Culture & lack

[teacherjoe]

That is a definite possibility. Still, they must go to class so if they can learn something (and enjoy doing so) their time will not be a total waste.

Perhaps I'm idealistic (or just very stubborn!) but I like to think that enjoying and learning go together.

[teacherjoe]

Do you have any paticular lessons that were super effective at breaking them out of their "I hate English" shells? An activity or game that really got them involved?

I found quite a few techniques that students enjoyed that also helped them to learn English. You can read my collection of Teach ESL articles at this page: Teach English. Those are, basically, the best of what I have to offer. There's not much more than that, but I found those to be very useful in many, or even most, situation.

Good luck.