<<Back to Table of Contents  Print (17 kb)

 

Activity 1: Introductions This activity is a good ice-breaker. It helps with the pronunciation of different Thai and English sounds. It's also a great way to help remember the names of your homestay family members, which you should use to make them feel at ease. 1. Say 'hello' to your host, encourage them - by using hand gestures (as if miming come to me), eye movements and nodding - to say hello back 2. Say 'My name is ……..' Repeat your name so they understand the meaning, point to yourself when saying 'my' Encourage your host to repeat after you and introduce themselves 3. Say 'What is your name?' Encourage your hosts to repeat 'what', 'What is', then 'what is your' and then put it together: 'What is your name?' 4. Answer your host and then introduce your fellow travelers 'My name is …….., this is ……..' Say again: 'this is' Encourage host to repeat: 'This is' 5. Say: 'This is …….. (another farang)' Encourage host to introduce other members of their household: 'This is ……..' 6. A Round of Introductions Get everyone to stand in a circle and introduce each other around the circle, or, if you feel it's appropriate - and once everyone has learnt the new names - introduce each other by throwing something (ball, toy) randomly across the circle. Eg. Throw ball to Sally and say: "this is Sally", Sally throws ball to Ben and says: "this is Ben", etc. Suggestions for Further Teaching As tourists and volunteers will come from different countries you can use the same method as above to get the villagers to ask 'Where are you from?' and reply 'I am from ……..'. Get the villagers to repeat the statements and help with any pronunciation difficulties. Many people live in a different place than where they are from. You could add the question 'Where do you live?' and the answer 'I live in ……..' to differentiate. This can be true for both visitors and villagers, especially those re-housed after the tsunami. To generate interest in different countries it is fun to use a globe or atlas. The villagers can highlight the countries where other tourists have come from. You could compare an atlas written in English and an atlas in Thai for further language exchange. Using the same method as the round of introductions you can practice 'his and her'. For example, throw the object to a male and say 'his name is ……..', then throw to a female and say 'her name is ……..'. You can then practice the question form 'what is his/her name?' If you have a few interested participants you can get them all on their feet. They can mingle with each other and introduce themselves asking the questions above, giving a lot of valuable speaking practice which you can listen to and correct mistakes at the end.