Most foreigners living in Mexico have been asked the following question by one of the local people: “Do you have a little time to help me practice my English conversation?”
To some English speakers, the mere thought of playing the role of a teacher produces a queasy feeling in the stomach: “Me teach English?” I can barely speak it myself and I had a heck of a time with the subject when I was in high school.”
If that’s you, think about this: Even though you may not know the difference between an adverb and an Advil, you have functioned as an English speaker most of your life and you have a sense of what sounds right and what sounds wrong in English, a sense which non-speakers of the language lack. It is exactly this ability of yours which can immensely benefit a Mexican trying to improve his or her conversational skills.
For example, imagine you hear this sentence: “Yesterday I go to Chapala.” You know exactly which word is “wrong.” Now, you could tell the Spanish speaker: “No, no, it should be ‘I went to Chapala.’”
This is a correction, the traditional tactic used by teachers all around the world, but actually not very useful because it doesn’t stimulate the student to think. Instead of doing that, you can really help the student by saying, “Something’s wrong with your sentence. Say that again: Yesterday I …”
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