How to Use this Site

Transformation into the Target Language and Culture

These materials have been written in English to create maximum accessibility and usability. Users of this site will take the materials as written as a starting point and transform them to be linguistically and culturally relevant for the target language. This should not entail simple word-for-word translation of the materials. Instead, users should maintain the sense of the activity and adjust the particular word choice in the target language as necessary to keep the activities natural sounding and meaningful. Names, pronouns, and other items (e.g. names of cities, types of clothing, etc.) used in the materials should also be changed to reflect the target culture. 

There may be other, larger cultural issues to address as you use these materials. As written, these materials are geared towards a US context and have thus been influenced by certain cultural norms. For example, words such as fat, ugly, skinny, and dumb carry negative connotations in US culture, and it crosses a cultural boundary to apply these words to a person even in the context of a foreign language activity. For that reason, we advise teaching these words through non-human examples. That said, issues such as these could be an interesting jumping off point for a discussion of cultural norms with your students.

Editing and Adaptation

The materials on this site are meant to be edited and adapted by users to make them useful for their context. Feel free to change them in any way you need to!

The materials are licensed under a Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC-BY-NC 4.0). The link gives you more details, but essentially, you must provide attribution that the materials came from this website and you are not allowed to use the materials for commercial purposes. 

To use these materials, copy and paste them into a Word document or Google Doc. They are not downloadable files (although we hope to enable downloading at a later stage).

Language Teaching Principles

It is crucial for learners to take in natural, comprehensible, and meaningful input. This means that the language presented to them in written or spoken texts should use the target language authentically and in a meaningful context, while still being digestible for students at a particular level. It is not necessary for students to understand every single word of the input; they need to know enough to grasp the sense of the text. Learners should have opportunities to use the target language in authentic, communicative ways. Furthermore, grammar content should also be taught in a meaningful context and not as a disembodied system of rules. To develop a good ear for the language, it is also important for learners to hear a variety of voices. Whenever possible, we encourage users to record material for listening activities using several different native speakers of the target language. Finally, we advise providing instructions in English until you are sure that students have enough language to understand them in the target language. This helps ensure that students’ performance on a task is not negatively impacted by their understanding of the instructions.

Learning is not a linear process, with students progressing at different paces. As such, you may want to vary the level of activity in the classroom. An advanced student can use a beginner-level activity as a helpful reminder or warm-up to a more difficult task just as a beginner can complete intermediate-level tasks with the proper scaffolding. While we do not recommend relying on activities outside of the students’ proficiency, these activities may prove beneficial when incorporated intentionally into your classroom. You may also want to mix levels of grammar and vocabulary – encountering difficult grammar with familiar vocabulary or vice versa. 

Technical Considerations

This site is not intended solely for either online or in person learning. Rather, users should adapt the content to their particular situation. Below, you will find some guidelines for using these materials in both class situations.

• If you are assigning an activity online e.g. through a Learning Management System;
  • File names should be in English. This is important for consistency of labeling and for students to easily tell the files apart. 
  • Take each activity yourself as a student after preparing it to be sure it works properly.
  • Disregard the instructions on some activities that aim for F2F settings (e.g. “print this worksheet”) and modify the activity to fit the online setting. For instance, you can create a matching or fill-in-the blank activity on H5P or other online tools.
• If you are assigning an activity in a face-to-face setting;
  • Make the recordings for listening activities prior to the lesson and save them. Alternatively, plan to read the script out loud in class. Remember to frequently vary the speakers in audio scripts by finding other native speakers to make the recordings. 
  • Print the worksheets for students before class. Ensure the instructions on the worksheet are clear. 
  • You will need to grade learners’ activities and give feedback in a timely manner