Recently I had a group, who rejected to move and play. They were striving for perfectness. Their goal was to talk like native speakers not even knowing which ones: British, American, Australian, Canadian etc. Is language learning goal really to copy some of the natives? Good luck.
If you have your native tongue, for example German, don’t be ashamed to add a little flavour of it to your English speech. It makes you an interesting, special, and authentic person. It is allowed to express your emotions and feelings in a foreign language. It is allowed to be playful in learning languages, also in adulthood.
Last year I was happy to meet a great teacher trainer Miriam from Dublin*, who opened my eyes to “Embodied Language Teaching.” Language is an embodied skill. When we speak freely, we gesture, we mimic. We are live beings to communicate in our best ways the meaning of words, situations, stories. Playing, exaggerating, lowering voice, smiling, raising eyebrows, you embrace your authenticity in foreign language.
Learning languages with Drama or theatre method is nothing new, however, sometimes neglected in language classrooms. Well, it’s high time to turn on the spotlight.
Try this improvisation exercise to improve your English. Make a short dialogue with a partner following the structure A+B+A. A person should imagine her/his role and situation and possible wording. B person should always imitate the other person’s gestures, voice, emotions, body language.
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*Miriam Stuart teaches in Erasmus+ programme for teachers