What worked well in this Event? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?
Very many students and professors came to this event, which made me very happy. Since I held this event on a weekend, accordingly many people had time to come, which I can also recommend. The only problem was that the purchased food and snacks were eaten relatively quickly. Some students unfortunately could not try German food, which is a pity. For the next event, which is held on a weekend, I would definitely buy enough food. In general, the interest in a brunch event was very high and especially the white sausages were very popular and therefore eaten very quickly. What I should have next time also on the screen that you need a lot of chairs and seating. Which one should organize in advance. In general, however, it was a very sound event, which was received with a lot of joy. Especially the fact that professors came to this event made me very happy.
Discuss the differences of celebrations among cultures in latin america and the US.
Describe a celebration that is relevant for them using frequency adverbs such as: generalmente, a menudo, la mayoría de las veces, casi nunca, siempre.
Class structure:
Warm up:
Students are asked to think about a good/funny/interesting/bad memory they had related to a holiday and share it to the class.
Activity:
The instructor shows some images/videos related to holidays that are celebrated in Chile (fiestas patrias, La tirana, Semana santa, minga etc) and then other celebrations of Latin America (Inti raymi, fiesta de las flores, carnaval de barranquilla, etc). Students see images of celebrations of other countries in Latin America and ask questions about what happens in each celebration.
Students are asked to talk about the most common holidays in their country, the differences between those and the ones that were shown to them and their favorite celebrities. They will do that in pairs or groups of three, and then share to the rest of the class.
¿Qué celebración es?: Each students is given 3 pieces of paper: an image, the description of a celebration and the name of one. Those pieces don’t match, so they have to go around walking in the room and they talk to their classmates to negotiate and exchange them, so as to match each image with the right name of celebration and its description. The only rule is that they can’t show the images or the descriptions, but they have to describe them with their own words.
Wrap up:
Students discuss whether holidays are important and whether there is something that they would change to any of the ones that they have talked about.
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
Conversations about this topic with this class were very reflexive and there was a lot to talk about. Since they come from different cultural backgrounds, there were many things that they did, others that they did differently and students were interested to know more about their classmates’ celebrations.
The matching images to celebration was a bit challenging but it helped students use their own words to describe celebration. They ended up learning a lot about traditions without being explicitly taught about them.
At the end of the class, there was a little bit of a not-planned debate on whether holidays were important, since one of the participants raised the point that even though it was nice to have them, we could still live without them. At first it was going great, but then the conversation got a little bit intense among them. It was time to go anyway, so I basically thanked them for their great opinions and finished the class.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed: 传统节日 Traditional Festivals
Goal of the class:
By the end of this class, students will learn more about Mid-Autumn Festival and the stories and legends of it. By the end of the class, they are expected to make a video to families and friends and send their best wishes to them.
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up: Labor Day
Where did you go? What did you do?
Do you know which Festival is coming soon in China?
When is Mid-Autumn Festival? & How do Chinese people celebrate it? – Top Activities & Traditions
Stories & Legends of Mid-Autumn Festival
嫦娥奔月 ‘Chang E Flying to the Moon’
玉兔捣药 Rabbit in the Moon
吴刚伐桂 Wu Gang Chops the Tree
朱元璋和月饼起义Zhu Yuanzhang and Moon Cake Uprising
What phrases do people usually use for this Festival?
Make a lantern!
Make a video to your family/friend and give him/her your best wishes on this festival.
写一段祝福，并录下来，发送给你的老师/朋友
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
PowerPoint slides
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Things that worked well:
The class went really well! Since I had some inventories(lanterns) from last semester’s study break, and I only got 2 students in this group, an idea popped up just before the class began: why not making lanterns, writing wishes on them & making videos to loved ones(families/friends)? So I added two slides of lantern-making traditions and did this activity in class. It went so well! I think my students love it!
The thing that did not work:
Actually everything worked really well. The students were not as shy as last week and I could see that they engaged more and more in this class. We had a conversation about their Labor Day break at the beginning of the class and they even started making jokes about each other. At the end of the class they asked me to airdrop them the videos and I think one student actually sent the video to her mom. Since I had the experience from last semester that the stories maybe too hard for them to understand, so instead of showing the videos on Youtube, I told the stories myself with easier sentences and phrases(+ an amount of body language). So I think they understood the cultural background and the stories really well.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I’d say nothing much. Just this class would probably only works for a small group of students. Any class with more than 5 may not work as well.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:客套和礼节 Courtesy & Manners
Goal of the class:
By the end of this class, students are expected to know more about the cultural differences between Asian countries and western countries, and be able to talk about their own experiences and act three scenarios with their partners in the class.
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up: A short review of the traditional festivals → Introduce the topic of Courtesy & Manners
Question: 在中国，过春节时人们一般会有哪些习俗呢？What traditions do Chinese people have for Spring Festival in China?
How about Christmas in your country? What do you say /do when accepting a present?
那在西方国家呢？比如圣诞节的时候，你会收到别人的礼物吗？你会说什么（怎样表示感谢）？
但你知道中国人在接受别人礼物时要怎样做吗？要说什么？Do you know what should Chinese people say/do when accepting a present from a family member/friend/colleague/teacher?(There are certain things that you should do and you shouldn’t.)
今天我们就一起来看一看。So today let’s have a look at them.
Presentation:
While watching the video about Chinese ways of being polite, think about the following questions:
你知道哪些中国人客套的方式？
① 接受赞美 How to accept a compliment?
② 吃饭结账 What do people usually do after a meal? Split the bill v.s. Pay the whole amount?
③ 和陌生人聊天 How to make a small talk with strangers?
④ 怎么说“不”How to say “no” in China?
⑤ 回别人微信时的注意事项 A kind reminder of replying to others’ on social media (How to use 嗯 &嗯嗯 & 嗯嗯嗯；How to use 哈 & 哈哈 & 哈哈哈）
Discuss about the questions in groups of 3 and discuss in the whole class
Activity 2:
小故事：文化差异 Act: Your own experiences of cultural difference & act three scenarios with your partners in the class.
Topic: 当你遇见了中国人——在中国 v.s. 在美国 In China v.s. In America(or your home country)
时间、地点、人物
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
PowerPoint slides (12 in total)
Handouts
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Things that worked well:
Students were really into the topic as well! Their performances were also really funny. Comparing with the intermediate group, they focus more on the level of social phenomenon. For example, a group of students acted a scene in hospital. An old woman had cancer. Her family members were there with her. Should the doctor tell her or not? In China, there is a high chance that the doctor and family members decide not to tell her, in order to let her have a happy rest of the days. But according to the students, in America, the doctor should tell her because it is her right to know about her health condition. It’s quite interesting to jump into this topic in the class and discover those different perspectives between cultures.
Also there is another thing worth mention. In warm-up session I did a short review of traditional festivals, and asked a question: What traditions do Chinese people have to celebrate Spring Festival?
[potential answers: dumplings & dinner & firework ……→ 红包！Red envelopes! ]It is super important to get THIS feedback(Red envelopes) from the student. I found a picture with a red envelope on it(a clue) and in both classes, my picture trick worked! So we switched the topic from Festivals to Courtesy & Manners smoothly by asking what should you do when accepting a present from someone? And then the class went really well.
Things that did not work:
This time the handout was pretty clear so no one had a problem with what they should do. However, there was a problem with time control. Since I had 3 groups of students, the class was more tight than yesterday’s intermediate group. Also after the 2nd group’s performance, we spent a few minutes on the doctor-patient topic. So after the 3rd group’s performance, we didn’t have much time for feedback and discussions. Next time I’ll probably shorten the 1st discussion session(after video watching discussion ), and pay more attention on time-control.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I feel that time management is really important in conversation classes. So next time I’ll pay more attention to it and try not to give too much feedback to one certain group, but to each and every group equally.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Time/step
Teacher focus
Student focus
PresentationWarm-up (10 mins)
A short review of the traditional festivals1)Question: 在中国，过春节时人们一般会有哪些习俗呢？What traditions do Chinese people have for Spring Festival in China? 吃饺子 & 年夜饭 & 放鞭炮 & 串门 & 打扫房间…………→ 红包！Red envelopes! 2)在西方国家呢？比如圣诞节的时候，你会收到别人的礼物吗？你会说什么（怎样表示感谢）？How about Christmas in your country? What do you say /do when accepting a present? 3)但你知道中国人在接受别人礼物时要怎样做吗？要说什么？Do you know what should Chinese people say/do when accepting a present from a family member/friend/colleague/teacher?(There are certain things that you should do and you shouldn’t.) 今天我们就一起来看一看。So today let’s have a look.
– Answer the questions
Presentation (8 mins)
1.While watching the video about Chinese ways of being polite, think about the following questions:你知道哪些中国人客套的方式？① 接受赞美 How to accept a compliment?② 吃饭结账 What do people usually do after a meal? Split the bill v.s. Pay the whole amount?③ 和陌生人聊天 How to make a small talk with strangers?④ 怎么说“不”How to say “no” in China?⑤ 回别人微信时的注意事项 A kind reminder of replying to others’ on social media (How to use 嗯 &嗯嗯 & 嗯嗯嗯；How to use 哈 & 哈哈 & 哈哈哈）https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ux411V7u5?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0
-Think about the questions given while watching the video- Be ready to answer questions and give their own opinions
Guided & Communicative practice (12 mins)
Discuss about the questions in groups of 3.Discuss in the whole class.In the mean time, I’ll type them on the slide.
– Answer the questions and give their own opinions
Communicative practice (25 mins)
小故事：文化差异 Act: Your own experiences of cultural difference & act three scenarios with your partners in the class.Topic: 当你遇见了中国人——在中国 v.s. 在美国 In China v.s. In America(or your home country)要求：①写出时间、地点、人物；②简历三个情景③和你的队友一起表演出来
– Prepare for the show;- Perform 3 scenarios with partners in the class
Summary (5 mins)
– Give Feedback – Have a look at the cultural differences mentioned in the performances together
