communication

How do you communicate with someone that doesn't speak your language? How do you teach them the language? Today was all about figuring that out. We threw in some sign language, used common phrases such as hello, goodbye, Nadal and Federer. But the most efficient method of communication was body language. When a student hit a tennis ball really well over the net, there would be a thumbs up or a pat on the back. When they wanted to go swimming, you would start to do the breaststroke. And when you wanted to break the ice, you pushed them in the pool. It was definitely a fun day of getting to know the kids w/o speaking that much english towards one another. Even though some may not have learned english, at least we got some of their attention.