Sunday September 16, 2012

Are you game for English?

AN English centre in Gua Musang, Kelantan was recently transformed into a “play-house” where students and volunteer trainers switched into game-mode to encourage students to speak English.

Board games and fun-filled activities were introduced in the four-day programme titled “Learning English with games”, organised by KJ Generation Resources (KJGR) and Legacy Builders Association of Malaysia.

KJGR principal and co-director Josephine Kumar said that the creative method of teaching English was conducted by eight volunteer trainers from Serdang, Selangor.

Play time: Kids enjoying an indoor game activity while conversing in English.

“They used different games to intermingle with the students and in a way encouraged them to communicate in English,” said Josephine.

Games such as Twister, UNO Stacko, Pictionary, hangman, puzzle searching and “Simon says” were used.

Team leader Rena Esmeralda Mano, 25, said that the event aimed to engage participants in English conversations without feeling pressurised to learn the globally spoken language.

“We were surprised to see some students who were shy and timid at the beginning of the session, becoming responsive and interactive during the programme,” said Rena, who works as a client relationship consultant.

Another trainer, Mervin Raymond, 22, said that besides interacting with the students through games, the team also taught them manners, toilet etiquette and motivated them using video-clips.

The programme saw the participation of about 60 students between the ages of four to 18.

“LEARNING ENGLISH WITH GAMES”

AN English centre in Gua Musang, Kelantan was transformed into a “play-house” when the students and the volunteer trainers turn on to game-mode in its recent endeavour to encourage students to speak the language easily.

The classrooms were full of excitement and became more interactive when the trainers introduced some board games and other fun filled activities.

About 60 students age between 4 to 18 years old participated in the four days special programme titled “Learning English with games” co-organised by KJ Generation Resources (KJGR) and Legacy Builders Association of Malaysia at KJGR’s premises.

“This creative method of teaching English was conducted by a team of eight volunteer trainers from Serdang, Selangor.

“They used different games to intermingle with the students and in a way encouraged the participants to communicate in English without fear and feeling shy,” added Josephine Kumar who is the principal and co-director of KJGR.

Team leader, Rena Esmeralda Mano, 25, said, the trainers used games like Twister, UNO Stacko, Pictionary,  Simon says, hangman, puzzle searching, A.E.I.O.U, identify animal sounds, cat & mouse  chase, chicken & wolf, direction game (one person blind folded and others in the team gives direction) and many more.

“This interesting event is to get the participants engage in English conversation without feeling pressurised to learn the globally spoken language.

“We were surprised to see some students who were shy and timid in the beginning of the session become more responsive and interactive during the two hours programme dedicated for each category according to their age group,” said Rena who also works as a client relationship consultant.

Another trainer, Mervin Raymond, 22, who works as a hotel executive said, besides interacting with the students through games, the team also taught them manners, toilet etiquette and motivated them using some motivational video-clips.

KJGR which was established in Gua Musang since 2009 has been organising various motivational and creative English programmes to encourage participants to learn the language easily besides conducting its weekly English classes including for adults.

Ends.

 

Photo captions:

Pix 1 – Trainers and students are interacting in English as they play the ‘direction game’ at KJGR, Gua Musang, Kelantan.

Pix 2 – Mervin speaking to the participants using some motivational video-clips.

Pix 3 & 4 – Kids are enjoying an indoor activity as the trainers constantly communicate with them in English.

 

 

By: Kumarathevan Balakrishnan