[jellybeanenglisch]

My advanced conversation group (5 adults) voted to read and discuss short stories. Dear me. We listened to a story by Charles Dickens followed by a lenghty and tiring discussion mainly about sentence structures (yawn). Next up is a humorous short story by Wodehouse. I have no clue how to teach this, to start an interesting discussion. This is no literature class and I don´t want to dwell on text structure or vocabulary. I tried to come up with reading comprehension questions but can´t think of any and the internet doesn´t seem to help here. Ideas are appreciated.

[HUE]

Why Dickens and Wodehouse? I don't have anything against either author, but I would have chosen more modern short stories. In this respect, you can incorporate the culture and daily life discussions/nuance of an English-speaking country. News arrticles may not convey this point, so stories can be a benefit.

Of course you can discuss sentence structure, vocabulary, etc., but I would use the stories as a jumping off point to discuss relevant issues. Take a look at some syllabi for high school English courses, many of which often have handouts too.

Let me know what you think.

[jellybeanenglisch]

Hello HUE
thanks for your comments. The authors were chosen by the class.
We talked some about the life and the times of the authors and I found some reading comprehension questions on the net on one short story we read . That was the start of a lively discussion and so much more interesting than grammar/vocabulary. I´ll try to look for the syllabi you mentioned. Thanks again!