1. What are your biggest challenges? Why are these the biggest challenges for you?
For elementary level and intermediate level teaching, the main challenges are: it is hard for students to have a clear idea about Chinese character’s structure because we do not have a lot of time learning strokes and radicals. For advanced level students, grammar becomes the most challenge part. When it goes to detailed and complicated sentence structure, the difference between Chinese and English grammar becomes very different. e.g. When you say “the car is really cool” we say “the car really cool”. For elementary or intermediate level students, the grammar mistake doesn’t effects the target learner’s understanding of the meaning. However, for advanced level students, speaking a short sentence correctly and express a complicated idea using a long sentence are expected, so grammar build is very important from the very beginner of a project’s design.
2. What software (if any) do you use to prepare for your lessons?
On online teaching session, I use compass based moodle system, just for uploading materials and create writing assignments for my students.
I recommend youdao online dictionary to my students; and I know Pleco is very popular among them.
3. What materials are lacking, outdated, or unsatisfactory? On what materials do you waste the most time preparing?
The Business Chinese textbook we are using now is super outdated. In most business occasions today, there is a set of global context and discourse used (sometimes even a combination of English and Chinese). Many of young employers had a study abroad experience, and companies start to change into a more international organization structure.
Project based task is the most time consuming thing. I prepared the most up-dated materials for my students, and design the project that share the same topic with their textbook, then planning them into a week’s project.
Dear Nora, this is just a very brave answer to your questions. If there is any specific project that I may help with, please do not hesitate to let me know.