a lot of fun too. I promise.