1 - Storytelling

8/19/2019 1 - Storytelling

1/17

B E E ' S K N E E S E N G L I S H S O C I A L C L U B

HOW TO

EACH ENGLISH

THROUGH

S ORY ELLING

- A MODEST PROPOSAL -

BY

ARNOST S.


2/17

I teach English by telling stories. Fun and crazy stories, stories

of heartbreak, made-up stories, uplifting stories, stories that

make you think, stories that give you pause. Like this one:

melia, John, John, melia

John and I met at a party sixty years ago. He’d had a lot to

drink when I was introduced to him by a mutual friend. In

fact, he had just poured a glass of beer straight down his

throat right in front of me as if to say, weetheart, this is how

real men drink. I said I was worried about him, but he insisted

he was !ne.

"or a small guy he sure knew how to hold his li#uor. It then

turned out that it was a party trick of some sort that he was

famous for. He especially enjoyed doing it in front of people

who had ne$er seen him do it. It certainly made an impression

on me. till, I kept an eye on him for the rest of the night, justin case.

%hen we bumped into each other a little later, he called me

&funny face.’ He just made that up on the spot. He later

admitted that he forgot my name so he had to come up with

something. He’s called me &funny face’ e$er since, come to

think of it. I didn't mind then and I don't now. As far as

nicknames go, you could do a lot worse. And I do ha$e a funnyface, so he's got that right.

Anyway, we both ended up ha$ing a really good time at the

party and we stayed so late that we missed the last bus and

had to walk !$e miles in the rain. (ot only did we get to know

each other on the way home, by the time we got there we had

planned our honeymoon and agreed on what we were going to

name our three kids.


3/17

(ow, I don't read these stories . %hat I mean by that is, I

don't stare at a sheet of paper while talking. )hat'd be

cheating, as far as I'm concerned. I practice telling the stories

at home so that later in class I can make them sound as if they

happened to me, or someone close to me.

I don't announce a story beforehand . I just drop it in the

middle of a class

with no prior

warning. )hat's a

sure!re way to

grab e$eryone's

attention. I also

make sure I hook

the listeners with a

great opening line.

)elling a story is

just the start ,

though. )here's so much more that can and should be done

with a story. %hat follows are a few ideas that you may !nd

interesting. *r detestable. +ither way, consider yourself

ser$ed.

Lets say you came across a great story. !ou

edited it and honed it to perfection. "nd you

have #ust told this gem of a story in class and the

students seemed to en#oy it. $o% %hat&

'ell, (rst of all you need to make sure the

students actually understood it. )o you ask a

lot of *uestions to tick o+ that particular bo.

ore importantly, the students need to be a%areof %hat eactly they are supposed to learn. /he

storyline itself isnt really important. $either

are names, dates or (gures. Its ho% the story is

told that matters.0

/hats %hy you need to focus on bits that you

kno% your students %ill struggle %ith but need

to kno%. 1rill those things into their poor little

heads relentlessly and mercilessly over a period

of %eeks. /hen do it some more.


4/17

In order to make the most of a story, you need to spread it o$er a few

classes. Here's what I do with a story like "melia and 2ohn.

- .

I introduce and explain the $ocabulary, without in any way

indicating what type of story it relates to.

-ater on I tell the story. )hat's the fun part. *r the scary part,

depends.

+ither right after that or a little later, I in#uire about the story

to make sure e$eryone understood it, all of it.

At the end of class, it's con$ersation time, during which I

ha$e the students piece the story together in pairs.

- /

I recall the story to bring e$eryone up to speed.

-ater, I point out the most important bits to see if the class

can connect them to their nati$e language.)hen, once again, it's con$ersation time, this time with a

little twist. 0Hint1 2ust34se sheet5

- 6 7 8

I ask indi$idual students to translate random point3out bits

in front of the whole class. )hat'll teach them.

)here's talking, too, this time centered on spin3o9 impro$i:edcon$ersations .

3 )ince I teach 45-minute classes, I have space to do other stu+ besides

the main story. /his means that by the time I get to class 6 %ith the

"melia story, Ill already be introducing a ne% one and (nishing %ork

on a story I had begun three classes earlier. In other %ords, in most

classes I %ork on three di+erent stories in various stages.


5/17

;ocabulary

is the least important part

of the process and the students need to

be aware of that. 0)his goes against

e$ery instinct in a student's body, but

it's the truth.5 9 ... )o you go to a restaurant,

right. "nd you have a meal and its a (ne meal, but

the service is a%ful. )o you get back home and you

go %rite a revie% of that restaurant on !elp or

%hatever. "nd you mention the meal and the prices

and then you say ?"s far as service goes, I cant

really say I liked it. /he truth is they %ere slo% and

lazy and I didnt even leave a tip, %hich is

something that I never do.? /he phrase ?as far as?

is very similar to ?in terms of.? )o you could also

say ?In terms of service, I cant really recommend

the place.? >ot it&

"m I going to marry this girl&

!es.0 @ut ho% am I going to get

her attention though& @y

drinking a lot, maybe.0 Is that

really the best %ay to a girls

heart& A/he class is split on this

point by gender linesB 9f course

it isnt. @ut theres more to me

than that, right& Aalf-hearted

nodding.B I mean, come on, Im a

fun guy. If you spend some time

%ith me at a party, for instance...


6/17

(ext, I point out whatphrases

andgrammar

I expect my students to

learn. I make a point of explaining why these particular phrases

matter or are worth remembering. I also

point out that they may be di>cult to

recall down the road, which is why I will

bring them up o$er and o$er again in the

weeks to come. 0At some point, I test my

students on these $ery phrases in

di9erent contexts to pro$e my point.5 I

also create a translation sheet that I

randomly spring on the poor things for months afterwards 0see

?*I()3*4) sheet5.

)helongterm goal

is for students to be able to retain as much of this

newly3gotten knowledge for as long as possible. )hat's a pretty tall

order and teachers really needs to adjust their expectations

depending on what type of students they are dealing with. 0Also, the

undeniable fact that students forget more than they remember brings

home a $ery important point, namely that we need to a$oid burdening

them with marginal words, phrases and grammar points. I can't stress

this point strongly enough.5

)he short3term goal, a much more achie$able one, is for the students

to be able to recount the story pretty much as it is. )o that end, I

pro$ide a 24)34+ sheet containing the most useful bits of the

story. It is meant to pressure the students into actually using these

she and met at a party

by then hes had a lot to drink

it turned out that it %as a

party trick

look honey, this is ho% real

men drink

lets keep an eye on him, #ust

in case

%e ended up having a great

time

"$1 "$! "$! 98E


7/17

phrases while recounting the story rather than dumb it down to the

most primiti$e le$el possible.

'hile my students are engaged in this activity, I %alk around the

classroom, stopping at desks to correct errors, doing some etra

eplaining, occasionally fro%ning or shaking my head but mostly

doling out compliments. !eah, Im pretty nice that %ay. It is a also

great opportunity to address individual students problems.0

At a certain point in the process, students will be able to tell the whole

story, gi$e or take. %e're not stopping there, though. 0(ot to mention

e$eryone's probably totally bored with the story by that point.5 %hich

is why I always come up with a bunch of spin3o9 con$ersations

loosely based on the story. )hese may take the form of an argument, a

brainstorming session, a phone call, what ha$e you.

)he point here is that students are forced to impro$i:e , which may

sound scary at !rst, but is actually a lot of fun once they get used to the

idea. )here are no boundaries, no guides, nothing. )hey can go cra:y

and in$ent the weirdest scenarios. Howe$er, correct and rich +nglish

is still key. tudents must not get o$erwelmed by emotion to the point

where the exchange turns into a series of primiti$e exclamations.

)here are other acti$ities that are fun and not as exhausting. )here

are the !ll3in sheets where students guess the right words to !ll the

gaps. )here are thepoint3out

sheets for students to practice their

translation skills. )he sky's the limit. Actually, the teacher's

imagination is, but you get the idea.


8/17

CLASS ONE

7. vocabulary

6. tell story

;. in*uire

C. conversation

D9"@=L"8!

Early in the class I introduce the vocabulary %ithout indicating %hat

kind of story it comes from or if theres even a story attached to it0. I

%rite all of it on the %hiteboard and then de(ne each %ordphrase using

entertaining real-life eamples.

9nce I notice most of the class nodding their heads, I move on to the

net %ord. Its only %hen I go through at least (ve or si that I ask for

translations into zech. /his makes it a little more challenging and,

dare I say, fun.

/ELL $> /E )/98!

/hen, later on, after one or t%o non-related activities, I get to the story

itself. /he (rst line really needs to grab the students attention and

make them %onderGhey, %hats going on here& %here and %hen is this

happening& %hos this 2ohn guy&

!ou need to make it sound as if all this stu+ really happened to you or

someone close to you. Even if the students suspect or kno% that neither

is the case, theyll still play along because %hy %ouldnt they, right&

"lso, you can tell the story from a di+erent perspective than the

original. /he ich-form obviously %orks, but so do others. "s long as you

dont start like this:

I %ill tell you a story about a %oman named "melia %ho met her husband at a

party. It is very funny and interesting. Is everybody listening& Listen very

closely please because %e %ill be talking about the story later on and I %ill ask


9/17

you *uestions, ok. )o one day sity years ago "melia %as at a party and she

met 2ohn, her husband...

@ooooooooooring. 8ight& eres a bunch of good opening lines:

)o I grab a beer and pour it do%n my throat. "nd the girl looks at me,like, are you kidding me& "nd Im like, honey, obviously you have

never seen a real guy drink. "ll this is happening at a party...

It %as four in the morning and it %as raining and %as %alking home

%ith a guy I barely kne%, but I %asnt scared at all. let me tell you

%hy...

9k, heres an idea for a movie, all right& /heres a girl named, say,

"melia, %ho has #ust broken up %ith her boyfriend. )he comes to a party %here she meets 2ohn. 2ohn is a bit of a sho% o+ and "melia

does not like him at all at (rst...

$


10/17

CLASS TWO

7. recall

6. point out

;. conversation

8E"LL

Its not a bad idea to recall the story one more time in*uiry-style ,

only from a di+erent perspective because %hy the hell not0 at the startof the net class #ust in case everybody forgot %hat it %as about or for

the bene(t of previously absent students. !ou need to bring everyone up

to speed or else some students %ill be left out of the loop and may

disrupt the rest of class.

H9 $/-9=/: >89=H

Later on, you can point out the best parts of the story by calling them

out in your native language0 in random order and maybe a di+erent

contet. /he students collectively try to guess the best possible

translations. eep it short and s%eet.

what if it turns out I was right@

he ended up getting !red

what did you just call me@

who am I trying to impress here@

that sounds made up

ake sure that no one student hi#acks the eercise. >ive the class some

time to think about the translations. =rge the students to ask about

phrasesgrammar points that still dont make sense to them.

9$DE8)"/ 9$

/he students %ill then be epected to use these phrases in narrating the

story. In order to make things easierharder, provide them %ith =)/-

=)E sheets. /hat %ay, they cant dumb the story do%n as they are forced to hit all the right spots.


11/17

CLASS THREE / FOUR

7. point out individually

6. conversation

H9 $/-9=/: $1 D 1="L

Early on, hit each student %ith one or t%o phrases that they have to

translate. /ake into consideration each students level and choose the

lines accordingly. no%ing that they %ill be called out in front of the

%hole class %ill force many students to study harder than they

normally %ould. It may have the opposite e+ect on others, sad to say.

9$DE8)"/ 9$

@y no% the students are pretty bored %ith the story so you need to keep

things fresh.

John's ex3girlfriend complains to a friend an you believe he

left me for this girl& -- !eah. 'hat a #erkJ -- I mean, %hat does shehave that I dont have& -- $othing. !oure perfect. -- )o ho% come he

likes her so much& -- "pparently, she really en#oyed that party trick

of his that you hate. -- 9h. ould that be it&0

a beer tells its side of the story)o the guy pours me into a glass

and then he %aits for people to gather around him. 9nce he has an

audience, he lifts the glass and he pours me do%n his throat. I have

no idea %hat happens net but Im guessing everyone is prettyimpressed. I travel through his body until I #oin my fello% beers in

his stomach...0

bus dri$er Im done %aiting for those t%o, Im leaving. /hey must

be having a pretty good time if its %orth missing the bus for. Its a

pretty long %ay to %alk. Its at least (ve miles. @ut they dont seem

to mind. "t least itll give them a chance to get to kno% each other.

/hen again, its raining pretty hard so maybe theyll regret it after

all. @ut you kno% %hat they say, %hatever Koats your boat.0


12/17

OPENING LINES

ARRATOR

So Amelia fnds hersel at a party one night. She doesn't know a lot o people there

so a riend o hers introduces her to people whose company he thinks she might

enjoy. One o these people is a guy named ohn. ohn has !een at the party or a

while and !y the time he and Amelia meet" he's had #uite a lot to drink. Amelia

thinks to hersel $This guy is a little drunk already.$ And she's right. ohn fnds

Amelia cute and he tries to impress her !y pouring...

O%

So &'m at this party and &'m doing this party trick that &'m kind o sort o amous

or. hat & do is & !asically just pour a whole !eer straight down my throat. &t's

not a !ig deal to me" !ut apparently not many people can do it. So whene(er &

perorm the trick" people applaud and many are impressed. So &'m getting ready

to do it when a riend comes up to me and says" $%ey ohn" there's someone &

want you to meet...$

A)*+&A

So you know my hus!and" ohn" right, -ou wanna know how we met, +et me tell

you the story" it's kind o un. e actually met at this partythat's not the un

part" that's how most people met !ack then. This was si/ty years ago and & had

just !roken up with this guy that &'d !een with or a year or so. A riend in(ited

me to this party so & went. & had no e/pectations at all" & just wanted to take my

mind o0 the !reak1up. So anyway" when & got there" my riend started

introducing me to a whole lot o people" one o whom was ohn...


13/17

INQUIRY / RECALL

&'m guessing the likeliest answers here and !ase my ne/t #uestions on those

guesses. O!(iously. & there's a really good answer that the students ail to think

o right o0 the !at" &'ll just wait until someone puts on their thinking cap and

gi(es me the right answer. )eanwhile" & grimace to con(ey my disappointment.

HN

2. hy did & call Amelia $unny ace,$ 34ecause you orgot her name.5 6oes that

happen to me oten, 37ro!a!ly.5 hat do & do when & orget someone's name,

3-ou come up with a nickname.5 Am & good at making up nicknames, 3-es.5 6id

Amelia like hers, 3She didn't mind.5 6id & keep calling her $unny ace.$ 3-ou still

call her that.5 & do" right, %ow long ha(e & !een calling here that, 3Si/ty years.5That's right. hen did we decide to get married, 3On the way home rom the

party.5 6id we take a !us, 3No" you walked.5 e did" didn't we, hy didn't we

take a !us. 3-ou missed the last one.5 as that !ecause we were drunk, 3&t was.5

%ow much did & ha(e to drink, 3A lot.5 as & drunk !y the time & was introduced

to Amelia. 3Oh yes.5 ho introduced us, 3A mutual riend.5 ...

8. hat's my a(orite party trick, 36rinking !eer.5 That's not a trick. *(eryone

can drink !eer. 3-es. 4ut you drink it (ery ast.5 %ow ast e/actly, ...

9. Am & going to marry this girl, 3-es.5 4ut how am & going to get her attentionthough, 34y drinking a lot.5 &s that really the !est way to a girl's heart, :The class

is split on this point; O course it isn't. 4ut there's more to me than that" right,

:%al1hearted nodding.; & mean" come on" &'m a un guy. & you spend some time

with me at a party" or instance...

AMELIA

2. So... why am & looking so worried,

8. hy are we going to miss the !us ,

9. 6o & ha(e an ordinary ace,

NARRATOR

2. So f(e miles... is that a long distance, 36epends on the situation.5 Right. So

what situations are there where it's not that long, 3hen you're with someone...5


14/17

CONVERSATIONS

/his is %here the rubber meets the road, so to speak. If by the end of

your engagement %ith the story your students are still unable to tell it from a di+erent perspective and in a di+erent time contet, then the

%hole thing %as a ma#or %aste of time. )ame goes for if they cant use

the best bits outside the contet of the story.

In most conversation set-ups students %ork in pairs, helping each other

out taking turns talking.

)he mutual friend, ? )


15/17

*(CI)I*( -

A2+-IA1 ?A)

If I hadnt met you at that party, I %onder %ho I %ould have married

instead. If %e hadnt missed that bus, %e might not have been

together no%.

"I+(C1 ?++()

If 2ohn %asnt drinking so hard, you %ouldnt have to %orry about him,

"melia. If you kne% you %ere going to meet this guy, %ould you have

come to this party any%ay&

J*H(1 "4)4+

'ell, if "melia misses the last bus, I guess I %ill have to %alk her

home. If Im funny, maybe shell realize %hat a great guy I am.

); (+%1 D4+)I*(

a0 LIDE F89 H"8/!: "re you having a good time at the party, 2ohn&

b0 E98! L9)): 'hy did I pour a glass of beer do%n my throat&

c0 ") " F98/=$E /ELLE8: "m I gonna meet someone interesting&

d0 $=8)I$> 9E: om, 1ad, ho% eactly did you (rst meet&

?I(3 *""1 I2?A*;IE+C CI -*F

a5 John Amelia1 when they !rst met 0 %hy drink& 5

b5 John Amelia1 later at the party 0 Funny Face 5

c5 John Amelia1end

of party 0 bus gone& 5

d5 John Amelia1 on the way home 0 honeymoon 5

e5 John's ex3girlfriendcomplains

to a friend 0 an you believe...0

f 5 John's friend 0 ey, %hy dont you think of a nickname instead& 5g5

bus dri$er

0 Im not gonna %ait for those t%o, Im leaving... 5

?I)= --I(F

0John and his friend come up with ideas how to impress Amelia5

'hy dont you do that party trick that you al%ays do& 'hy

dont I ask her out for you& !ou might %ant to take it slo%,

though. 'hatever happens, dont ask her any personal

*uestions. I guess Id better not get drunk. ake sure youdont scare her a%ay.


16/17

GRAMMAR POINTS

/hese are a fe% grammar points randomly selected from the story thatyou may decide to epand on in class. =ltimately, %hat you focus on

depends on the level of your students and their parrticular struggles.

H+ (C I 2+) ) ?A)<

x I met with her at a party 7 me with Amelia we met

x on a party 7 at a wedding, funeral

x at some7one party

H+' H C -*) )* CAI(G

x he has drunk $ery much alcohol 7 he's had a lot for drinking 7 for drink 7 of drink

I) )4A(+C *4) )HA) I) %A A ?A)< )IG

x it showed up that it was

-**G, )H )' H*% +A- 2+( CI(G

x look, real men drink this way

B is that how you did this@ 0you did it in this way@5 7 that's not what I said 0 x Idid not say )HA)5

I G+?) ( +


17/17

/he original version is designed for intermediate students. If you need

one for less advanced students, this one could (t the bill:

If on the other hand you teach advanced students, %ho breeze through

stories like this, you may %ant to give them something more to che% on.

Like a spin-o+ conversation that they can reenact, play around %ith, be

tested on, %hatever.

Look, theres plenty more %here all of the above came from. @ut theres

only so much time you can spend on a story before s*ueezing the last bit

of life out of it. 'e are at that point right about... no%.

2ohn and I met at a party sity years ago. e %as pretty drunk %hen I %as introduced

to him by a friend. In fact, he poured a glass of beer do%n his throat right in front of

me. I guess it %as his %ay of saying, )%eetheart, this is ho% real men drink.

I told him that I %as %orried about him, but he said he %as (ne. I later found out that

the beer thing %as a party trick. e %as pretty famous for it and he especially en#oyed

doing it in front of strangers. I %as impressed, but I kept an eye on him for the rest of

the night, #ust in case.

'hen %e ran into each other a little later, he called me funny face.M e #ust made that

up. e later admitted that he forgot my name so he had to come up %ith something.

eMs called me funny faceM ever since that day. I dont mind. /here are much %orse

nicknames out there. "nd I actually have a funny face, so hes got that right. "ny%ay, %e both had such a good time at the party and %e stayed so late that %e

missed the last bus and had to %alk (ve miles in the rain. 9n the %ay home %e got to

kno% each other. In fact, by the time %e got home %e planned our honeymoon and

agreed on the names of our three kids.

!oumight %ant to

cut do%n on

the drinking, 2ohn.

"ctually,d rather not

. 'hy should I&

@ecause I%ant you to

.

Itlltake

more than thatto make me stop

.

9h yeah& 'hatdo have to

do&

!ouregoing to have to let me %alk

you home.

Illbe happy to

do that.

"s long as

I stop drinking.

!es.d hate to have to

drag you home.

ave you done

thatbefore

&

$ot

%ith you. @ut Ihave

.

)orry to hear that

. @ut ok, %e have a deal. /his is my last drink.

!oud better not

be lying to

me, 2ohn.

Im not. Itskilling me

, butyou are %orth

it.

Documents

1 - Storytelling