Unconventional & Innovative Ideas for English Learning

by Dr. Shanthi Thomas

‘English learning is very important,’ Jack’s father told him again and again. Such advice and admonitions always came when he brought his report card home. Jack was doing quite well in all his subjects, but his English grades were always poor.  Needless to say, if he had a better grasp of English, he could have done better in all his subjects. ‘I hate English learning,’ Jack would often mutter to himself. It is such a crazy language. Every rule has exceptions. Even spellings are weird.

Then one fine day, a new English teacher came to class. She was young and enthusiastic. She told the class that she will not be teaching the text book for a while. What she was going to do was something different. Jack’s interest was piqued. What was this teacher going to do?

1. Watch English movies

To the great delight of the class, Ms. Parker told them that they were going to watch their favourite movies. They watched Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, Frozen, Mary Poppins, and even Sound of Music. Even Pirates of the Caribbean and Titanic. The children were transported to another world. Even though Jack could not understand half of the words that were spoken in the movies, he could gather the meanings from the context.

2. Listen to English songs

Jack loved music. He had been playing the piano ever since he was five years old. But he was always taught classical pieces, such as Beethoven. Now that he had watched English animated movies, he asked his music teacher if he could learn movie songs. His teacher was more than happy. Slowly he learned to play movies from Titanic and Frozen. He was ecstatic. His parents were proud of him. His English grades at school also began to improve.

3. Watching BBC news

Jack had always been curious about what was happening around the world. The Ukraine-Russia war, The Israel-Palestine conflict, and the latest pager explosions in Lebanon were all such interesting stuff for him. But he hated violence and war. Nonetheless, he wanted to know what conflicts and wars were doing to different parts of the world. When he asked his father if he could get information from the television, he said that a lot of news was distorted, but that BBC News was reliable. So then on, every night after dinner, Jack joined his father on the couch to watch the BBC News. He learnt a lot about the conflicts around the world, but not only that, a lot of good news that were also being disseminated.

4. Video games

Jack’s parents were always sceptical about buying him video games. They believed that his eyesight would get spoilt and that he would have to wear glasses. But Jack somehow persuaded them to get him PS4 on his 12^th birthday. From then on, he began to play video games often with other young people who did not know his mother tongue. So, he was forced to use English.

5. Exchange student

Did I tell you that Jack was a bright student? Well, it so happened that the educational ministry of his country had an agreement with another country that involved student exchange programs. Jack was selected for the program. Guess which country he had to go to! He had to go to Scotland. At first, Jack’s parents were worried that the cold climate in Scotland would be too unbearable for Jack. But Jack was not going to be deterred. But when he went to Scotland, the family with whom he had to stay spoke nothing but English. Even if he had to go out to the super market and buy a toothpaste, he had to speak English. At first it was very difficult, but within a month he could speak English like Scots!

6. Reading books

Jack had never been a reader. He did read some comic books from time to time, but nothing held his interest. The one comic book he read again and again was TinTin. But then there were only so many Tin Tin books, and he quickly got bored. Then one of his uncles introduced him to the magazine National Geographic. Oh! That was an eye opener for Jack. He pored over those books day and night. He could feel himself transported to those wondrous lands with those exotic birds and animals. He promised himself that when he grew up, he would travel to one of those countries.

So, by now, do you have an idea about Jack’s proficiency in English? I bet you have! He had learnt more English from these experiences than he ever learnt from his text books. It was a fabulous thought.