مجله اینترنتی نور

I say no. But… There is always a but.

While I don’t think you NEED to know the local language, and in many cases NOT knowing it helps (it pushes students to try harder to communicate in English only), it can be beneficial in come cases.

I remember teaching structure there is/there are to a group of 5–6 years old students in Indonesia. After about an hour, I realised that they understood it as there (place). I tried everything but eventually simply told them that it was the same as “ada” in Indonesian. They immediately got it and used correctly after that.

Having said that, even when I do speak local language, I never admit it to my students. I have seen teachers who did and the students immediately try to use it in class which undermines “English only” rule in the class. There are many ways to successfully teach English, even to absolute beginners, without knowing local language.