By Monika Salita
@monikasalita or About Monika

Teaching a multitude of English lessons every week can be anything from invigorating to exhausting. But if you see that students are hungry to learn, and you are eager to be creative and teach students in yet another exciting way, starting an English Club at your school or in your town may be a great idea.

Even though the new year has recently begun and some academic years may be nearly halfway complete, starting an English Club now can serve as a great way to create a structure, test ideas, and take care of problems before fully launching a club the following school year.

Some useful ideas and tips to consider regarding starting an English Club include the following:

• Structure meetings as 30-60 minute sessions, one time per week. This makes it easier for most people to absorb information without being overwhelmed, and won’t overload or bore interested members with too much information.
• Use the time to have a more focused discussion on a certain topic or area of interest.
• One idea: use Google Earth to discuss with members your home, historical sites or interesting attractions in your city. Or, use Google Earth to trek around the globe from the comfort of a classroom. Have each meeting focus on exploring a specific region or culture of the world.
• Create art projects, read comics or magazines, discuss Anglophone television shows and get to know where curiosities lie regarding a certain culture (such as fashion, foods, transportation, music, leisure activities and so on).
• Make the meetings worthwhile by having members suggest exciting topics to discuss in following weeks.

Success found at an English Club in a school, or serving city citizens, can serve as inspiration for achieving success for the other group (school children versus adult groups). If club members are very eager to learn, this could even blossom into finding English language conversation exchange buddies at a local cultural organization.

One more thing to consider; if you succeed in organizing, inspiring and leading members in a leisure time activity such as English Club, the enthusiasm could roll over into private tutoring students and extra income. Opportunity grows more opportunity. Discover what is out there.