Pets have claimed such a great deal of importance in our daily lives; whether adopted during the lockdown, rescued from a shelter, or bred for competition and companionship, domestic animals dominate not only the internet, but our hearts. That’s why talking about the animals we love continues to prove a fetching way to practice language skills for younger students, as well as introductory-level learners. And, with the Level Up Village virtual exchange course Animals in Our Lives, you can get your students to be quite ex-paws-itory about the little critters they love. Here are just a few ways to embellish the LUV course curriculum and throw your students a bone when it comes to extra practice before they shoot their videos and responses.
Dog Days
Because your students are at the beginner level, they probably don’t have much experience with tenses outside the present tense; sometimes, language learners can find this difficult, because they sound like children when they communicate in the target language. But with this exercise, their nascent lexicon and basic grammar skills will suit their needs perfectly!
Ask them to write a diary from a pet’s perspective!
That’s right, as a companion exercise to week three’s “identify their own and others’ relationships with pets and animals,” ask them to write (or create alongside depictions and fun decorations) the goings-on of a typical day from an animal’s perspective. Asking them to capture the animal’s voice in their writing will not only get them to use the first-person point of view, one they’re likely familiar with at the inception of their language learning, but it will also encourage them to keep sentences simple.
Plus, because our pets often lead rather relaxed lives, your students will likely only need a handful of new verbs and vocabulary beyond their basic lexicon!
If they like the finished product, they could always read the diary alongside pictures or clips of a pet in one of their upcoming videos.
Or, if that’s not dynamic enough, this could help them create…
Voiceover Vids
One of the most entertaining trends in internet animal videos has to be the animal voiceover video. Your students undoubtedly know this from TikTok, but perhaps you, too, are a fan of those lively clips that, ranging from cringy to downright hilarious, depict animals going about their business while humans voice their thoughts and commentary. When done well, with different consistent timbres for the different characters, it can become wildly entertaining to project human language, thoughts, and interpretation to the cute and often inexplicably random movements and gestures of our pets.
Again, here your student’s basic language skills come in handy since the verisimilitude of voicing their pet demands simplicity, brevity, pithiness, and humor; they can even get a kick out of using some of the fun expressions and colloquialisms they’ve learned so far in the target language to comedic effect. Plus, they likely have lots of fun videos of their pets doing things, and if not, the internet is not a difficult repository for them to navigate in search of entertaining animal media for them to voice over.
These can also be spliced into their videos, or even as a response to their partners’ videos! Imagine asking your students to respond to week four’s Popular Pets in My Country prompt–from the perspective of their furry friends!
And, once they’ve got the pet talking, they’ll be ready for the super combo hybrid exercise….
Pet Interviews
To further enhance their language skills and engagement, encourage your students to conduct a mock interview with their pet! This activity can be both educational and fun, allowing students to use their imagination and creativity. Have them draft a list of simple questions—of course within the bounds of their beginner-level learning—they might ask their pet, such as “What do you eat?” “What’s your favorite toy?” or “What do you think about?” Then, they can either role-play the interview, recording themselves as both the interviewer and the pet, or they can write down how they imagine their pets would respond.
This activity encourages them to think creatively, use question forms, and explore more complex sentence structures. It also gets them asking questions in the target language, which is also what they’ll be doing in their videos to their international partners. And, for the more grammatically-minded, it gets them using the second-person conjugations that we often have difficulty prompting on assessments.
You could even recommend this exercise for students who get nervous responding to their partners’ videos.
Your Student: “Fluffy, what do you think about Javier’s favorite pets?”
Fluffy: “¡Me gustan los perros! Woof!”
After all, if it’s their pet talking, your pupil doesn’t need to feel as much pressure to sound eloquent and educated!
By simulating an interview, students can practice speaking and listening skills in a playful, imaginative manner. Plus, this can be a great way for them to share more about their pets in their videos, providing a personalized touch that is certain to captivate their audience.
Conclusion
Incorporating pets into language learning isn’t just beneficial for keeping students engaged; it’s a powerful method to make learning deeply personal and joyously memorable. That’s why the Level Up Village virtual exchange course Animals in Our Lives works so well in introductory language courses: it’s an exciting and fun topic and doesn’t require a whole lot of linguistic experience. Whether through writing from a pet’s perspective, voicing over a pet’s supposed thoughts, or conducting mock interviews, each of these supplemental activities leverages the emotional connections students have with their beastie buddies to foster a more enthusiastic and effective learning environment. These exercises not only enhance their linguistic abilities but also help in building empathy and creative thinking skills. So, let’s harness the universal love for pets to make language learning a delightful adventure for every student!
