Interesting free resource for English teachers (Zurich area)

grumpygrapefruit · #1 23.06.2011, 12:37

For over 2 years I have been visiting English language schools, usually for the last lesson of a term or for social gatherings, to give a class about British cheese in English (with lots of cheese to eat of course). I provide a cheese map and printed notes in English about our cheese in general and about the cheeses we taste in more detail. The students benefit from learning and using new vocabulary and practising their English with a native speaker.

I still do these chargeable classes but for the last 6 months I have been giving free mini classes at our Viadukt market.

They normally take between 30 minutes and an hour and we don't skimp on the cheese, crackers and chutneys. Liquid refreshments can be bought from one of the market bars to drink at my stall.

They are always very entertaining and even though many students have reservations beforehand about having to eat British cheese in Zurich I have not had one student who has gone home unhappy or "unconverted". I adjust my English of course to suit the level at which the class is at and the teacher is of course present to help.

Why do I do these for free? Well, my advertising budget is almost entirely taken up by free cheese samples, 100 CHF of cheese and a little of my time will give me many more sales than 1000 CHF of paid advertising, many of the students I have met over the last 2 years have become regular customers and have been very vocal in spreading the word for me amongst their friends and family.

There is absolutely no obligation, or pressure from me, for anyone to buy anything, but many students do use the opportunity to practice their shopping skills in English

We can normally only do these on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for up to 12 people, but bigger groups can sometimes be accommodated and at different times.

I have created a dedicated page about this service on my home page where you can download a cheese map and an NZZ am Sonntag article (in German of course) about me, this normally helps to persuade the teacher or students that this is something worth trying

These tastings and talks BTW are also available for any groups, not just English students. Many of my regular customers bring down groups of friends or work colleagues, again, many of whom are sceptical but go away a little the wiser (I even teach them a few things about Swiss cheese that they never knew

).

Feel free to ask any questions on this thread or contact me through the home page to make a booking.

grumpygrapefruit · #2 27.06.2011, 15:07

A customer (a language school in Zurich) has sent me this as his personal view on using food to help teach English.

	Quote:
	How can you make learning English interesting? Sure English speaking culture plays a dominant role in the world today; hardly a person on this earth hasn’t at some point in their life encountered English — be it the lyrics of a song, a tourist asking for directions or the slogan of some big multi-national company. Despite the overwhelming amount of English in the world and the ease of access to it, many still find it difficult to use. So how can you facilitate a better environment for your students to actively use English? If you’re an English teacher in the Zurich area, there is a great way to help your students learn a little more English and it involves cheese. Yes, that’s correct, cheese. British cheese to be exact. A good teacher always has a card up his sleeves to keep students interested. Why not take a tour down to the VIADUKT market and visit the British Cheese Centre of Switzerland for a cheese tasting. We at Marathon Sprachen have visited the British Cheese Centre of Switzerland with one of our classes and brought their cheeses to an English class with great success. How does trying cheese improve English skills? Michael Fontana-Jone, the proprietor of the British Cheese Centre and Englishman, presents all of the cheeses including their history and other stories for a cheese monger in English. Students are also encouraged to ask questions in English. This is great for practicing listening and speaking skills. As the teacher you have an excellent opportunity to make this outing even more comprehensive. Prepare your students with phrases of agreement and disagreement to voice their opinions. Ex. Person 1: This Cheddar is fantastic, better than Emmentaler. Person 2: I don’t know about that. It’s a little too strong for me. The great thing with food is that unlike with culture, politics and religion everyone has an opinion on food and no one is going to be ostracized for voicing it. Cheese is especially great, because some of the smells their descriptions can lead to a good laugh, which is always welcome in a language class. If you’re looking at doing something original, fun and educational with your English class, a visit to the British Cheese Centre of Switzerland is a great opportunity. Working with Michael was a pleasure and our students greatly enjoyed the English atmosphere and were amazed to discover some great new cheeses that they wouldn’t have tried otherwise. Christian Langenegger is the co-founder of Marathon Sprachen, a language school for German and English as foreign languages.