The Top 10 of Magical Murcia

This weekend I visited Murcia for the first time and visiting at Christmas time was such a good idea!  The whole city was lit up and it was magical and really put me in the festive spirit as Benidorm has approximately zero Christmas lights. (Okay it might have one street with some half hearted attempt at decoration.)

Sergey and Vladimir

This is basically a lesson for all men on what not to do at the beach.  Although you gotta laugh...

Halloween in España

Halloween in Spain is celebrated in a pretty similar fashion to England, kids dress up, go trick or treating and eat lots of sweets and adults don a costume for a good old piss-up.  This is the part that differs from England.  You think England can party? Think England can handle a few bevvies? Ohhhh no, fiestas in Spain are a whole other kettle of fish.

My Whole New World

So now I've been working at the primary school for three weeks, and it's safe to say I love it!! The other staff members have been so kind and helpful, and my mentor, the English teacher, is amazing!  I have finally sorted all my paperwork and got a bank account and have started to properly settle in.

Orientation and a Weekend in Madrid

This week, the Spanish Ministerio de Educación kindly put us up in a 4* hotel with all meals included for the orientation/training of auxiliares extranjeros.  I was under the impression it would just be British Council assistants there but there were people from all over Europe!  The orientation lasted for one day from 9am - 5.30pm and a variety of topics were covered.  For anyone who missed it or wants to know what went down, read on.

Click here for a list of songs and activities to use with Primary School children.

Songs, Games and Activities for Teaching English in a Primary School

This blog post is a list of songs, games and activites I have come across, been told about, thought up myself and think would be useful when assisting in a Primary school teaching English as a foreign language.

Important things to remember:

To help kids remember things, rhythm and repetition are key.
Imitation is a great way to improve their memory but we wary of your pronunciation and accent.

Songs:

Happy Birthday
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Old McDonald Had A Farm
Hokey Cokey
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Ten Green Bottles
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught A Fish Alive

Activities:

Memory Game
Split the class into small groups of 3 or 4 and stick a picture with lots of different objects (such as a farm scene or a bedroom) on the wall outside the classroom.  The students have to take it in turn to go outside the classroom, each gets 30 seconds to go back to the group and write as many words in English of the things that they saw.
OR
They already have a list of objects, some of which are in the picture and some are not, and they must tick off the objects that are there.

Hot and Cold
This works like the classic 'hot and cold' game.  One student leaves the classroom and an object is hidden in the room.  The rest of the class have to sing a song (take your pick!) and if the student is close to the object they sing loud, and if they are far they sing quietly.

Animals
2 students stand at the front of the class or within a circle, other students say the name of an animal and the chosen students have to imitate it.
OR
One chosen student says an animal and the rest of the class must all imitate it.

Pictures on the Wall
This game works with lots of different vocabulary but for the purpose of explaining I will use animals.  Stick pictures of about 12 different animals on the walls.  Describe, in English, an animal such as 'it is yellow, it is very tall' etc and the children have to stand near the animal they think you are describing, eg. a Giraffe and when asked, shout the name of the animal.

I Went To The Shop..
The classic I went to the shop game.  You start off with I went to the shop and I bought... you could say anything next, an item of food, a drink, clothing, whatever the topic in class is.  As you go around the group the students must repeat everything that has been said before them and also add their own.  This can easily be adapted for animals or the alphabet.  Eg.  I went to the farm and I saw... I went to the zoo and I saw... 
OR
Each child must say the Alphabet but eliminate 1 letter, the child after them must then also eliminate that letter but also choose their own to eliminate.

Back to Back
Two students look at each other for 30 seconds and then stand back to back.  They must, from memory, describe what the other is wearing.
OR
Each student writes a number on a piece of paper (small or large depending on ability), they get to look at their partners number then, back to back, recite the number they saw.  E.g. 2901 must be 'two thousand, nine hundred and one'

Monsters
In partners.  One child draws a monster and must describe their monster to their partner.  The other must draw the monster from the description given and they then compare the drawings and switch roles.

I hope you found these useful!  Please do write in the comments if you have any ideas to add :)

Beth xx

Year Abroad Goals

I was completely inspired to write this post after reading Becky's blog post - I already had ideas in my mind but it made me think 'you know what? I'm going to write them all down!' So I have :)

Packing!

Packing Should Be Easy

Packing should be easy. Should. Why is it so difficult!? It's actually really hard to decide what you're going to want to wear/use in the next year whilst also trying to only fill 2 suitcases and keep them both under 22kg...  What will I want to wear in April next year? I don't know!  But it has to be done.  

Trials and Tribulations

Student Finance England at it's finest

Oh yes, good old student finance.  We love a bit of student finance don't we?  We especially love having to call them when things go wrong, that's personally my favourite part. (Hint: It's not.)  

Hola Marineros!

Hola Marineros!

¿Hola marinero, dónde está el caballo?  

If you're a Spanish speaker, you're probably thinking I'm nuts, but no,  this is the only thing my mam knows how to say in Spanish and she thinks it's brilliant.  I'm not sure where she picked it up but throughout school she insisted on saying it to all my Spanish exchange partners and anyone Spanish she's ever met, and is always met with a strange blank stare that I all-too-well know means 'was that what she meant to say?'  For anyone who's not sure, it means 'hello sailor, where is your horse?' - a nonsensical phrase, and the inspiration for the name of my blog!  So with no further ado...

 Welcome to my blog!