I decided to mix things up a little bit in my class and change my student´s names from their given Brazilian names to English names. This is an idea I got from an ex-colleague of mine, Chelsea Burton, who used to teach English here in Recife.
The idea is that you can chose any name you like and make it your own. Some of my students chose to make their Brazilian name English, like Ana Paula is now Ann, and Ana Julia is now Jules.
The response has been quite amusing and it has brought some very nice and fun moment to our class.
First of all the process of choosing the name gives them the liberty of becoming whoever they want to be.
One example: One of my students, Jair, chose the name "Joey", and everybody knows Joey from the popular TV-show "Friends". So I told him he´d have to say to the ladies "How you doin´" and he loved it. However, given the fact that he works as a waiter at a restaurant I´m not sure his boss would be very happy with that!
Another thing I´ve noticed is that they feel more at ease speaking English because they are not really themselves anymore, but they´ve become the person associated to the name.
One of my groups, an Intermediate level here at CEO, even took this "game" a step further. They decided to come up with a background story to their names and the results are just hilarous!
I´ll give you a few examples:
My student Rodrigo chose the name "Brian" and apparently he´s a farmer from Ohio who loves to sing at Karaoke bars. He even sang a little for us in class so it has been decided that for our next event here at C.E.O (Secret Santa Christmas party) he´s going to be the first one to sing... Right Brian?! :)
Then there is Priscila, who chose the name "Mary", and she lives in Miami and works as a life guard (not a bad occupation there!)
Sergio, a.k.a, "John" is from Boston (he actually lived there for 2 years so no wonder he chose Boston!) is a professional baseball player. I´m pretty sure that´s his real dream occupation!
I have another group, which is made up of staff working in our tower (Janete Costa) and some towers around us. They work in various fields but all of them have one thing in common; They receive foreigners who expect them to speak some English so they really need to learn some survivor English to make their jobs easier.
I see my students from this group every day and I always ask them "How are you" and offer them a "Good morning/afternoon" when I pass by them. They do look a bit scared when they see me coming but this "master plan" of mine has actually worked. They are calling each other by their English names and subconsciously they think "How do I respond to her questions" when they see me coming. At first I got thumbs up when I asked them how they were doing, but today something really nice happened. One of the secretaries offered me a "Good afternoon" and responded "O.K." when I asked her how she was. That was such a good feeling because I can see that they feel more confident already and they don´t look as scared when they see me!
This is why role play and simulation in class are so important. You become someone else and you feel more at ease making mistakes and speaking. After all, making mistakes is the best way to learn! At least that´s how I learned to speak Portuguese!
I´ll leave you with this quote I really like and I hope you have a really good weekend!
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
P.S. What name would you chose??
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