Tuesday lunch

This time it is me. Shelley also uses this Blog and she gets a chance to say things about my class before I do. But don't worry! I'll repeat it. Today, instead of lunch, I was going to try to buy some software, very cheap, (if you know what I mean!). But two things prevented me from breaking the law. One: the place that sells the "stuff" was too far away for me to go and still be sure to get back for my next class. And two: since Wuhan is not tourist city, all of the application software tht I might have been able to buy for $2 has Chinese usage. I am sure that if I could find such a salesplace in Shanghai, I could get exactly what I wanted in English. Ah well! It is good to be honest!!

In today's class, I gave out many Sunday ad sections from the Jacksonville newspaper. I told each student that they had $3000 to spend. Each student had about 5 sections from the Mother's day and Father's day papers and had 5 minutes to pick what they would buy, write it down and add up the prices. Then, we switched ads so that they each had different ads for another 5 minutes. We switched 4 times. Then we discussed what each student bought.

The most purchased item was camera, then a computer. Surprisingly, 4 bought tents to be used on hikes. Only 3 spent all their money. One student bought a 2900 computer and then spent another 5000 that he didn't have. The lowest spender only spent 1200 which included a bsketfall system and a computer. Two students bought presents for their mothers and, this is most important, one bought a big present for his father. He is now my favorit student!!!!

Our articulation lesson reolved around the letters V and W, Not bad with the W but V is very hard. Chinese students have the most difficulty with letters involving the lower lip, like with a V or an F. It is a question of practice and I see lots of improvement in the short time that I am here.

We are still trying to have the students sing "Take me out to the ballgame" but there are many girls in my class. And they are very shy and quiet. Even with my hearing aids, it is sometimes extremely difficult the hear what they say and even more difficult because the pronuciation is garbled. Remember that while they read quite well and understand, they have had little practice in speaking so they often say the right words with the wrong accent and that becomes indecipherable. As an example, I was talking to a friend about food and he asked if I liked a "het pet" Only because we did eat a "HOT POT" in Beijing was I able to correct him and answer the question.

We finished our discussion of American holidays but still have difficulty getting the students to provide simple answers to the questions: What is the holiday about and why it is significant to America and what are its traditions. The good students do too much work and bring in 5 to 10 pages printed directly from Google. They want to read them all and give me every possible detail. I hate to stop them because they worked hard but I have to move long and hope that I do not insult them.

Today is another scorcher. One of the other teachers was sitting near me at lunch and he looked like someone spilled water all over him.

We are still waiting for word on what the University has planned for this coming weekend. It will probably be an overnight trip but we don't know to where. Most of us are hoping it is to the Three Gorges Dam.

Tonight I will go to the informal meeting at the "English Corner" just to continue to chat with Chinese students in English.

Catch you all later. It is great to see your comments. Love from Shelley and me, Burt