I'm just curious for those who have taught online, either as a professional teacher or community tutor - what has your experience been like? What was the most difficult or easy thing for you? How do you personally prepare lessons and what's it like working with the students?
My question is directed towards those mainly from mainland China. When you start learning English, do you think the fact that pinyin also uses the roman alphabet affects you learning English alphabet? Namely, does it affect pronunciation into a Chinglish pronunciation? Did it confuse you sometimes with "q", "x", "j", "r", "n", "z", "c"?
Yesterday I listened to a speech by a Chinese immigrant and he pronounced the English "n" like the Chinese "n". It seems he didn't learn properly how to pronounce the English "n" - maybe because of his reliance on Chinese. Some people think it's a good idea to rely on their native language and translate the sound into the foreign language as a way of "cheating" but I don't think it's good to rely on your native language because they are totally different sounds and different pronunciation. Meaning, it's not correct pronunciation. It hurts them in the long run because native speakers and speakers of other languages can't understand them.
I also know when young children here learn pinyin and English at the same time, they become very confused with "q", "x", "j", "r", "n", "z", "c".
Do you feel that learning from native speakers or native content such as movies, books, etc from that country are essential to becoming fluent in that language? Why? If you cannot get access to a native speaker, do you think native content is a good substitute?
I came upon an interesting piece about homework and schools. Some schools in the USA are considering banning homework. Kids say they are stressed out and families say they don't have enough time for family time, sports, and other activities and that kids should have a "work-life balance". In addition some parents are working late or don't speak English and it would be unfair for some students to have help and others not.
Others say it's a bad idea because homework teaches self-discipline and they will fall behind when they get to high school. They say lowering the bar for homework widens the gap even more for poor and rich kids.
I have to say that when I visited a middle school teacher a few years ago, she said the school system changed the grading policy. She said "now kids are so lazy because they don't have to do any work and parents disrespect teachers. If a student writes one sentence for their essay, we must give them 50% for making an effort." I was surprised. When I was in school, writing just one sentence for an essay will get you a zero.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/opinion/kralovec-ban-homework/
What do you think?
I'm just curious if any of you have learned Chinese to high proficiency/fluency? I know that's maybe a subjective word, but generally you have a good grasp and don't have problems interacting with natives, reading, speaking, listening and writing.
I'm just interested to know how your approach was to learning Chinese, what challenges you encountered and how you overcame them. And how long it took you to reach your current level.
Thanks!
I'm just curious to know what you look for in a language partner and if there are characteristics you would hope to find in an ideal language partner. Also, what could a language partner help provide that you haven't found in a classroom setting? Feel free to share your experience and thoughts.
Can anyone recommend their favorite film or cartoon to me? I have no background in French but want to try a new approach to learning a new language through cartoons/films first. Subtitles aren't necessary. I just want to find interesting content in French.
