Skyping with the States: Part II

15 May 2012

As I mentioned last week, my other 6th grade class had the chance to skype with a class in the US today! Thankfully, it went much better because I learned from our errors in the first session.

Last week, I wrote about logistical concerns with such an activity. However, I'd also like to write about what I think this activity did for the students because I think this was an activity that they will never forget.

First, it gave the students a chance to practice English with someone other than their English teacher and me (and the cassette). It's great for students to hear a variety of accents and speech patterns so that they can develop a good ear for understanding spoken English. That, and I've learned that as Americans we have "lazy accents" and we "eat a lot of sounds." So instead of a crisp "twen-ty," Americans say "twen-y." I honestly didn't realize that there was such a profound difference between British and American accents until I arrived in Spain, and people told me that I was difficult (almost impossible) to understand.  

My students have made great strides in being able to understand me. At the beginning of the year, I mostly got blank stares. Now, they more or less understand everything--which, of course, meant that I needed to have them hear other American students.

Furthermore, skyping with an American class was a great way to get the students motivated to speak in English. It was remarkable which students decided that they wanted to respond and ask questions. There were the students I expected to talk because they always participate. However, there were also students who never talk and try to avoid participation that wanted to try. They wanted to ask questions about football (soccer) and what their favorite teams were. They wanted to ask about food and whether they like pizza. They shyly approached me to ask "How do you say que Barcelona es el mejor equipo?"

They also got to see how much they have in common with the American students. They talked about food, sports, and activities. They discovered that everyone universally likes pizza. The American students learned a little about typical Spanish foods--such as paella and horchata. The students learned that they all like to play soccer (football) and basketball--though the Americans also like to play American football. Even though they live on two different continents, I think they realized that they have more in common than they expected!