I make an effort to know all my students’ hobbies. Why do I do that? I like to know my students better and use hobbies as another tool to coach communicative confidence.
My students enjoy sports like tennis, golf, swimming and running. Some like to read, create art or watch movies. And of course most of my students love traveling.
As you can see, we have a wide range of hobbies. That makes me very happy. In fact, ‘What is your hobby?’ is one the first questions I ask students at their first lesson. And there are two good reasons for it.
1. I want to know my students better. Understanding my students helps me to create a stronger connection build trust between us. I’m interested in various types of hobbies and it’s always nice to share our experiences. It’s also great to learn about some hobbies I know nothing about. For example, I learned a lot about marathon running, green tea ceremony and creative writing. There’s probably no better English conversation topic than someone’s own hobby. Students are always interested in finding hobby related vocabulary and creating sentences. Lesson talking time is always very high which is a good sign of a productive lesson.
2. I like to create complementary study materials for students based on their hobbies. As I said earlier. Hobby talk is a great way for students to feel confident and speak in English. So why not use this to our advantage and also practice other aspects of the English language. Over the years of teaching I’ve created numerous speaking, grammar and writing exercises based on students’ hobbies.
‘Prepositions‘ exercise about a hiking trail. ‘Adjectives‘ exercise about a favorite photography or painting. ‘Creating sentences‘ exercise about a favorite movie. ‘Speaking‘ exercise about a Japanese soccer player and many more. The possibilities are endless and open new opportunities for students to practice speaking English.
And that is why I know all my students’ hobbies.
By the way, my hobbies are cycling, watching movies, reading, drawing and spending time in Kyoto countryside.
‘What’s your hobby?’ Come see me at SSE Katsura and let’s talk about it! Tom
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