Simply The Story for ESL


Since we moved to this rather big city, I have been teaching ESL [English as a Second Language] to gals from Egypt, Syria, Yemen, etc. who barely speak any English; therefore I have not been able to use my Storytelling skills. But recently I substituted in the advanced class (who are fluent in English!).



I shared about King Solomon, who settled a dispute between two prostitutes who both had given birth to babies, but one of the babies died. Both women claimed to be the mother of the living child. The king asked for a sword to cut the live baby in half and give one half to each woman (1 Kings 3:16).



Anyway, after telling the story, I was so surprised how enthusiastically the class responded. They recalled many of the details. They participated in sharing observations, they split up in groups to repeat the story to each other, then we had four women volunteers to repeat the entire story in front of class.

There was so much interaction and involvement, that by the time we ended, the story was told eight times! I imagine, afterward they shared with their families or friends! There were 20 ladies, and about half are Muslim. The ladies loved the class. It truly was a home run! But now they think I am a great teacher (which I am not). And they put me on the schedule for the advanced class. I told them, “As long as I can tell stories ... I will do it.” They happily agreed!


Now, I am starting to work on some of my old stories we had practiced in the past training sessions.

STS has truly been resurrected in my life and I am so excited about it.