One of the less well known aspects of the work of Caleb Gattegno is his instructions to try to create an "explosion of language." He often referred to this principle in Silent Way workshops when people would complain that since there was no textbook or teacher’s manual, they didn’t know what to do next. He would answer that you look for the one new item, or perhaps two, that will allow the students to create an "explosion of language." I have found this to be an extremely helpful idea, especially in beginning ESL classes, even when I’m using books or methods that have nothing to do with the Silent Way.

How does this work in practice? As in most beginner classes, we usually begin with "My name is _____" and "I am from _____." But what comes next?

The two next items that will permit this explosion to occur are "and" and "but." Simply by introducing these, and perhaps "too," the teacher gives the students the opportunity to double the length of the utterance, "I’m from Saudi Arabia and he is too," or "I’m from Saudi Arabia, but he’s from Spain." In some textbooks these are the next two items, but in some they are not.

Thus, it may be up to the teacher to decide what should come next. In a recent example of applying this principle, I decided to take my beginners from Chapter 2 to Chapter 9 in our text. We had been working on simple sentences with adjectives, such as "He is tall" or "This city is cold." I decided to go directly to comparisons. With the addition of only the "er" or "more" and the "than," I got more of an explosion than I bargained for. They were soon comparing things in St. Louis to those in their hometowns as well as in each others’ towns. Thus, they were having real, meaningful conversations quite early. Generally such things as comparing the food, the weather, and the people are the matters that initially concern them the most. Thus, they felt that they were learning something extremely useful and making progress while they became better acquainted with their classmates.