Most of us know the song "My bonnie is over the river". One of my students told me the version that she was taught by her teachers in primary school. Here it is, complete with actions:
My bonnie [outlines the shape of a person in the air, "body"] is over [makes the shape of an "O" with two hands] the o-[makes the "O" shape] cean [points to the lips, 唇, almost-homonym for the second syllable in "ocean"];
My bonnie ["body" action again] is over ["O" action] the sea [shades eyes with hand, "see"].
My bonnie ["body" action] is over ["O" action] the o-["O" action] cean ["唇" action] --
Oh bring [hands in a "come hither" motion] back [pats one's back] my bonny ["body" action] to me [points to oneself].
Interesting way to teach English.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Variations on a tune
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2 comments:
Does it work? I imagine some may like this type of teaching - those who enjoy expressing themselves with their bodies. I can also imagine some people who may get turned off.
Learning English through songs is great - with or without the action.
Not sure. When I see students writing "sea" for "see" still in their reports, and hear how them having trouble pronouncing syllables in English that have close Cantonese homonyms... I'm not sure that this mode of teaching English really makes sense.
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