Gibberish is used to communicate
The mistake a lot of people make, is that gibberish is just a bunch of fun noise to be blathered and have some people make up what they can based on the attitude and gestures. Connecting their clever lines to some aspect of what the gibberish looked and sounded like. This is not the case.
Know what you are saying
The fun of Gibberish is that the audience knows basically what is being said and delights in having it corroborated by the players. This work does so many good things.
- Animates the Speaker
- Forces expressive intonation and expression
- Focuses the speaker on really communicating.
For me the gibberish games really underscore the importance of intonation and meaning in human communication. Playing these games reminds me that I communicate as much with my bodily movements and the tone and inflection of my voice then I do with the actual words I speak. I find these exercises great too, for practicing sounds toward developing a more authentic accent for character work. Thanks for another fabulous class!
Thanks for the comment Ashely! Gibberish is super helpful.
I just posted about this VERY game earlier today, Gary. Now I see this, so I’m going to link to it in my post. In that post, I discuss the concepts of intent and context when framing this very game. So glad I saw this today and watched your video!
Thanks David,
Gibberish is something I use to teach in all languages. It is universal and so helpful.
I’ve even used to help Toastmasters.
Hi Gary,
I wrote an email earlier asking for your advice. I wanted to let you know I am teaching junior high and high schoolers in underserved communities. I have a non profit. Just wanted to give you sone context.’
Again, thank you very much,
joe ps loved the gibberish
Joe,
Gibberish is great for fun communication between kid with different backgrounds, etc. I’ve even heard it can be used in ESL. I laughingly call it GSL: Gibberish as a second language.
I’m contemplating using this exercise in my justice theory/research/policy class to talk about meaning in subtext, and I’d love any thoughts you may have.
I have a student who uses it in his criminal justice classes at a university in Virginia. Meaning/subtext can be a heady idea and gibberish drives it home directly and with a lot of fun.
It’s always a good idea to practice it yourself. Gibberish is something you can continue to develop and quite a lot can be conveyed by experienced gibberish speakers.
I’m not sure how you’re using it in your class, but I’m always willing to talk.
Good luck.
Hello–
I am a pre-service middle school teacher. I am working on creating a lesson built around the relevance of gibberish translation in the context of Shakespeare’s work. I am student teaching at the moment, and I wondered if you had an tips for how I can best accommodate this in a seventh grade classroom? I could see students having a hard time coming up with sounds for gibberish. Of course, I will model this for them in a similar way that you have shown in the video, but is there an concrete suggestions you might have for a group of adolescents? Thanks in advance.
Hi Taylor,
There’s a fun way to enter into Gibberish. One was shown to me by Maryann Brandt. Have each player count 1-10 saying each number with inflection that mimics a conversation. Example. 1, 2….345? Answer. 6! 7, 8 9? Answer: 10! 12345. 678! 9 (sadly). Answer. (comforting) 10…
Have them play with gibberish making foreign language sounds. i.e., Swedish (a la the Swedish Chef on Sesame Street) or Japanese, Chinese, or a Star Wars language and then have gibberish arguments with each other. It’s a lot of fun.
Then begin Intro to Gibberish. Skill will be uneven but that is to be expected. Sing songs in Gibberish. A gibberish version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles or other familiar tune.
Make it fun. That’s the key.
Hey! I see Sam Longoria in the house!! We did theater together in Seattle for YEARS!