“We are made of such stuff / As Dreams are made of.”
It’s 400 years to the day since William Shakespeare died. 400 years later his plays are shown more than those of any other writer. 400 years later, children around the world still study his plays and poetry. How can this be and what are the benefits for students of studying Shakespeare on summer school?
The most important why students studying English as a foreign language should study Shakespeare is motivation. We don’t learn foreign languages because we want to learn a code. We learn foreign languages because we want to communicate, We want to share ideas. We want to understand the world better and we want to understand ourselves.
The reason that Shakespeare is still so popular now is that he tells us so much about ourselves and about the world. Romeo and Juliet tells us about love and discrimination. Macbeth tells us about ambition, guilt and power. A Midsummer Night’s Dream makes us question what is real, and what is not. Teenagers are people asking questions and seeking answers. That’s why, when they discover Shakespeare, they find a reason to speak, a reason to communicate.
When we guide our students through a Shakespeare play we take them on a journey. We guide the students and they make discoveries. Nothing in life is black or white and Shakespeare’s plays reflect this. First Shakespeare leads us to believe one thing. Then he leads us to believe the opposite. Very often, Shakespeare leads us to believe two opposite ideas at the same time. Searching for clues, finding evidence, making arguments: all this tests students’ thinking skills and improves their ability to create evidence based arguments.
Many people think that studying Shakespeare is difficult. In fact, this is not true. Students with A1 can start to study Shakespeare and, with the correct teaching methods, students with B2 can study a complete play very easily. When Shakespeare wrote he did not create stories just for the most educated people. He wrote for everybody. That is why, at the end of each speech, there is always a line that is very simple and contains the main idea. With a little work from us the audience, Shakespeare guides us to discover our own way through complex ideas.
At More Than English, what we love about teaching Shakespeare is watching students become more and more enthusiastic. On the first lesson they are a little bit nervous about the challenge they have taken on. However, very quickly, we see the magic of language take them over. The students debate, and discuss and write amazing essays. After a short while they completely enter the world of the play and we cannot stop them feeling the power of the story and discussing the ideas all of the time: including from the tops of mountains!
By the end of the programme, the students feel amazed by what they have achieved. They feel exhausted and exhilarated by the intensity of their discussions. They go back to their country knowing that there is no limit to what they can do with their English. Shakespeare gives our students knowledge of how the world works, better thinking skills, motivation, confidence and belief in themselves to do more. As Shakespeare said: “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
