Since many students travel abroad I find this Smith's School of English lesson very beneficial. Last week I had a lesson with 1 green and 1 red level student. After reviewing the one point "You shouldn't have" from their lesson last week I asked if either of them had visited any foreign countrys in their lives. 1 student had been to a few countrys but I was surprised when the other replyed that he had never been to any country outside of Japan.
This was a good time to pause and review the routine 9 Finnegan's Bar story. Each student had already completed this routine once just last week so the story's content was fresh in their minds. They didn't have too much trouble with the question and answer session. They were a little confused however with the "That should do the trick" expression. But after a little explanation they quickly had no trouble grasping the meaning.
I introduced the customs curriculum to the students by showing them the copy of the customs declaration form. The 1 student who had traveled to a few countrys had already seen it and in fact had filled it out before. Not surprisingly this form was brand new to the other student but his green level was quite high so he had little trouble deciphering its contents. I then introduced some common questions asked at airports these days including the most important one "Do you have anything to declare?" . With very little delay I had the students begin role playing the passenger/customs officer. As always the picture cards in this lesson are great to present real life travel situations. I was happy to see each student forming very creative questions to ask each other like "Why do you have a ______ in your bag?" , "Where did you buy it?" , "Do you always travel with a _______?" or "How much is it worth?"
The students role of the customs officer finished off well as they responded to the rest of the picture cards accurately during the cool off stage. They seemed to really enjoy themselves and comprehend the significance of this important part of traveling. I gave them today's C28 one point "I don't mind________" to round off this successful lesson.
1 comment:
Customs can be tricky..
Once a friend of mine was detained because she checked only the top and bottom check box on the delerations form when entering the US. She intended it to mean "no" on all questions in between as well but customs officers didn't see it that way and pulled her in for further questioning and baggage checks >,<
This lesson is a great oppourtunity to warn students about how serious security can be when traveling to a foreign country. Especially America.
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