Most of the foreign English teachers at my school offer periodic "free talks" where students can come to our apartments and practice their English. Last year, I kept them pretty unstructured and ended up with lots of afternoons sitting around in a circle and me answering the same questions over and over: "Do you like Chinese food?" "Can you use chopsticks?" "How long will you stay in China?"
This year, tired of the same old free talks, I have offered "Fun Free Talks" instead. These are activities that the students sign up for that usually have some fun culture activity along with a chance to speak English.
A couple weeks ago, I had a free talk for juniors called "Dress-up Dinner." The girls were supposed to come in nice clothes, and then I provided cosmetics and hair supplies for them to get all gussied up. When I first showed them all the stuff, they had no clue what to do with it. Several of the girls had never worn make-up! I am no expert (didn't even own mascara until I was 23 years old), but I got them started and they took it from there:
Meanwhile, the other half of the group helped me prepare meatballs, mashed potatoes, and apple pie for our fancy dinner:
Then we turned on some classical music, lit a bunch of candles, and we were ready:
A fun free talk indeed.
This year, tired of the same old free talks, I have offered "Fun Free Talks" instead. These are activities that the students sign up for that usually have some fun culture activity along with a chance to speak English.
A couple weeks ago, I had a free talk for juniors called "Dress-up Dinner." The girls were supposed to come in nice clothes, and then I provided cosmetics and hair supplies for them to get all gussied up. When I first showed them all the stuff, they had no clue what to do with it. Several of the girls had never worn make-up! I am no expert (didn't even own mascara until I was 23 years old), but I got them started and they took it from there:
Meanwhile, the other half of the group helped me prepare meatballs, mashed potatoes, and apple pie for our fancy dinner:
Then we turned on some classical music, lit a bunch of candles, and we were ready:
A fun free talk indeed.
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