The last week of October brought some dramatic changes in weather, but at Jump we always rise to challenges. For the Joyful English course we were visited by two German participants from Saxony, both economists who wanted to improve their speaking abilities for work.
The morning as usual started with all participants playing an icebreaker game to get to know each other. Then the first Joyful english session began with a short quiz that helps to understand what they need to focus on the most.
We played a quick vocabulary building game using some handmade flashcards containing verbs and adjectives- the objective of this game is to think of the opposite of the word, the past and future tenses and use these words in a sentence. The same cards can be used in many different games as they are very versatile and easy to make.
Next we did a brief “news report” role play session where participants wrote a short fictional story and then played the part of a news reporter and interviewee.
For the fourth part of the session the two participants worked together on an “elevator pitch” to invent a fantasy product and then put together a quick presentation in the style of a brief business presentation. This is always a very fun workshop, and the two participants took inspiration from the Monday morning tour of Soverato, where they learned about the typical products and protected biodiversity of Calabria. They designed a type of caramel that can cure headaches/seasonal depression and help you see the future. It was a fun session, which helped them remember the new vocabulary and gain confidence in responding quickly to questions.
For the second day the participants had prepared a nice surprise, in their free time they designed a logo in Canva for their invented fantasy product called The Italian Bonbomb. We started with some grammar and vocabulary, then we looked at some useful learning resources, for learning alone and teaching in schools. In particular we looked at TV comedy series with a variety of British accents, and the Lyrics training app/website which encourages interactive learning using popular music.
For the second part of Wednesday morning they worked on designing zines. One participant’s zine was about Saxony, the second was about how to turn dark thoughts into positive or neutral thoughts. In this session they expanded their vocabulary with words relating to emotional states.
The last part involved another quick improvised role play session. This time participants were asked to watch a short cooking show by a British celebrity chef, and then find a recipe in English and play two roles- one as a celebrity chef and one as a camera person/director. This was also a very fun session that included a lot of new verbs, adjectives and nouns relating to food and actions.
On Thursday, we had an outdoor session by the Soverato sign and then on the beach. The session started with a quick scavenger hunt followed by a discussion of nature in Calabria versus nature in Saxony and places they have visited around the world. This led to the second part of the morning’s session, a workshop inspired by William Wordsworth’s famous poem Daffodils. Participants learned some new vocabulary relating to movement and the natural world and were then asked to write a short poem including some of the new words. We walked to the beach for some extra inspiration.
This part was a very emotional experience with one participant relating very strongly to some of the new vocabulary. Both of them wrote really impressive and beautiful poems which included verbs, adjectives and expressive references to Wordsworth’s poem.
We talked for a while about how learning a second language can help with finding new ways of self expression as languages have different concepts and ways of expressing emotion. Participants were asked to choose their favourite line from their poems and write them in the sand. At this point life began to imitate art, the waves were gently washing away the poems describing the sea’s ability to wash away the thoughts that bring us worry.
To end the interesting and creative session we briefly played a game involving hiding/finding an object and we did some stretching to release our emotions.
Author: Ana Rosa Heath – JUMP Trainer
