I listened to three swimming teachers in the pool at a condo.
Please don't accuse me or eavesdropping. You can hear the swimming teachers shouting instructions even from the 16th floor of our block. Every sound carried. the birds, the crickets, the tennis balls, the childen shrieking and squealing on the slides in the pool and the adjacent playground, despite the signs which include the instruction no noisy play.
Mostly the instructors are shouting instructions, and praise.
"One, two, three!"
"One more time!"
"Well done!"
However, I noticed some interesting new techniques.
One swimming instructor was showing a tiny child how to put ints head under water. The reminder from the instructor was, "Say Pizza. When you go underwater say Pea. When you come up open your mouth to breathe and say, 'Ah'. Pizz-ah. Pizz-ah. Pizzah."
I presume this was breast stroke. Not like I do it. Head up all the way.Head down and up.
I swam back. At the other side of the pool, another instructor was saying to a small child, "Put your ear on your arm. Like sleeping."
I thought, isn't that clever. They don't just show the child what to do. They use the right language to creat an image. To create repetition. So when the child is underwater or practising alone, the instruction is still repeating in their mind.
I could show somebody how to swim. But I would not have the patience to spend an hour doing the same thing over again. Nor the knowledge to watch for what they are doing wrong. Nor to know the right angle for the hands and feet and arms and limbs and body and head. Nor the right words to instruct. nor the right words to encourage.
You can hear the mothers trying to help the children practise. But in almost every case, the mother's voice does not have the authentic focus of the instructor's voice.
Too many distractions from both mother and child. The conversation quickly veers off into the child asking, "When can I have a drink and an ice cream." The mother replies, "We'll go and have tea shortly." The child, the mother, and I, have all lost interest in the swimming lesson.
But the instructor holds attention.
I watched a child swimming, what appeared to be breast stroke, but head up and down, 'pizza'. I asked my family, "Is that the same breast stroke that I am doing? I like to keep my head up, to see I am not swimming into anybody and aything, and not get wter in my eyes and nose and ears. What is the advantage of swimming with your head under water? Is it quicker or easier?"
My family answered, "Yes. You are nearer to the shape of a fish. Quicker. Less effort. With your head up, your chest is making a dam against the water."
So, now you know what a swimming teacher or instructor does to help. For the right age group.
Get the children into the right habits. Not a scientific explanation which you would give to an adult.
Just the right words. Repeated. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza.
Useful Websites On Swimming and Safety
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_stroke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emergency_telephone_numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_swimming
Author
Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting on zoom the first Wednesday of the month. But the other Wednesdays have workshops on app learncool.sg
For meetings learncool it is quicker to type and easier to remember:
Useful Websites On Speaking
translate.google.com
duolingo.com
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html
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