YEL – Improving our English language practice …

… whilst engaging yoga in a mind body experience.
Monika Jochem is a creative English language teacher. Her approach is stretching our minds in the YOGA ENGLISH Language Group to refresh and activate our English language abilities by talking about topics connected to yoga. We will explore various aspects of our yoga practice, history and philosophy - reflecting on yoga´s influence in our cultures. The topic of each lesson will be chosen from these areas and we will develop specific subjects according to the abilities of the group and its dynamic.

What does that mean exactly?
Here is an example. We start off by talking about why we like or why we practise yoga and how that has improved our lives. When we notice that we can't remember the English words or phrases to describe our feelings or the body parts, we will practice together. Between our meetings preparation such as watching a documentation or reading a text or doing some research will be assigned. Worksheets will support our learning. When we gather at our meetings prepared - we will be more confident interacting with each other - benefiting the whole group. The major difference to other classes is that we won't get homework after having attended the classes but rather in between before we meet. Watching a film, reading a text, listening to podcasts for as many times as we need to learn and answer the questions on the worksheet will allow us to work at our own pace – using our time to review, to remember and to listen to important details. The individual process of preparing will be done to a certain extent solo but in class we will put our preparations into practice by learning together. Discussions focused on the monthly content will gradually stretch our minds through encompassing both Yoga and English.