ENGLISH
level
my ‘chupacabra’
english
teacher
BY
lupe
orozco
guage in the world, and we have
to move the mouth like a cow,” he
says to explain to English learners
how to articulate the mouth in a
great manner to speak each word.
They smile and enjoy every gesture
he does when he speaks about it.
This is the secret the teacher emphasizes often.
Because of his philosophy about
the language, Mr. Ladd does
not waste any chance to make
his students stand up to practice
phonics. The exercise starts with
the students saying “hello,” extending the arm and bringing it back to
the front of the throat, where the
Adam’s apple is. With the thumb
and index finger in this position
they are asked to recline the body
backward while they bite their
tongues and start to pronounce the
“the” sound while the body goes
back to the original position.
This unusual way to teach create in
the students different reactions.
Most of them look closely what is
going on to repeat exactly how
the professor does, others also
pay attention, but as well cannot
avoid laughing while Mr. Ladd
uses the body, rubber bands,
movements, napkins, rulers or any
object he thinks is useful to teach
his students.
The students’ participation is
almost unanimous. He knows how
to engage each student into the
class. Someone from the audience
raises a hand to collaborate with
a phrase, idea... or simply answer a question saying “No yet”...
The teacher’s face turn red and
say...”Nooooooo. This is a chupacabra.” The right way to respond
is “Not yet.” Everyone laughs ...
Chupacabra is a legendary goat
sucker, an ugly animal, that some
people say exists in some part of
Latin America.
VOCAB
As a good teacher, he always
wants his students to write down
everything he is teaching. “English
is a giant, huge, enormous language, and our time here is little,
so write it down each word I say,”
Mr. Ladd expresses with emphasis.
In the course of reading a story,
he likes all students to read in
class, but once in a while for pronunciation purposes he is the one
who reads. When this happens,
he transports his pupils to the
place where the event is taking
place. He brings each character
to the class and represents them
with gestures, emotions and even
drama, jumping, walking fast,
simulating what the character is
doing, which makes the story vivid.
Unbelievable!!!! is another of his
favorite phrases to express surprise or to applaud a contribution
of one student who brings a new
good complicated word or collocations to the class.
This is Mr. Ladd, my vocabulary
class teacher, who dedicates his
life to teaching English as a Second Language (ESOL) and helping
immigrants to communicate better
as well as to understand American
culture better.
* Note: The chupacabra is a legendary goat sucker, an ugly animal
that some Latin America people
are sure sucks the blood from
other animals. In Mr. Ladd’s class,
this term is use to show someone
is making a mistake.
A collection of student art and writing
53