Warm-up

Every session starts with a warm up. Conversation partners need to ease students into this the session by asking them questions they can quickly and easily answer. It gives the students confidence, establishes the target language as the norm, and sets the stage for the session.

 

Warm-up I (Persian)
Skilled conversation partners can take information revealed in the warm-up and integrate it into the lesson. Here the student mentions a “barbecue” and the conversation partner follows up.
Warm-up II (Arabic)

Here is an example of a warm-up in an elementary class.

Warm-up III (Swahili)

In this twist of the warm up, the conversation partner has the students ask questions of her.