On 1/11/21, the Syosset and Manhasset ALYUS branches held a joint Zoom session for Journey to the West Cultural Appreciation. The members who participated were Loretta Liu (1 hour) and Matthew Yang (1 hour) from the Manhasset branch, as Elise was not present. Members of the Syosset branch will be found on a separate post by the Syosset branch.
To start, we all waited until everyone was here. Once everyone was present, we would be split into breakout rooms where each group would work with students. Matthew and I were responsible for three students: Xu Xiaoling, Yu Fangwu, and Richard. We picked up the reading close to where they had left off from last time. The students would each read one paragraph where we, the tutors would help correct their pronunciation of a character or help them if they were having trouble. After a student finished reading a paragraph or a few short sentences, we would ask them to summarize what happened in the paragraph they read (preferably in Chinese) as a way to test their comprehension. Sometimes, I would talk about the story in English to better express what happened and summarize. When we discussed the story and what happened, we would sometimes make jokes to make the lesson more enjoyable and engaging, as well as provide a positive experience to the class.
During this session, I believe the class has improved from before. When we discussed and talked about the events that happen in The Journey to the West, everyone was able to speak in Chinese more and not everything was discussed in English. The students were participating and more engaged. However, I think we could’ve done more when it came to teaching the material or going over some information such as vocabulary. Hopefully, that is something we will improve on.
