English Club

One particular way to be fluent in English is visiting a local English club!

English clubs come in many different guises. What they do all have in common, however, is that they provide an opportunity for English language learners to practise using English in a relaxed and friendly setting. They can make an excellent contribution to student life at a university language centre, a state school or at a private language school, for example. English clubs give students a chance to practice English in a relaxed, informal environment, and to meet new people.

• A good English cub should be participant-centred. Some strategies to achieve this are:

1. Encourage participants to bring in their own content.
2. Ask participants questions about their lives.
3. Divide participants into small groups to discuss questions or to do activities.
4. Give participants opportunities to express themselves creatively in English, for example, through drama, poetry or storytelling. Alternatively, give them opportunities to explore visual communication, for example art or dance, with a post-performance discussion in English.

• A good English club plays and important social role.

An English club can be a chance to meet new people and make new friends (both for both moderators and participants). This can be incredibly important for students studying English abroad, for example. Try to arrange the schedule so that there is time for people to stay and talk afterwards.

• A good English club gives people freedom.

Students often appreciate the freedom from syllabi, exams and learning objectives. Teachers usually appreciate this too!

• A good English club is rooted in the community.

Organize visits to local places or interest, or invite people from the local community in to talk to your participants.

• A good English club is fun

Fun and enjoyment are elusive qualities. They happen when people are not looking for them. With regard to English clubs, it is almost impossible to predict in advance whether the activities planned will ‘click’ or not. Like a good teacher, an English club moderator should be flexible and intuitive, abandoning activities that fall flat, and embracing the spontaneous and unplanned.

Practical Activities

The following section suggests practical activities suitable for an English club. Three different types of activity are presented: discussions, online activities and activities for a themed English club.

1. Discussions

Having discussions based on a pre-determined theme often works well. Participants can work in pairs, small groups or can talk together as a whole group and discuss questions.

2. Online Activities

If your participants can get online, then a whole wider world can open up for your English club. 

3. Themed English Clubs

Some English clubs have a theme, organizing a different activity related to that theme for each time the group meets. This generally works best when the club has a core of members who attend relatively frequently. Below are a few ideas for a club with the theme of books.

English book club

• Participants bring in a book they are reading (or have read recently) and give a short talk to the group about it.
• Participants ‘pitch’ their favourite book to the group. The other members decide how good they think the pitch was, and say whether it makes them want to read the book.
• The moderator distributes a range of different books from the school library. Participants look at the cover only, and discuss the following questions.

This information is taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish