Hi :)

I'm Beth, and as you can see, this is my first post. I'm 20 years old and I'm working as a Language Assistant in a Realschule in Germany. The ages of the students at this school range from about 10/11 up to 15/16. I've taught before, but only adults, in the ELT past of my degree.

Although I want to teach secondary aged children when I finish my degree, I find it much more difficult than teaching adults. The adults really want to be there, and are genuinely interested in learning English, whereas the pupils who are between about 13 and 16 really don't want to learn English, and are therefore reluctant to talk. It doesn't help that I have a County Durham accent, which although I slow it down, grade my language appropriately and even tone down my accent, the students still have difficulty understanding me.

Does anyone please have any suggestions for getting the students to talk? I know it's an age old question, and a common problem when teaching teenagers, but I'd be massively grateful for any help.

Thanks :)

Beth