Naming Family Members (Novice)

Practice on Your Own

• Read any cultural information from your textbook about families and family life in the country/ies where the language is spoken. Do families tend to be large or small? Do several generations usually live together in one home? Is divorce common or uncommon? If your textbook does not have much information, you can search for more information online.
• Practice the words for immediate family members: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, etc. Are there different words used for these family members, such as “mother” vs. “mom”?
• Practice identifying your immediate family members and introducing them to others. How would you say, “This is my sister. Her name is ...”?
• Make a basic family tree that you can talk about in your conversation session. Feel free to make one up.

Practice in Conversation Session

• If possible, bring your family tree to your conversation session and share it with your conversation partner and fellow students. Point to each person and say their relation to you.
• If you have learned basic words to describe people, add them to your introductions (for example, “My brother is nice.”).
• With your conversation partner and fellow students, take turns pointing to each other’s family members and asking who they are.