On second Friday and Saturday of December 2020, the Edison Branch of AYLUS, Victoria He, Caroun Feng, Xin Chen, Prince Hu and Angela Hu hosted their weekly English Zoom classes; however, on Saturday, they were also joined by students from China’s Sanya Foreign Language School Affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University. Saturday’s class was geared towards higher-level English speakers (middle-school level and up)––whereas Friday’s class was meant for elementary-school level kids––and branch members worked with those that joined the meeting to improve their pronunciation and increase their vocabulary. The branch members went over short stories with the group, and would stop every couple of sentences to discuss new words, how to pronounce them, and ask comprehension questions of the people in the meeting. The class went smoothly and the Edison branch was thrilled with the number of people participating, as kids often unmuted to repeat after branch members and ask questions. Afterwards, when discussing the meeting, the unanimous opinion among members was the the class was extremely fun to teach because of how engaged and eager to learn everyone was. These classes had been a passing idea for something to do during quarantine, but they have exceeded our expectations and it is a true thrill to see how big our classes have gotten. During this COVID-19 pandemic, in a time where everyone is feeling increasingly isolated and lethargic, these classes feel like something productive for members to look forward to––as well as being a good outlet for human connection and interaction. We also hope that this class is providing those same good feelings (and knowledge) to those that attend out meetings!
