Fun with the YOUNG kids @ Bath Chinese School

Gosh....that was my first time teaching such a YOUNG group of kids - 4 to 5 years old! All the sudden, my 4-year language teaching experience seem useless when it comes to the littles. I spent hours imagining what it might be when teaching them. Could they understand me well? Shall I speak more English than Chinese since they are complete beginners or shall I just try to expose them to Chinese as much as possible. There is no definite answer because of too many variables! So I decided to do my best to bring more fun to the class even I reckon myself not that kind of "hilarious" teacher.

I left my house one hour earlier before the class, spent 15 mins on traffic, and another 45 mins on relocating and finding the school. Obviously, the GPS of my new mobile doesn't change a fact that I have a terrible sense of direction. Eventually, I was picked by one of the parents on the way to the primary....

I was received by very friendly teachers, Tao and Zheng, who have been helping the Mandarin teaching at school for a long while. Their hospitality really eased my nerves and many thanks to Ellen and Zhong tried to help me settle chairs, desks, and so on. As time passed by, more and more kids arrived.

1,2,3,4....there were 6 kids in my class that day. To begin the class, I introduced myself and ask them to remember my name. (okay, sort of forcing them to say "ttyyyy" whenever they hear I say" Beeeee") It is very important to get their attention if the class start losing control. Actually I was thinking of the chant "Do Re Mi", when I say "Do Re", the kids have to say "Mi". However, I didn't try eventually because I don't know if those kids would get my "Do Re Mi" or not (based on the English context). Maybe shall try next time to find out?

Cannot update the photos of kids without the approval of their parents, instead, here comes mine - SUPER BIG kid! :P

Mandarin Activity Day @ Hayesfield

Happily dressed in the Chinese traditional dress - 旗袍 qipao with my classic Asian "Victory" gesture. Yes, I'm ready for the activity day! Gonna do my best and hope for the best! Hopefully, my pupils would like the class I gonna share with them later...

We had 5 different activities going on that day - Mandarin Language, Calligraphy, Ta-Chi, Chinese Arts, and Cooking. I started with greeting and very short self-introduction in Chinese to demonstrate what pupils would have learned today. Then I repeated it again with hand gestures and asked pupils to guess what did say. During the language session, I also taught them to pronounce and recognize 4 tones right. Then it was ended with tongue twister and short greetings. At some point, I didn't completely finish my lesson because I was stopped to answer several questions. That brought me an idea that, I shall just prepare 35-min lesson for the 45-min session. Then I keep the other 10 min flexible to answer pupil's questions or to make a pause and check if they can understand me.

The calligraphy teacher, Xiaoye, and I just finished the sessions and had a cider together @ Green Park on our way to the town. We both got a bit tipsy and found it was not clever to have a cider in the late-afternoon time....especially when the tummy is empty :P