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EP 5 -- Teaching Bilinguals (Even if You're Not One): The Benefits of Bilingual Ed

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Latest articles from International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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Browse the latest articles and research from International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia Nacamulli

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DinoLingo® - Language Learning Program For Kids

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The largest and the most extensive language learning program for children. Available in 52 languages. Online language lessons, games, books & songs for kids

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English In Kindergarten: How To Create Effective ESL Lesson Plans

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Print the worksheet about family and complete the exercises to help you practise your English!

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School Subjects Song | What Do You Study at School? | Fun Kids English

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School Subjects [Kids Vocab] What's Your Favorite Subject? 📚 School & Study Words

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@rubybanfit
🤷🏻‍♀️ 🤷🏻‍♀️ #funny #teacher #bilingual
♬ original sound - Ruby

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Can you identify with any of these common worries by school administrators right now? Will the use of AI make teachers have generic lesson plans? Will they input student data...

Really? AI in Early Childhood Education? No way! The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in early childhood bilingual education can transform how teachers approach teaching and learning. AI offers numerous...

Let's get real for a minute. Personalized learning - the way many people understand it - as an individualized plan for each student and a teacher able to juggle the...

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Bilingual Teacher Training | Early Beginnings | Online Courses

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Supercharge Your Skills: On-Demand Training for Bilingual Educators. Dive into practical, research-backed online courses designed for your busy schedule.

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This is a game for practicing simple vocabulary words in English. You listen to the audio and then click on the correct word or image.

The aim of the game is to practice interacting with English words for simple everyday use. The images used in the game convey meaning and context. Through the interactions, this meaning is paired with text and audio to facilitate learning and reinforcement.

Before the game starts, you are presented with the 10 items that will be used in the game. On this screen you can review and familiarize yourself with the target language and then when ready, then you can click on start to begin. There are three parts to the game. In the first part, you simply listen or read the words and then click on the matching image. In the second part, you drag the images to match the target words. Then in the third part, you have to look and the image and click on the matching word. If you make a mistake at any time, the game ends and you are shown the error. From this screen, you can click on 'retry' to have another go, or you can click on the arrow button to return to the preview screen and once again review the items. Once you complete all three parts without making any mistakes, the game ends and you are shown a summary.

There are 31 different sets of content that can be used in this game. A set of content is automatically selected for you, but if you would like to pick a set to use, then you can click 'choose' at the first screen. Each set of content has between 10 and 35 different items, but only 10 are used at one time. These 10 are chosen at random and if you replay the same set of content, you will likely get different items. The reason for only using 10 items is that students may be unfamiliar with a lot of the vocabulary. Showing more than 10 potentially new words to students would be too many to pick up at once.

You can give feedback or suggestions through the contact form or by leaving a comment below.

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Practice simple English vocab in a fun way. Read and listen to the words and then click and move the images. You can use this to learn English online for free.

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Canticos - Bilingual Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs

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Canticos | Songs for a Good Morning Routine | Bilingual English and Spanish | Spanish Songs

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My Top 5 Bilingual Books for Kids | Best Spanish-English Bilingual Books | Mama Says

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Learn Food Vocabulary | Video Flash Cards | ESL for Kids | Fun Kids English

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Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Whether you're teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students will leave the classroom wanting more.

Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when you're tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play with your students. EFL games are used to test vocabulary, practice conversing, learn tenses - the list is endless.

This list of ten classic ESL games every teacher should know will help get you started and feeling prepared. Having these up your sleeve before stepping into the classroom will ensure your lessons run smoothly, and, should things get a little out of control, you'll be able to pull back the attention of the class in no time.
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1. Board Race

There isn't an EFL teacher I know who doesn't use this game in the classroom. Board Race is a fun game that is used for revising vocabulary, whether it be words from the lesson you've just taught or words from a lesson you taught last week. It can also be used at the start of the class to get students active. It is a great way of testing what your students already know about the subject you're about to teach.

This is best played with 6 students or more - the more, the better. I've used it in classes ranging from 7-25 years of age and it's worked well in all age groups.

How to Play:

Split the class into two teams and give each team a colored marker.

If you have a very large class, it may be better to split the students into teams of 3 or 4.

Draw a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the top.

The students must then write as many words as you require related to the topic in the form of a relay race.

Each team wins one point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or misspelled are not counted.

2. Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie

Call My Bluff is a fun game which is perfect at the start of term as a 'getting to know you' kind of game. It is also a brilliant ice breaker between students if you teach classes who do not know one another -- and especially essential if you are teaching a small class size.

The game is excellent for practicing speaking skills, though make sure you save a time for after the game to comment on any mistakes students may have made during the game. (I generally like to reserve this for after the game, so you don't disrupt their fluency by correcting them as they speak).

With older groups you can have some real fun and you might be surprised what you'll learn about some of your students when playing this particular EFL game.

How to play:

Write 3 statements about yourself on the board, two of which should be lies and one which should be true.

Allow your students to ask you questions about each statement and then guess which one is the truth. You might want to practice your poker face before starting this game!

If they guess correctly then they win.

Extension: Give students time to write their own two truths and one lie.

Pair them up and have them play again, this time with their list, with their new partner. If you want to really extend the game and give students even more time to practice their speaking/listening skills, rotate partners every five minutes.

Bring the whole class back together and have students announce one new thing they learned about another student as a recap.

3. Simon Says

This is an excellent game for young learners. Whether you're waking them up on a Monday morning or sending them home on a Friday afternoon, this one is bound to get them excited and wanting more. The only danger I have found with this game is that students never want to stop playing it.

How to Play:

Stand in front of the class (you are Simon for the duration of this game).

Do an action and say Simon Says [action]. The students must copy what you do.

Repeat this process choosing different actions - you can be as silly as you like and the sillier you are the more the children will love you for it.

Then do an action but this time say only the action and omit 'Simon Says'. Whoever does the action this time is out and must sit down.

The winner is the last student standing.

To make it harder, speed up the actions. Reward children for good behavior by allowing them to play the part of Simon.

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4. Word Jumble Race

This is a great game to encourage team work and bring a sense of competition to the classroom. No matter how old we are, we all love a good competition and this game works wonders with all age groups. It is perfect for practicing tenses, word order, reading & writing skills and grammar.

How to play:

Write out a number of sentences, using different colors for each sentence. I suggest having 3-5 sentences for each team.

Cut up the sentences so you have a handful of words.

Put each sentence into hats, cups or any objects you can find, keeping each separate.

Split your class into teams of 2, 3, or 4. You can have as many teams as you want but remember to have enough sentences to go around.

Teams must now put their sentences in the correct order.

The winning team is the first team to have all sentences correctly ordered.

5. Hangman

This classic game is a favorite for all students but it can get boring quite quickly. This game is best used for 5 minutes at the start to warm the class up or 5 minutes at the end if you've got some time left over. It works no matter how many students are in the class.

How to play:

Think of a word and write the number of letters on the board using dashes to show many letters there are.

Ask students to suggest a letter. If it appears in the word, write it in all of the correct spaces. If the letter does not appear in the word, write it off to the side and begin drawing the image of a hanging man.

Continue until the students guess the word correctly (they win) or you complete the diagram (you win).

6. Pictionary

This is another game that works well with any age group; children love it because they can get creative in the classroom, teenagers love it because it doesn't feel like they're learning, and adults love it because it's a break from the monotony of learning a new language - even though they'll be learning as they play.

Pictionary can help students practice their vocabulary and it tests to see if they're remembering the words you've been teaching.

How to play:

Before the class starts, prepare a bunch of words and put them in a bag.

Split the class into teams of 2 and draw a line down the middle of the board.

Give one team member from each team a pen and ask them to choose a word from the bag.

Tell the students to draw the word as a picture on the board and encourage their team to guess the word.

The first team to shout the correct answer gets a point.

The student who has completed drawing should then nominate someone else to draw for their team.

Repeat this until all the words are gone - make sure you have enough words that each student gets to draw at least once!

7. The Mime

Miming is an excellent way for students to practice their tenses and their verbs. It's also great for teachers with minimal resources or planning time, or teachers who want to break up a longer lesson with something more interactive. It's adaptable to almost any language point that you might be focusing on.

This game works with any age group, although you will find that adults tire of this far quicker than children. To keep them engaged, relate what they will be miming to your groups' personal interests as best as possible.

How to play:

Before the class, write out some actions - like washing the dishes - and put them in a bag.

Split the class into two teams.

Bring one student from each team to the front of the class and one of them choose an action from the bag.

Have both students mime the action to their team.

The first team to shout the correct answer wins a point.

Repeat this until all students have mimed at least one action.

8. Hot Seat

This is one of my students' favorite games and is always at the top of the list when I ask them what they want to play. I have never used this while teaching ESL to adults, but I imagine it would work well.

Hot Seat allows students to build their vocabulary and encourages competition in the classroom. They are also able to practice their speaking and listening skills and it can be used for any level of learner.

How to play:

Split the class into 2 teams, or more if you have a large class.

Elect one person from each team to sit in the Hot Seat, facing the classroom with the board behind them.

Write a word on the board. One of the team members of the student in the hot seat must help the student guess the word by describing it. They have a limited amount of time and cannot say, spell or draw the word.

Continue until each team member has described a word to the student in the Hot Seat.

9. Where Shall I Go?

This game is used to test prepositions of movement and should be played after this subject has been taught in the classroom. This game is so much fun but it can be a little bit dangerous since you'll be having one student in each pair be blindfolded while the other directs them. So make sure to keep your eyes open!

It is also excellent for the adult EFL classroom, or if you're teaching teenagers.

How to play:

Before the students arrive, turn your classroom into a maze by rearranging it. It's great if you can do this outside, but otherwise push tables and chairs together and move furniture to make your maze.

When your students arrive, put them in pairs outside the classroom. Blindfold one student from each pair.

Allow pairs to enter the classroom one at a time; the blindfolded student should be led through the maze by their partner. The students must use directions such as step over, go under, go up, and go down to lead their partner to the end of the maze.

10. What's My Problem?

This is a brilliant EFL game to practice giving advice. It should be played after the 'giving advice' vocabulary lesson has taken place. It is a great way for students to see what they have remembered and what needs reviewing. This game works well with any age group, just adapt it to fit the age you're working with.

How to play:

Write ailments or problems related to your most recent lesson on post-it notes and stick one post-it note on each student's back.

The students must mingle and ask for advice from other students to solve their problem.

Students should be able to guess their problem based on the advice they get from their peers.

Use more complicated or obscure problems to make the game more interesting for older students. For lower levels and younger students, announce a category or reference a recent lesson, like "Health", to help them along.

These games will keep your students engaged and happy as they learn! Remember, these are just ten on the hundreds of different EFL games that you can plat with your students. As you get more confident in the classroom, you can start putting your own spin on games and eventually make up your own.

Whatever the age of your students, they're guaranteed to love playing EFL games in the classroom. An EFL classroom should be fun, active and challenging and these games are sure to get you heading in the right direction.
This article was originally published in October 2013; we redesigned and updated this article in May 2018.
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10 Fun ESL Games and Activities for Teaching Kids English Abroad

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Want to make your ESL classroom a more fun and educational place to be? These 10 great games will help teach your students during your time as an ESL teacher abroad.

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ESL Games and lesson plan ideas for young learners, teens and adult classes. Games and activities to practice grammar, speaking, vocabulary and writing.

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International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism

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Bilingual education for young children: review of the effects and consequences

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So you have read about the benefits of bilingualism and have decided that you want to raise a bilingual child. But now you are asking your self the big question, how do I go about it? An important thing to remember is that there is no one way approach to raising a bilingual child. It depends on each individuals family situation and needs, and what works for one family, may not necessarily work for another. You first need to ask yourself what will be best for you and your family. And which bilingual parenting method will best help your children. You will need to think about things such as:

Which languages are spoken?

When is each language spoken?

How often is each languages spoken?

How much exposure will your child get to each language?

Though there are various different ways to raise your child to be bilingual, however most parents will use one of these methods . Once you have chosen a strategy, the most important thing is to stick with it and be consistent. Raising a bilingual child can be a challenge. Even if it may seem hard at times, as with many things, consistency is the key to being successful and practice makes perfect.

OPOL seems to be the most popular method when raising a bilingual child and is as simple as it sounds; one person, one language. Each person speaks to the child in the same language consistently and do not speak the other language as to not confuse the child. The child is expected to respond in the language which is spoken to them, and the parent should correct the child if they respond differently.

Advantages of OPOL:

-Each person is speaking to the child is speaking in their own mother tongue with a native accent therefore they will pick up the language to a native level.
- The child will learn who to speak with in which language and therefore there will be less confusion.

Disadvantages of OPOL:

-If the minority language is spoken by a parent who is not the primary caregiver they may not get as much exposure to it and it may become a passive language where they understand what is being said but reply in the majority language.

In this scenario the minority language is spoken at home between both the parents and children, however out in the community and at school, the children will speak the second language.

Advantages of MLAH

-The whole family can speak together in one language.

-It strengthens the minority language so that the children are getting exposure to it more often

Disadvantages of MLAH

-Younger children who are not at school yet, have more exposure to the minority language. When starting school they can sometimes be a little behind other peers in the community language.

-If one parent is not speaking their native language they may not feel comfortable or confident speaking that language consistently with their children. Also if they don't speak it well enough, children can pick up the mistakes made or the slang used.

The context method (or time and place) requires the use of each language in a different context or situation. It depends on where you are, and who you are with.

For example, if you have family members or friends who only speak a certain language, you switch the language you are speaking so that you are able to all understand each other.

Another example could be that you speak one language in every day situations, but then choose a certain time of the day (or week) where you speak a different language. Many families do this to give a certain language more exposure.

Families who follow the context method, usually speak different languages with each other on a daily basis

Advantages of Context

-Your child will learn quickly, where to speak which language, and who with. They will realise that different languages are spoken in different situations.

-Others are not isolated from your conversation because you change to accommodate who you are with.

Disadvantages of Context

-There isn't really any consistency and there could be a risk of confusion.

-Children may take preference to one language and therefore the other/s may lack in exposure.

This is where there are frequently between the languages at any given time. Parents and children will switch from one language to the other depending on what they are doing or the context of the conversation.

It seems to be used mostly in countries that have an official second language. For example, In parts of Canada they speak both English and French.

Advantages of Mixing Languages

-There is no need for any plan, it all comes naturally
-Children are not forced to speak a language when they don't want to.

Disadvantages of Mixing Languages

-Children may favour one language over the other and so they may grow up with a native level of one language, while the other is lagging behind.

No matter how you raise a bilingual child, it requires a lot of patience and at times can be a lot of work. But the long term benefits outweigh any of the difficulties you will start off with.

The main rule is to be consistent and persevere, no matter which method you choose or which rules you follow. Just like any other form of parenting, if you are consistent, there is a good chance that you will succeed, and that your child will become bilingual soon enough.
"Sticking to it is the genious" - Thomas Edison Did you find this post interesting? Subscribe to receive other related articles. Follow us on Facebook and join the Bilingual Kidspot Discussion group!

Chontelle is a Certified ESL teacher, writer and mother of two bilingual kids. She offers practical advice for parents seeking to raise bilingual or multilingual children; with inspiration, support and strategies based on her experience as a parent, and as a teacher of a foreign language to children.

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How To Raise a Bilingual Child: Choose Your Method

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So you have read about the benefits of bilingualism and have decided that you want to raise a bilingual child. But now you are asking your self the big question, how do I go about it? An important thing to remember is that there is no one way approach to raising a bilingual child.

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