Why do English Teacher use proverbs in class?

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Proverbs provide perspective

"Well begun is half done," goes the Greek proverb.

Short and memorable, proverbs often capture a point of view in vivid
words. We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our
teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. They contain
folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a
common human experience.

Yet I like to use proverbs in ESL (English as a Second Language)
classes for three other distinct reasons.
1. Students can share proverbs from their own countries. In ESL
classes where you have students from many different countries and
numerous first languages, proverbs allow students to affirm the
insights and experiences of their native culture. "Home is where the
heart is."
2. Students can easily memorize proverbs. Using the right proverb at
the right moment gives students a tremendous sense of competency and
fluency in English - something that immigrants often struggle to
achieve. "No pain, no gain."
3. Studying proverbs from around the world helps create a more global
education, and counters the fears of English displacing the insights
and words of other tongues and times. "The sky is blue everywhere" and
"birds return to old nests."
4. Sharing proverbs shows a respect for tradition and the past while
students expand their vocabulary in a new, modern language. Many
immigrants, particularly older ones, have very mixed feelings about
their new lives in an English speaking nation. "Old habits die hard."
et "you're never too old to learn" gives hope.


For instance, an older immigrant from rural Korea learning English in
Los Angeles might find themselves also learning to live in modern,
culturally diverse city for the first time. While the formal subject
may be English, immigrants are also discovering new ways of living and
thinking in the school. Proverbs seem to affirm the concept that "the
more things change, the more they remain the same" and "the unexpected
always happens."

When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and
international students from many different countries at Santa Monica
Community College, I usually introduced conversation topics with a
classic American or English proverb. Students would soon be paired up
to interview each other and share experiences. When we returned
together for a group discussion, I noticed that students often
explained their answers using proverbs. I decided to "go with the
flow" and build proverbs into course materials. It works.

After all, "everybody is a student and everybody is a teacher.."

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.compellingconversations.


Eric Roth, the author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and
Quotations on Timeless Topics, includes over 200 classic proverbs, 500
witty quotations, and 1400 questions in his first book.

[K Trout]

Post by ***@compellingconversations.com
Proverbs provide perspective
"Well begun is half done," goes the Greek proverb.
Short and memorable, proverbs often capture a point of view in vivid
words. We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our
teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. They contain
folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a
common human experience.
Yet I like to use proverbs in ESL (English as a Second Language)
classes for three other distinct reasons.
1. Students can share proverbs from their own countries. In ESL
classes where you have students from many different countries and
numerous first languages, proverbs allow students to affirm the
insights and experiences of their native culture. "Home is where the
heart is."
2. Students can easily memorize proverbs. Using the right proverb at
the right moment gives students a tremendous sense of competency and
fluency in English - something that immigrants often struggle to
achieve. "No pain, no gain."
3. Studying proverbs from around the world helps create a more global
education, and counters the fears of English displacing the insights
and words of other tongues and times. "The sky is blue everywhere" and
"birds return to old nests."
4. Sharing proverbs shows a respect for tradition and the past while
students expand their vocabulary in a new, modern language. Many
immigrants, particularly older ones, have very mixed feelings about
their new lives in an English speaking nation. "Old habits die hard."
et "you're never too old to learn" gives hope.
For instance, an older immigrant from rural Korea learning English in
Los Angeles might find themselves also learning to live in modern,
culturally diverse city for the first time. While the formal subject
may be English, immigrants are also discovering new ways of living and
thinking in the school. Proverbs seem to affirm the concept that "the
more things change, the more they remain the same" and "the unexpected
always happens."
When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and
international students from many different countries at Santa Monica
Community College, I usually introduced conversation topics with a
classic American or English proverb. Students would soon be paired up
to interview each other and share experiences. When we returned
together for a group discussion, I noticed that students often
explained their answers using proverbs. I decided to "go with the
flow" and build proverbs into course materials. It works.
After all, "everybody is a student and everybody is a teacher.."
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visitwww.compellingconversations.
Eric Roth, the author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and
Quotations on Timeless Topics, includes over 200 classic proverbs, 500
witty quotations, and 1400 questions in his first book.

I have been teaching English in the USA, Korea and Japan for over 15
years and have a degree in English Linguistics as well as one in
Teaching English as a Second Language.

In my experience, teaching by proverb, idiom or cliche is dependent on
the level of the learner as well as the current environment of the
learner (in an English speaking country or in their native country).

The primary reason is the cultural references that surround these
sayings are generally accessible to the senses of sight and sound
(sometimes taste and feel) in an English speaking country, which
positively reinforces memory retention enabling the speaker to use the
saying more naturally.

A few problems I have seen are overuse, misuse in the English speaking
country and complete lack of comprehension when taught in a foreign
country.

Personally, I cannot stand to listen to my students recite these silly
phrases when they can just as easily use common terms.

Finally, these people learning English as a second language are
depending on us to assist them in communicating ideas effectively to
improve their lifestyle. Thus, I do not think idioms are an essential
part of the spoken vocabulary, though they certainly are necessary at
times for understanding in conversations.

[[e-mail]]

Post by K Trout

Post by ***@compellingconversations.com
Proverbs provide perspective
"Well begun is half done," goes the Greek proverb.
Short and memorable, proverbs often capture a point of view in vivid
words. We learn proverbs our entire lives - from our relatives, our
teachers, our friends, the media, and our literature. They contain
folk wisdom gathered through time and experience. They often capture a
common human experience.
Yet I like to use proverbs in ESL (English as a Second Language)
classes for three other distinct reasons.
1. Students can share proverbs from their own countries. In ESL
classes where you have students from many different countries and
numerous first languages, proverbs allow students to affirm the
insights and experiences of their native culture. "Home is where the
heart is."
2. Students can easily memorize proverbs. Using the right proverb at
the right moment gives students a tremendous sense of competency and
fluency in English - something that immigrants often struggle to
achieve. "No pain, no gain."
3. Studying proverbs from around the world helps create a more global
education, and counters the fears of English displacing the insights
and words of other tongues and times. "The sky is blue everywhere" and
"birds return to old nests."
4. Sharing proverbs shows a respect for tradition and the past while
students expand their vocabulary in a new, modern language. Many
immigrants, particularly older ones, have very mixed feelings about
their new lives in an English speaking nation. "Old habits die hard."
et "you're never too old to learn" gives hope.
For instance, an older immigrant from rural Korea learning English in
Los Angeles might find themselves also learning to live in modern,
culturally diverse city for the first time. While the formal subject
may be English, immigrants are also discovering new ways of living and
thinking in the school. Proverbs seem to affirm the concept that "the
more things change, the more they remain the same" and "the unexpected
always happens."
When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and
international students from many different countries at Santa Monica
Community College, I usually introduced conversation topics with a
classic American or English proverb. Students would soon be paired up
to interview each other and share experiences. When we returned
together for a group discussion, I noticed that students often
explained their answers using proverbs. I decided to "go with the
flow" and build proverbs into course materials. It works.
After all, "everybody is a student and everybody is a teacher.."
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visitwww.compellingconversations.
Eric Roth, the author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and
Quotations on Timeless Topics, includes over 200 classic proverbs, 500
witty quotations, and 1400 questions in his first book.

I have been teaching English in the USA, Korea and Japan for over 15
years and have a degree in English Linguistics as well as one in
Teaching English as a Second Language.
In my experience, teaching by proverb, idiom or cliche is dependent on
the level of the learner as well as the current environment of the
learner (in an English speaking country or in their native country).
The primary reason is the cultural references that surround these
sayings are generally accessible to the senses of sight and sound
(sometimes taste and feel) in an English speaking country, which
positively reinforces memory retention enabling the speaker to use the
saying more naturally.
A few problems I have seen are overuse, misuse in the English speaking
country and complete lack of comprehension when taught in a foreign
country.
Personally, I cannot stand to listen to my students recite these silly
phrases when they can just as easily use common terms.
Finally, these people learning English as a second language are
depending on us to assist them in communicating ideas effectively to
improve their lifestyle. Thus, I do not think idioms are an essential
part of the spoken vocabulary, though they certainly are necessary at
times for understanding in conversations.

While too many English teachers fail to consider context in teaching
idioms and proverbs, this misunderstanding should not preclude one
from intelligently deploying proverbs in the classroom. You note,
correctly, that many times students are taught "silly phrases when
they can just as easily use common terms." True, and again, context
matters. Students might prefer the more poetic expression because it
displays their knowledge or appreciate its appearance on a popular
television or film. Clarity and brevity, virtues among business
writers and journalists, can be found in many practical proverbs too.
Your critique seems more focused on the teaching of rare or "silly"
idioms than proverbs.

Finally, it's important to distinguish between proverbs and idioms.
Proverbs are traditional, pithy expressions of folk wisdom that can be
applied in a wide range of common situation. Some expressions, like
the "customer is king" might be considered both an idiom and a
proverb, but those terms also tend to be very useful for English
language learners.

You will, I suspect, agree that students "learn by doing" and
"experience is the best teacher".