Grammar through humour



"What we learn with pleasure, we never forget."


Dr Einstein and his driver.

Dr Albert Einstein's Chauffer

After having propounded the theory of relativity,

Albert Einstein

would tour the various Universities

in the United States,

delivering lectures wherever he went.

He was always accompanied by his faithful chauffer,

Harry,

who would attend each of these lectures

while seated in the back row!

One fine day,

after Einstein had finished a lecture

and was coming out of the auditorium into his vehicle,

Harry addresses him and says,

"Professor Einstein,

I've heard your lecture on relativity so many times,

that if I were ever given the opportunity,

I would be able to deliver it to perfection myself!"

"Very well,"

replied Einstein,

"I'm going to Dartmouth next week.

They don't know me there.

You can deliver the lecture as Einstein,

and I'll take your place as Harry!"

And so it went to be...

Harry delivered the lecture to perfection,

without a word out of place,

while Einstein sat in the back row playing

"Chauffer",

and enjoying a snooze for a change.

Just as Harry was descending from the podium,

however,

one of the research assistants intercepted him,

and began to ask him a question

on the theory of relativity....

one that involved a lot of complex calculations and equations.

Harry replied to the assistant

"the answer to this question is very simple!

In fact, it's so simple,

that I'm going to let my chauffer answer it!" *



The following were the objectives of the session:




~ to teach vocabulary highlighted in the text.

~ to introduce new sentence structures

~ to teach new grammar items such as conditionals

~ to teach conversational English

~ to develop students' speaking, listening and writing skills


~ to initiate interaction among students




Before the text

was presented to the students,

I narrated the anecdote to the students.

They enjoyed it.

Then a few volunteers played the role of Dr Einstein,

the chauffer and the Dean of the faculty

and enacted a role-play.

Then each student was given a photocopy

of the text and was asked to go through it.

They were asked to guess the meanings

of the highlighted words and phrases

and discuss the same with their partners.

After that,

I discussed the new vocabulary and grammar items

with the whole class.

It was quite an enjoyable experience

for me and to the students.

According to the feed back that


I received from them,

they all enjoyable the session.

They admitted that it improved their

creativity and helped them to be more productive.

The new way of teaching grammar demands

a lot from the English teacher.

They should play a radical role,




entirely different from a traditional teacher's role.

They should:

~ Assess the needs of the learner

~ Create a wonderful setting for

students to enjoy learning English

~ Amuse and entertain them

~ Capture students' imagination

~ Bring language alive by introducing humour

and using stories, jokes, etc.

~ Motivate them to learn and be productive

~ Develop their creativity and thinking abilities


~ Play a non-threatening role

~ Involve students in the learning process

~ Make the class interactive

~ Always get students'



feedback and modify their teaching methods

to suit the taste of the majority of students.

What impact did the new way of teaching

grammar have on students?

They started sending me jokes by email,

suggested materials that can be used in the English class.

Besides creating a healthy competition among students,

the session also developed a positive attitude


towards learning grammar in them.

A teacher of English who does not laugh


and allow their students to laugh in the English class

cannot be a successful teacher
of the language.