Thursday, January 8, 2009

This week, I have reunited with old friends I met last year and have made many friends new friends. All of these friendships have one thing in common: although I will never see many of them again, they have left their lasting impressions on me. I will remember them and our usually simple conversations forever.

Teaching English language classes to Chinese college students, although very rewarding, is not an easy task—it is taken very seriously. You learn to appreciate the students’ eagerness to learn English. It’s also very entertaining; especially when humor breaks the seriousness of intense conversations over the distinct pronunciations of ‘smell’ and ‘smile’ or other like words.

Yesterday we had to prepare short skits in English with our students in groups of five to six. After a few minutes of discussion in my group, we decided our skit would be based off of “American Idol”—an unoriginal idea, but a great way for the students to practice their English language skills.

We had the students choose the songs they wanted to sing, keeping in mind that they were to perform these in front of an audience of fifty. Evan wanted to sing “Hey Jude” by The Beatles; Zach wanted to sing the Cops’ Theme Song “Bad Boys”; and Catherine and Janet decided to sing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”—American classics, at least, in the eyes of young Chinese college students.

Learning and teaching English classes can be extremely intense. That’s why when you have students who unintentionally make you laugh really hard by the songs they choose to perform, it’s a relieving break.

Respectfully submitted by Jake Stortini