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Some Frequently Asked Questions
Q: 'What can I put in a Parcel of English?'
There are many tasks in Cambridge English for Schools, Cambridge English
Worldwide and its versions which are suitable:
- the students' work from the Activity Units
- exercises and puzzles which they have written for the Exercise Box
- tests that students have written themselves
- students may like to include a video or audio cassette of their 'talents',
playing musical instruments, telling jokes, or talking about themselves
- information about their town, traditional recipes, photos of a local festival or
event.
Q: 'My class is very weak! I am embarrassed about quality of their work. What
can I do?'
The standard of students' work varies enormously for a wide variety of reasons:
some students start studying English at eight years old, some at 11 or 12 years old;
some students have two lessons a week, some have six or more lessons a week,
some students have extra English lessons after school etc. All these factors play a
role in the 'standard' of students' work in English.
For the Parcel of English, the standard of work is not the most important factor. For
students the excitement and benefit of the Parcel is having contact with another
school and learning about the way of life in another country. The students will be
sharing real communication by discovering the similarities and differences in their
lives, homes, hobbies and school.
Other ideas are:
- include a lot of real material from your town and school: maps, pictures,
timetables, postcards, sweets, cinema tickets, a local paper, a school
magazine.
- include students own drawings or favourite pictures from magazines
- persuade students to include work they enjoyed doing
Q: 'I think it will take a lot of time. How useful is it really?'
Much of the work that the students do in class can be included in the Parcel of
English without doing any extra work. The Parcel adds an extra dimension to your
course, the value of which is immense in terms of motivation, making English 'real',
developing cross-cultural awareness, fostering friendships etc.
Q: 'How often should I send it?'
This depends on how many lessons you have a week with your class. Let the
students decide what they would like to go in their parcel, who should arrange it,
what kind of work they want to put in and who is going to help with wrapping,
photocopying etc. You don't have to wait until you have received a Parcel before you
send your next one.
Q: 'What shall I do with my Parcel when it arrives?'
As soon as it arrives, please write and tell the teacher and class that sent it that you
have received it and say when, approximately, you will be sending your Parcel.
In class:
- to avoid disappointment and frustration open the Parcel before the lesson to
see if you need a tape recorder etc.
- it may be a good idea to divide the class into groups to look at one part of the
contents
- there may be puzzles and exercises the students want to try out.
Other Cambridge
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