Foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten

Any problems?

Sadly, yes. How many words can you think of in a minute? When I do this with students in class, they often only get 2 or 3 words. Time wasted. Another very practical problem is that I find students often don’t use the words they have written down – they start talking and then forget those words/phrases. Again, time wasted.

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Close your eyes and see a picture

The idea

A picture is worth 1000 words

This one sounds unusual but can work beautifully. The idea is you don’t write down many notes but you close your eyes, think of the question and try and see a picture. You look at the picture in your head carefully, seeing the details (eg the musician playing in the background) and then note down words and ideas for when you speak.