Let’s be honest, I have a lot of fun making tiktok videos, I teach, I sing, I act, I experiment… But that’s definitely not all!...
We closed our school because of the Covid19 pandemic on March 16th and I made my first TikTok video on March 20th 2020.
I was looking for a way of making videos to use in my online lessons…
Tik Tok has great features to make videos like a lot of stickers to illustrate, special effects, music… This platform convinced me at first sight.
A few of my videos had a pretty good success, one of them nearly had 500.000 views! Even though I became a “Dara Tik Tok” for a while, fame was not what I was looking for but I must admit it was rather a pleasant feeling to feel famous. In Phnom Penh, I have been recognized from Tit Tok a few times!
I use Tik Tok for 3 reasons:
1) to make nice short vids and use them during my online lessons with my students at Saint Francois Technical High School.
2) To make some teaching research, find new ways of helping students improve their English, get better at it.
3) The maximum 1-minute length perfectly fits the attention span of most people. Based on neuroscience, the Whole Brain Teaching, which is an innovative American methodology, states that an input shouldn’t last longer than 60 seconds.
I have decided to open different accounts in order to test specific ideas separately. Here are the links to these different accounts. I also explain what my different research goals are.
The general objective is, in all modesty, to improve the level of English in Cambodia. Cambodia is 94th / 100 in the 2019 English Proficiency Index. I would love to see this beautiful country drop under the 89th position within the next five years. Ambitious goal isn’t it?
Here are my tiktok accounts and their aims.
1) Conversation and General English:
https://www.tiktok.com/@teacherfred855?lang=en
This account is my first one. I am orientating it to be for general
English and conversations. There is a function on tiktok called “DUET”. You
record one part of a conversation and students can use the duet feature to
answer you. It’s a great way to have people talk knowing that speaking
confidence is a great issue in Cambodia. This duet system can be adapted in the
real classroom too which is interesting.
2) English for Tourism:
https://www.tiktok.com/@english4tourism?lang=en
On this Tiktok, dedicated to Hotels and Restaurants professionals and students, is a mix of technical skills and English skills.
3) Phonics Program:
https://www.tiktok.com/@teacherfred100?lang=en
The Phonic 4 Cambodia program covers all the sounds of English organized in a pretty effective and innovative way. It is based on the “Genki English Phonics Program”.
Each sound is studied separately and systematically blended with the previously learnt sounds. After the 5 first sounds students can read a short story using only the known sounds and sight words.
When the program will be covered by videos, we should have around 150 videos. This will be a comprehensive methodology allowing students to read perfectly in a few months only!
This program is about reading as a speaking activity, not as a reading comprehension activity. The learning-problem addressed here relates to the basis of the language. Recognizing a sounds and being able to write it down, or reading a sound and being able to speak it up mustn’t be overlooked! It must be taught systematically.
This tiktok channel and videos could well be one of the master keys to address the issues of the level of English in Cambodia.
4) Fun English with Mr. Carrot:
https://www.tiktok.com/@funenglishwithmrcarrot?lang=en
To learn a foreign language, the younger the better! This tiktok aims at unlocking the English potential in young Khmer students. Describing its aim may start with the name of the main character: Mr. Carrot. The word carrot in English and ការ៉ុត in Khmer are pretty similar… That is a confidence builder… “English is not that difficult after all…”
5) Français pour le Cambodge :
https://www.tiktok.com/@francaispourlecambodge?lang=en
An attempt to teach some French…
6) (not created yet)
Maybe the best?
Maybe the best development for the previous 5?
Kids 4/by kids… Cambodian Kids/Students teach English to Cambodians… They can do it; you can do it…
Students are taught English and they teach what they’ve learnt through tiktok.
Students who follow the program at home are encouraged to teach around them, siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors… We remember 90% of what we teach, teaching is therefore a great learning tool.
If we manage to direct the program in a way to get students become teachers everywhere in Cambodia, we might be able to see great improvement in the English proficiency in our country!
Any subject can be used: Food and Beverage technical aspects, Housekeeping, Agriculture, Conversation skits, hobbies…
Research based activities: if the topic is a technical skill, students will have to do a research on their subject matter in order to be able to present it in English.
Students use English; they have to know the English related to their topic, whatever it is. It is still possible to have Khmer translations live or written or the screen. It is also possible to have English translations of the spoken Khmer on the screen. BUT we must have some English preferably spoken but also written because the goal is to level up English proficiency in Cambodia.
These activities could be conducted at:
- Saint Francois technical High School
- Saint Francois primary school
- Saint Francois General High School
- Library of Happiness
Conclusion:
These tiktok accounts are only supports to display some research.
Nevertheless, the goal is to level up English proficiency in Cambodia. The audience we get will become an issue…
So… What will be next?
Tiktok professionally edited videos?
Youtube professionally edited videos?
TV program on CTN
Videos on the Ministry of Education website or Facebook account?
All of those?
Time will tell…
Here is a Youtube channel with some of the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChVZKJ5BsxO96eWoGjgf4gg/videos
