Grizzly Bear — What does THAT have to do with learning English??!!

by Jillian Zavitz

This past week my students have made references to grizzly bears on about 10 separate occasions. Now I’m not sure if it comes up because I am from Canada — and yes we do have grizzly bears here.. or if it is just  the random noun of the week. It got me thinking about how all classes start out differently (talking about the Russian Economy, Saudi buildings, Pallea (traditional Spanish food) or even the World Expo 2010), all at one point it comes back to grizzly bears.

Have you ever randomly talked about grizzly bears? Does it have something to do with Canada? Or are they really popular nowadays? I have IMDBed a movie a few times “Grizzly Man” and as obscure as it sounds — a lot of students have seen it and comment on it.

How are grizzly bears related to learning English? I am not entirely sure – but I am sure that it does foster a lot of discussion and thus facilitate English learning.