Learn English with Lucky

I've posted Lucky's advent calendar videos through December 13th.  Learn English with Lucky YouTube Channel Be sure to hit like and subscribe, so you'll know when I post the next videos! And please share them with friends! Here is Lucky's website: www.learnenglishwithlucky.com. He also has fun games on Boom Learning at https://wow.boomlearning.com/author/learnenglishwithlucky?collection=FeaturedAuthor. Please tell your friends about our channel!

Lucky's got an advent calendar! I am a bit behind in posting about it, but the first three days are posted. These can be useful in teaching non-native speakers about ordinal numbers. I focus on them in each post. Please note that Lucky isn't getting what's inside the calendar. It's probably not high quality stuff, and after day one of listening to his stomach gurgle, I decided he needed something healthier. Today, he's got some red pepper. One of his favorites! Please check back for a new video tomorrow!

My Favorite Preschool Book Authors by Kelly Bostrom Robic I love, love, love children's books!  There is nothing more enjoyable to me than sitting down and reading a favorite story to my students. Parents often ask me for recommendations of books that could fit their children's ages and interests. These are many of the books that I use when teaching English to children in preschool, though they can also work for older children, depending on their level. I chose these based on my own personal favorites, but also for how well they have done over the years in keeping my students' attention with their engaging stories and delightful illustrations.  10.  Margaret Wise Brown . My all-time favorite book to read to my own children was Good Night Moon . It’s a soothing story about a room with a small “child,” a rabbit, who is going to sleep. The narrator says good night to everything in the room, such as a red balloon, a telephone, a pair of socks, two kittens, etc. The vocab...

Fourteen Tips for Raising Bilingual Children This post is geared to the parents on my blog here, but many of these tips can work for teachers as well… Make it relevant. Kids need a reason to want to learn another language. If they see no connection, they’ll be far less interested. Can you point out cousins they’ll want to talk to? Games they’ll be able to play? Have engaging materials on-hand. Check out the local bookstore/toy store, visit Goodwill, Salvation Army or Emmaus, Facebook used items pages and ask friends if you can borrow or buy up their older children’s old comic books and popular series. Learning should be natural. What child likes sit-in-a-chair-and-memorize-type lessons? Let her take an art, dance, music or cooking class in the target language! Lockdowns brought about new online opportunities… Or watch a favorite movie! Do you sing together? Learn a new song! Create something educational based on your child’s interests in the target language. Make your own movie...

I love the classic song, "We Wish you a Merry Christmas," but I don't love teaching it EVERY year. Many of my students hear it elsewhere, already know it well enough and need a bigger challenge. So, I created this one for my youngest learners: "Good Times are Here!" Like WWYAMC, it has three lines that repeat and the fourth that is different. There are not many words, and it is focused on teaching them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, the two goals of the song. The rest of the vocabulary is very limited. Here is a free link to the song: I've also made a free game using most of the words to this song on Boom Learning. These are online games that you can share with your students. I discussed them here. I hope you'll enjoy these!  Have great holidays!

In the 15 years I've been teaching English in France, I've found that my students (of all ages) are more and more interested in American politics, and of course in our elections. Awareness is at an all-time high. While talking with some students a few months ago, one child asked out loud what The United States was. Another replied, "You know, Donald Trump!" The other just said, "Oh!" clearly aware of the name.  They were five years old.     While I don't talk about politics with the young children, I also teach teenagers and adults, so I've spent time lately working on some non-partisan materials that I hope will help them to gain some clarity on the subject beyond just knowing the candidates.  I've made a few Boom Cards (online games) with videos that can be used to help explain how the elections work in very simple terms.  These are for feasible for use with non-native speakers and those who aren't familiar with the US election system.    H...