Teaching English in Korea - ESL blog

Everything is too hard

So I have a class of adult beginners. Most are high beginners, but a few are lower and a few are higher. The problem is that the higher ones have no confidence and say that everything is too hard. One activity was taken from Reason to Write and was just a few discussion questions about what types of people you admire and what makes a good hero. Everyone was able to answer the questions but they still complained it was too hard.

So next class was easier. We did some weather pictures, first matching the pic to the vocab and then saying what we liked to do in each kind of weather. Then I did the weather forecast listening exercise from p.83 of Teaching Listening Comprehension and everyone complained it was too hard - after they told me the right answers. First I'd asked them about the weather in the different parts of England. They got the answers right, but before I asked for answers, when I gave them time to talk it over with their partners, they just looked at each other like no one had heard anything. When I called for answers I got them... Then we did what was suggested in the book; I read an incorrect version and students listened for mistakes. They even heard all 7 mistakes but still told me it was too hard.

I was thinking about doing some easy things like decide which picture is being described or something, but somehow I get the feeling that's not what this group wants. I'm going to try some past simple/present perfect grammar dictations or maybe clozes next time. Then we're going to go out for dinner and drinks...