Straying from  well-trodden paths in our quest for spark, wit and energy.

 

In this article, we will turn to  the domain of history  and use it as a source of rich  “spice” teaching material. History is an inexhaustible source of stories of ingenuity, splendor, bravery and acts of avarice, vanity and treason which drove humanity into actions which have shaped our world to make it what we know of it today. Tales deriving from this area are reflections of human nature, another inexhaustible well of study. We teachers of English know of publishing companies which have produced simplified readers on themes inspired from mythology and history. A point in case is “Theseus and the Minotaur” (MM publications), “Orpheus descending”, “Perseus and Andromeda” (Express Publications). The fact that our students may know the basics of the story adds to the appeal of the endeavor since the storyline is not  too foreign to them and  so immersing in a “new version” of it in a second language is fun.