Survival English
Survival English is a term we use to talk about the essential English someone needs to know in order to survive – live or work – in an English speaking environment.
Typical students of Survival English might be:
- Going to the USA on vacation
- Taking an English course where they will live for 3 months with a host family
- Going to a conference in the USA
- Attending a wedding in the USA
In fact, those students will be in an environment where they have to use English to perform basic functions like:
- Order a meal
- Give an address to a taxi driver
- Buy a bus or train ticket
- Asking for the bathroom
- Finding an address.and so on.
Most Survival English students are beginners. There’s no point in putting emphasis on grammar, students must become confident enough to use some simple phrases in order to be able to perform a specific task whether it is buying something at a store or asking a stranger the time.
There’s no point on spending time in a lesson on how to read a bus timetable if the students will stay the whole week in their hotel. No, far better to have a lesson about ordering room service! The students need to receive 100% practical information.
This should focus on Role plays which are incredibly useful resource in teaching Survival English. Scenarios like the following are very helpful:
- How to introduce themselves to each other
- How to ask for and give some personal information
- How to talk about the weather
- How to use a menu and order a meal
- How to explain that they have lost their hotel key
- How to congratulate the bride
- How to explain their job
This also helps recent arrivals in that English speaking country that need to learn essential English to deal with everyday life in the new country. Some examples are:
- Asking directions
- Identifying food in the supermarket
- Working with numbers and the local currency
- Going to the dentist/doctor
- Dealing with officials at city hall or post office, etc.
Finally, some material in survival skills may include some cultural tips. Depending on where they come from it might be important to explain highly practical differences between what they are used to and what they need to do now. This could be as simple as the rules on jaywalking or crossing the road; maybe the usual etiquette on arriving at a business meeting and so on.
