Listening Cherry 31 – Thinking warm

One of the problems with our current approach to teaching listening is that we can overdo/dose on the preparatory and post-listening activities. And we thereby run the risk of stealing time away from direct encounters with the sound substance of speech which is contained in the recordings.

It is like spending most of the time of a swimming lesson outside the pool, having long preparation and post-swim  talks which deal with:

• Security of belongings
• Lifeguards and first aid
• Being safe – no jumping
• Following health procedures – foot bath, hair wash before entering the pool
• Warming up activities
• [Swim]
• Showering
• Drying
• Dressing
• Feedback
• Filling in evaluation forms for the pool administration

And rather than teaching them to swim, we give them things to think about while in the water which will make them good controllers of their own metabolism, as they move from the warmth of their clothes, to the cold of the pool, and back again.

Yes, it will feel cold, but how are you feeling at the moment in your everyday clothes? Warm, good. So while you are swimming, I want you to remember how you feel right now, in warm clothes. I want you to ‘think warm’ throughout the whole swim. You will feel a whole lot better about swimming when you think warm – you almost won’t notice the cold.

Image from here.