Summer study methods

[abcdefg]

Didn’t see this written up in one place as a separate topic, even though I’m sure many of you do something similar, so I thought I would post it here for discussion and as a reminder of something available here that might be helpful to others. Every year for the past four or five years, I’ve found it easy to find a summer teacher while living in China. Sometimes I hire a university student, but this time I found a local high school teacher.

University students and teachers get a long summer vacation and some seek jobs teaching Chinese. Generally costs about half what I would pay through a school and affords a great deal of flexibility. I don’t see it as a replacement for more formal classroom study, but it adds variety plus an extra dimension to learning the language and the culture.

This summer’s teacher teaches Chinese at a public Kunming senior middle school. She has been teaching four years. We meet three times a week for about 4 hours each time. We build the lesson around doing some activity or other, since that way it has a theme.

Yesterday, for example, we went to visit one of Kunming’s wholesale tea markets. We talked about it beforehand and I looked up some things I didn’t know concerning the issues of growing tea, selling tea, buying tea, brewing tea, and drinking tea. The whole broad subject is something I find interesting, and want to know more about.

As we walk along the streets or ride the bus, I jot down things she says in the course of our conversation. We periodically stop and review. She corrects the way I’ve written the characters in my small notebook and makes additions. I take snapshots as we go.

So yesterday I learned some new terms and concepts in tea shop number one. After a half hour or so there, sampling and bargaining for tea, we went outside, sat down and reviewed. Then I used those new ideas in visiting tea shop number two, and so on throughout the next couple hours.

At the end of the morning she quizzes me, corrects pronunciation and grammar. We usually do this over lunch. Sometimes we role play as well. Yesterday I took a turn at being the tea merchant and she pretended she was a picky customer.

Gratuitously learned some incidentals along the way having to do with muddy streets and water puddles since it has been raining here. Also learned the difference between 非买不可 and 可卖可不买 after looking at some tea ware and accessories.

When I get home, I put relevant new items into a flashcard program (I use ZDT for this – later transferring the “keepers” to Anki.) Massage them around several times in the course of the afternoon and evening. Then I write one or two small compositions about the subject that she will correct at the start of our next meeting. We added that wrinkle last week since my composition skills are weak. This helps with sentence structure and grammar.

Things like this informal summer program seem to me to be one of the important benefits of being “immersed” here in China. During other times in the year, I do more formal classroom study.

I wanted to highlight these special opportunities as a reminder to others who are living here and to solicit suggestions for variations on the theme that have worked well for you and might also work well for me.

[HedgePig]

Thanks for the Interesting write-up a-to-g.

What do you get out of this less formal teaching that you don't get from a classroom setting (especially a one-on-one setting) and vice versa?

[abcdefg]

The thing that is better in a one-to-one classroom setting is that we can use a whiteboard for writing and we can use reference materials, including books and the internet. Can also refer to a textbook for exercises to help things sink in better through repetition and hopefully stick longer.

The most attractive feature of doing it outdoors and on the go is that the project for that day is built around something I've been wanting to do and some things I've been itching to learn. It gratifies a more immediate desire for "organic" language and cultural expansion.

If I were to compare it to a standard classroom situation with one teacher and a dozen or more students, the advantage of this summer program is that it requires active learning and total participation. I could not just sit there like a lump and hope that knowledge would somehow passively seep into my brain.

Plus no doubt there are different individual learning styles. No surprise in that. If I were shy and preferred to learn by quietly reading a whole lot instead of by interacting with native speakers, this method would not suit me as well. I've always been sort of a "learning through doing" guy.

I realize this method of study is not a "total solution." In particular, I know I still need to read more in addition to whatever else I do. But sitting down with a Chinese book it is still like beating myself with a stick. I absolutely hate it; it is an onerous chore.

[li3wei1]

You just haven't found the right book yet.

[abcdefg]

#4 -- I am absolutely sure you are right.

Edit: At least I sincerely hope you are right.

[T-revor]

I believe that for all the books you study and all the podcasts and iPhone apps and classroom hours you spend your time on -- and I'm talking about the collective you-- there is nothing that replaces forcing your brain to talk one on one with someone in a context rich environment. Good to hear that you found a method that relies on simple human interaction. Beautiful.

[abcdefg]

context rich environment

That's an excellent term for it. I was groping for a descriptive phrase like that.

[HedgePig]

Thanks for the additional comments, abcdefg. I basically agree with T-revor's comment - but I hate initiating conversation with people I don't know. I think that the fact that my spoken Chinese is so weak is making progress in other areas more difficult for me.

[abcdefg]

@HedgePig --

but I hate initiating conversation with people I don't know.

That's where a paid teacher can help more than a casual friend or a stranger on the street. Having an official teacher provides a "safety zone" in which it's OK to make mistakes. A teacher won't ridicule you or just throw up her hands and turn away. Messing up doesn't feel as bad as it might otherwise.

Once I practice with my teacher and iron out the places where I said things wrong, then it's easier to try them out in real life. It gives a lot of positive feedback to see that what you say really "works," in the sense of being able to communicate.