My experiences in teaching Ezhilarasan Venkatachalam

MY TEACHING EXPERIENCES 

in a village school 

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ENGLISH TRAINING THROUGH Tamil

(Written in 2005)

I would like to narrate my teaching experience to my daughters and school students in the last few years.

I taught my daughters English lesson in our mother tongue viz.,Tamil. I have two daughters aged 13 years and 9 years respectively who are studying in a matriculation school in Salem. Since LKG I had been spending my time on Sundays to teach all their subjects in our mother tongue viz. Tamil. Hence, now they are very fluent in English. It is unfortunate that in almost all matriculation schools the teachers are very reluctant to explain the lessons in the mother-tongue of the children.

Part 1-Ashamed to tell their father's occupation

Recently, I happen to work in a matriculation school in a village about 10 kms from Salem town. 

There the students were ashamed to even tell the occupation of their father. I was moved very much. I encouraged them telling that they should be very thankful to their parents for making them study in a comparative costly private matriculation school. I would make the child tell about his father's occupation in Tamil. Then I would tell the equivalent word in English. Likewise, I would write the occupations of all the fathers of the students in the black board in English and ask them to copy it.

When I was a kid, my father had told me that in Russia, for handling the students of the Primary classes they would appoint only teachers of the highest caliber, say like Ph.D holders. In developed countries the most qualified teacher teaches the lowest standards. It is very unfortunate that in India we do just the opposite. Hence, education
had become a "burden" rather than an uplifting tool to the students.

I want to make my sincere attempts to change this.

Part 2-Using computer to kindle interest in education

The Principal, Mr.Muthukumar of the village school I worked was a very nice gentleman. He gave me appropriate encouragement and gave me a very free hand in experimenting many things. Hence, I used to assemble the "dullest" students from standards 1 to 6 and conduct innovative computer based classes to them using Multi-media software like Encarta Encyclopaedia and kindle their interest in education.

My strategy : First "see" the picture of a lion. Then "hear" its roar. Then "write" the word "lion"

To elaborate on this, I will make a kid type a word like "LION" into the program. Within a few seconds we get pictures of "lion" in the screen. If I click on the picture we hear the roaring of a lion in the speaker. Then I would go to the black board and write "LION". Again, I would type "LION" in the paint program in big letters and fill it with attractive colours. Then, I ask the class to copy it
down. I am glad to say that soon the students felt mesmerized in my teaching methods and the project was a great success. No doubt the "dull" students developed interest in education very soon.

Part 3-Tape Recorder as a Teaching Tool

Another day, I took the tape recorder to the UKG class and asked the kids to call out their names loudly and recorded their voice in the Tape Recorder. Then I played it back. The kids jumped with joy on hearing their recorder voices from the tape recorder. I was elated to see the enjoyment in those young buds. The UKG class teacher was amused to know that with very little effort, using a tape recorder we can make the class very interesting for young children.

Part 4-"The frog class I took to the UKG kids"

Another day, I trapped a frog hardly half an inch in size from the school corridor. I took it to the UKG class. I allowed the small frog to jump all over me. All along I was talking in English many simple sentences about the frog. I also made the class repeat what I said. I was thrilled to see the kids jump with joy. However, letting out the frog alive out of the class room was a great challenge for me. This was the method I adopted to teach them "Spoken English".

Orientation to Teachers

Appreciating my dedication and devotion in making the learning process for the village kids fun filled and innovative, the Principal allowed me to orient the KG teachers so that they can follow such methods using the Tape Recorder, Computer in their regular teaching curriculum.

Part 5-Educational Programs in the Television

Another area on which I am researching is the T.V educational channels. I capture T.V programs in my web camera and then give a voice dubbing in Tamil. However, the quality is not up to the mark and I need good sponsors to explore in that area. There is no doubt that T.V can be used as an excellent educational tool in schools.

However, I think that we are yet to start exploiting that medium in India. I think very easily a teacher can play a video on a subject for 10 or 15 minutes and then interact with the students in many ways. He can ask the students to answer simple questions and explain in their own words what they saw.

Part 6-Explore and Self Learning by children

Recently, I read in "The Hindu" newspaper about the research done by Dr.Sugata Mitra, NIIT scientist. He advocates that kids can themselves learn about computers without any teaching at all. (Minimally Invasive Education).

I would humbly like to state that I had been doing something very similar with whatever existing infrastructure at my disposal. With a little support, I think I can contribute a lot in the field of education.

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(Written in 2005)

Ezhilarasan Venkatachalam
Global Tamil Based English Trainer
Salem, South India.