Out to the real world

• in different stores
• when talking to your professor
• in the library
• in the sauna (only in Finland)
• in the restaurant
• at the gym
• at the post office
• at the cash dispenser?

Practise in advance conversation in different places such as the grocery store, movie theatre, café and train.

Don’t forget to practise the pronunciation! As native speakers, you can model each other and point out which sounds need more concentration.

Record or videotape a couple of real situations where you use the language and analyse them together. You can think, for example, what kind of language was/is used in the situation, how the interaction worked, and what kind of strategies you can use when you don't understand. 

 

Below, you can find some other ideas for the meetings:

• Study in various places! You could go for example to grocery stores, flea markets, museums and clothing stores, and practice phrases and conversations that you need in those places.

• Figure out what your EOTO partner does on the Internet in their mother tongue. Which magazines do they read and what kind of music do they listen to in their mother tongue? Try to do the same!

• Find internet forums and chat rooms about topics that you are interested in. Read and answer the messages and pick up new vocabulary.

• Combine the language that you’re learning with your daily routines! While you brush your teeth or do the dishes, you might as well listen to the French online news from Africa! In addition to your regular morning paper, you could see how the world looks like from the point of view of Jornal do Brasil. You can also develop clear routines for daily studying. Review your material even for a few minutes every day and promise yourself to learn, for example, five new words every day.

• Use social media, e.g. different pictures, videos and written texts. You can also create content in the languages that you are learning: Write comments on Instagram and Facebook posts, participate in Jodel and Twitter threads, and create TikTok videos. 

• Go to parties and other student events together. Be sure to talk in your EOTO-languages even if people might speak some other language. Practice your speaking and listening by sharing small stories, e.g. jokes.

Case: How to combine cooking and learning languages?

Cooking or baking together creates a nice, informal atmosphere that can support language learning. Even before cooking, there already are many possibilities to put the language into practice. You can e.g. search and read recipes together, you can write a shopping list and buy the ingredients together. While cooking and eating, you can also talk about questions related to culture and customs. Below, you find some examples of these:

1. Example path (about 3-3,5 hours)

• 1. meeting: Talking about food (about 45-60 min.)
  • Discussing favourite foods, what you usually eat and cook or bake...
  • Searching for recipes and reading them together
  • Learning typical cooking instructions and other vocabulary
  • Homework: Reading the recipe and writing a shopping list

• 2. meeting: Buying the ingredients (30 min.)
  • Practicing food-related vocabulary, e.g. memorising names of different products
  • Practicing and using typical phrases at a store

• 3. meeting: Cooking or baking (1,5-2 hours)
  • Reading the recipe together
  • Cooking or baking and using the target language (instructions, ingredients)
  • Setting the table
  • Eating and talking about culture, customs etc.

• Talk about food, what you like and what you usually cook.
• Find recipes in the internet and read them together.
• Make a shopping list and go grocery shopping together.
• Speak the language you are learning while cooking. It is easier to understand the language when you can see at the same time what is happening.
• Having dinner together is a natural place for discussion – about food or other things.