Hello,
I’m very new to this community so as a result I don’t know if the post is against the rules or not.
I’ve been asked to teach English to the husband of an acquaintance of mine. The pay is fairly good, however I have no experience teaching absolute beginners privately.
Does anyone have recommendations on good textbooks/websites/etc to teach a 50’s Japanese man with almost 0 English who wants to learn English for travelling?
I can accept resources that are primarily/partially written in Japanese published for the Japanese market, since I can read Japanese myself (N1 level).
I gratefully appreciate any and all advice.
10 comments
“essential travel English phrases” as an internet search might at least give you some ideas. Look for something fun, but not childish. Teach it basically as a call and response – something like “Where is the … ?” / “The … is over there / on the second floor / well, it is down this road and turn left / etc. etc.”
You need a directions series, restaurant series, public transport series, politeness series, etc.
Start with the easiest items and get some little progress going and then carry on from there. You need to take into account how much time you have and how motivated they are to get better doing their own studying between lessons, etc. etc.
Definitely use a book. Trying to make it up as you go would probably be a disaster. If he isn’t keen on using a book, this probably means he wants to spend the time talking to you and not doing want he considers “study”. In that case, you can still use the book as a guide, but just don’t stare at the pages or do written exercises.
The first step is to understand his goals, or do a needs analysis. Is he really studying because he needs/wants English to travel? Or is he looking for a fun hobby? Understanding his motivations will have a big impact on your lessons.
Lesson 1: I would spend the first lesson chatting about what his travel experiences are, where he has been what he wants to do. If he is a real beginner, this is a good time to practice “I want to go to…” “I want to see..” eyc. What English lessons he has had in the past, what did he enjoy/ not enjoy about them. Does he have any travel plans for the future? ( approach this carefully as he may feel a bit sheepish if he doesn’t have any real plans to travel in the near future ). On the other hand, if he has grand plans about visiting certain countries, this will give you a good idea of what English he needs to know.
Lesson 2, restaurant English might be a good way to go. It is very useful and not too complicated. After finding out where he wants to go in lesson 1, I would print out some menus from cafes and restaurants in that city. That will make practicing ordering more realistic and interesting for him.
Passport, published by OUP, is the text you are looking for. Each unit covers a specific travel situation and can be stretched out to an hour if you practice the dialogues etc.
Role playing works well, just pretend to be the hotel staff or airline agent and keep a notebook of what you would or should say in certain situations.
I’m not saying that the whole book is applicable to every single problem you have, and I am so saying that it is like sandblasting a soup cracker given your immediate task, but there are quite a few practical teaching/learning routines within Paul Nation’s [What should every EFL teacher know?](https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1599662663/?nodl=1&dplnkId=b7e8567d-0170-42ad-abbb-9f751529fb78) that these alone make it worth the suggestion, but for your own understanding I think you may find it light but enlightening reading.
Check out the New Horizon books they use in Junior High schools. Of course, you probably don’t want to follow the 3-year plan they use in school, but picking and choosing certain grammar that would be useful is a good way to do it. The books also give descriptions explaining the grammar in Japanese so he can understand it better.
This book would be perfect: [https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Lewis-Lansford-Angela-Buckingham/dp/0194718166](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Lewis-Lansford-Angela-Buckingham/dp/0194718166)
First, it’s created for the Japanese market utilizing the method Japanese people are familiar with, involving simple listen and repeat, substitution drills, memorizing phrases by rote, and easy listening exercises that only involve words or short phrases. It’s easy on the grammar, and doesn’t require they know much if any vocabulary – it has lots of pictures, and starts very simply. He will like it because it will feel “right” to him to learn in this way. And since he’s older and not a serious learner, it won’t be that much hard work for him. And if I recall correctly, all the dialogs are translated into Japanese.
It’s also good for you, since it doesn’t really take any teaching skills to use. It’s really just paint-by-numbers, follow the text. Good for a beginner teacher who needs a guide.
Interchange 5th edition is a good book. The series are well structured and aimed at adult learners. If you write pdf afterwards you can find a *cough* free version online to check to see if you like it. Otherwise you can get it on Amazon: [https://www.amazon.com/Interchange-Level-Students-Book-Digital/dp/1009040634/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=interchange+fifth+edition&qid=1697430722&sr=8-4](https://www.amazon.com/Interchange-Level-Students-Book-Digital/dp/1009040634/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=interchange+fifth+edition&qid=1697430722&sr=8-4)
It depends on who the student has opportunities to talk to. If he can talk to foreign people in his day-to-day life, then find out what they would talk about.
If it’s just travel, then there’s lots of textbooks. And then some people just want to do karaoke in English.
Most of my students be they kids or adults start at near 0 English. Usually just stick with Let’s Go series then move on to Side-by-Side when they get to Let’s Go 5 or 6. Adapt phrases where appropriate. Almost all of them I put through a phonics section to fix their pronunciation of the basics. Mind you my students are 50 minutes a week and they seem dead set on never doing anything in English outside the class or homework.
If it’s time sensitive like others mention just use a travel phrase book and drill that with them. Maybe have them record yourself saying the phrases so they can drill on their own between sessions.