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Every culture has their stories to tell about their own hero’s, myths ,legends love and moral values. They can help us to understand that in a different way by taking us on a journey with our fantasy we might have lost somewhere on our way to be a grown up. But children still have that, they are pure and not influenced and involved by the social media focused world we are living in. They see things as simple as they can be creating their own stories everyday while playing in their own world and most of the time it doesn’t need much than a few words to get them involved. So why don’t we use that to introduce a new language? Stories can teach us about the everyday life and should imply good behaviour and a positive value because children are often very critical and sensitive about what is right and was is wrong. By listening to stories we can learn about ourselves and others what can develop understanding of other cultures and religions all around the globe. But be aware that not every story ist suitable for every group of students. You have to choose wisely and be think of the cultural backgrounds as one of the most important parts by telling a story abroad. Make sure the language level is appropriate to the level of your learners. When you start telling stories keep the structure for the beginning as simple and clear as possible and try to choose the content relaying to the everyday life of your students so they can personalise themselves with the story and the characters interacting in it. That is going to increase a higher level of listening, understanding and interest. By choosing a story which might be a little bit more difficult or may contains vocabulary it will take longer for the students to understand the content. At that point it might be helpful to teach the vocabulary in advance to increase a higher level of understanding. Here we have to separate the idea from telling stories and teaching stories. While telling a story should be more stimulating and engaging whereas teaching a story is more part of a classroom activity where the teacher is presenting the content and plot of the story. Make sure to use storytelling in the right way so you don’t put your students off. Because telling a story is such a nice way to introduce language and get the kids into thinking in English for example if you are staring a class in the morning. The use of visual aids is very welcome at this point especially by telling a story for the first time it just makes the understanding easier and children love muppet shows and pictures! Don’t tell a story just once. Children don’t get fed up with it, they just take some more time to understand it completely. They are happy to hear it several times and will always find new ways to interpret the content. If you choose a theme based story you can plan you’re lessons around it, find songs matching the content or do some role plays you can refer back during the lesson. Because visualising is much easier for young learners and you introduce the language in a playful way. In my opinion young learners are more receptive and easier to engage by using simple aids and teach them in a playful way. The creativity of children is endless and by telling stories for several times they understand and learn much faster than they would if you would drill them to learn.
