Tips On The Challenges And Choices When Teaching English As A Foreign Language\; Beatles sites in the USA and UK

UK flag.

The words of many English language songs sound like nonsense, especially written by songwriters who are on ..., er, whatever.


Singapore flag.

I was teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese and other students in Singapore. I thought I would make homework more fun by allowing the pupils to transcribe the words of songs.

One girl brought in, 'We all live in a yellow submarine.'

Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.

She asked, 'What does this mean?'

I explained, 'Yellow is one of the colours of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Um, nobody uses indigo any more. It would be more useful to learn brown and black and grey.'

They looked at me suspiciously. 'Yellow - submarine?'

'A submarine is like a ship, but under water. In wartime they can hide.'

'So why is it yellow?'

'Um - has everybody translated submarine?'

They translated submarine into Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Hokkien.

'Please miss. Is this word likely to come up in our exams?'

Maybe not.

My postgraduate student in her twenties was interested. My other pupils regarded me warily as if I were some lunatic waiting to be certified.

I received puzzled looks and incredulity. I explained, brightly, 'It was written by one of the Beatles. What is your problem?'

A pupil responded suspiciously, 'I thought you told us the Beatles lived in Liverpool'.

Now, things are easier.

The internet answers every question.

The yellow submarine was apparently originally written as a nonsense children's song about colours, with bath time sounds. It was a huge hit.

Strawberry Fields Forever was about a place called Strawberry Fields in Liverpool, where you can follow a Beatles trail and see famous places such as the Cavern where the Beatles played.




The Beatles were as popular in the USA as they were in the UK. John Lennon was killed in the USA.


US flag.


A memorial to him is Strawberry Fields in Central Park.



Two other ideas for teachers:
Ask pupils to research tourist sites connected with famous singers or other characters.
Ask pupils to research making a national flag cake, and the terms using in cooking.
For a show and tell session:
Ask pupils to bring in records or books or other memorabiliia featuring their favourite singers and authors and other characters.
Ask pupils to bring in foods from the USA or UK and translate the ingredients (which are often listed in multi-languages on the packs.

Useful Websites
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-American-Flag-Cake
visittheusa.co.uk
visitbritain.com
visitengland.com
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Submarine_(song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Story
https://www.beatlesstory.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Field
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg

In London
https://www.getyourguide.com/london-l57/the-beatles-london-walking-tour-t23780/
https://www.getyourguide.com/london-l57/the-beatles-magical-history-tour-t30586/

To Liverpool from London
https://www.getyourguide.com/london-l57/liverpool-the-beatles-t2271/?partner=true

Website background Information
UK
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7458873/Strawberry-Fields-finally-opens-Beatles-fans-70-years-inspiring-John-Lennon.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed
USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Fields_(memorial)

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.