The Duo truly made significant progress in
terms of English communicative skills with many international video conferencing calls in the past
school year.
Impressed Again
Once again, the
duo showed their fluency and quick responses during today's session. It's
already three weeks since the last one, but they quickly, compared to students
in regular classes, showcased how advanced they are. Throughout the whole
forty-minute call, there were few pauses and no awkward silence. On top of
that, they were willing to talk around words or expressions they didn't know,
which is key to carrying on a conversation.
A Bumpy Start
Looking back on
this long journey, I am happy for their improvement. When I first met the Duo,
I soon realized they had a big vocabulary and only took a little time to prepare
for any written tests to get good grades. However, when it came to speaking,
they were slow, shy, and not confident at all, especially in my International
Cultural Exchange class.
To make matters
worse, I had to scrap the using English as a medium of instruction halfway
through the first semester. I asked questions in English, but they would
respond in Chinese because they got stuck in finding the words and expressions
from time to time. They cared too much
about making mistakes and what others would think of them during Skype sessions
with students outside of Taiwan.
A New Chapter Begins
Other than
visiting Daegu and then forming a sister school partnership, the best thing
that happened last year was to invite Jessica, a Canadian AIESEC volunteer, to
come over for three school visits. Many students here loved her sharing and
were so motivated to interact and practice speaking English with her. The Duo
and I were so lucky to extend this enjoyable learning experience and had plenty
of opportunities to have Skype sessions with her even after she went back to
Canada.
The Duo's
incredible English proficiency allows me to spend just a little time on
textbook English. I began using more and more English in class with them,
including outside reading and speaking materials. Moreover, I was able to
conduct those classes using EMI again because they would participate in our
discussion in English, too. Then again, I cannot thank Jessica enough for
making time with video calls with the Duo and Alex's Fantastic Four. An
authentic English environment would only be a click away.
Counting Down
With the Duo's
graduation drawing near, I already began reminiscing about all the good old
things we've been through, including winning second place in the Taichung
Junior High English Speech Contest and third place in the English Composition
Contest, and creating the VR campus English
guide, to name just a few.
Let’s Make It Happen
I just learned there
would be an iEARN English presentation contest,
featuring Project-based Learning and International Education, on May 25. It
requires both the teacher and the students' collaborative efforts to present for
six minutes, along with a two-minute Q and A session in English. When I showed
them the introduction to the contest, to my surprise, they immediately showed
interest. I didn't expect it would be so easy to talk them into signing up for
the competition with me.
What else can
better top this epic journey with this English presentation contest?
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