故事（二）
記得有一回我在和學生面試時，
講到價錢，學生開始面有難色
說“我覺得，你的價錢比別人高，但是我沒有上過你的課，
不知道你教學的風格好不好，我可以找便宜的老師”
我說：如果你對便宜的老師滿意，你就不會來找我了，不是嗎？
你就是還沒找到滿意的，才會一直面試老師，對吧？
他 ： wow~yeah... 可是，我們還沒有上課，你的風格我不了解。
我： 我剛才已經跟你解釋了，
1 我上課不喜歡說英文，只有中文！
除了面試時，你會看到我說英文，上課我幾乎不說英文，我不喜歡！
2. 另外，如果我發現你不夠認真，我會在一開始提醒你
但是，如果你還是一樣不復習，不認真，我就不會提醒了！
3. 學習要對自己負責，不能期待給了錢上課就一定中文會好！
每次上課一開始，我會口語考試，
問你之前上課的內容，來跟你對話，
藉由這個來判斷你吸收的狀況，給予你建議。
4. 有任何意見 問題，都可以告訴我，中文不會說，可以打電話馬上問我
不一定只有上課才可以問問題。
5. 我不說文法，中文的語法規則跟英文不同！
我會給你很多例子告訴你如何使用特定中文語法，
但是我不會跟你說過公式，公式只有我知道！
你的工作是要會”用“中文，會”說“中文，了解嗎？
他想了一下，說：
這樣好了， 你可不可以前面一個月算我便宜一點，
等我覺得OK了，我們再調高到你原來的價錢？可以嗎？
我心想（哇，這人還真不死心......）
但是我說：
恩.......我直接的這樣跟你說好了，
不管我有沒有給你便宜，你都還是會去面試別的老師！！
相信我，無論我給的價錢如何，你都會去試試看別的老師
如果你要便宜的老師，我可以介紹給你，
沒關係～我可以不教你，我還是會有別的學生！
你要便宜的老師嗎？我可以幫你打電話!!!
最後，
對方還是做了我的學生。
昨天我們上了第一堂課，
他還跟我分享他自己在我之後面試了其他中文老師的經驗！
很有趣，我對他說
便宜+有經驗+由教學熱忱的老師 很難找到！
這就是人生
trade off~~
2011年10月12日 星期三
To All Mandarin Teachers & MTs To Be 2
以下是我個人在教中文時
發生的故事分享給大家
（一）
我有一個美國學生，有一次他問我
“Katrina, 我的朋友在新竹也有學中文，他的老師比較便宜，
也有中文證照跟經驗，為設麼你開的價錢比較高？？"
我回答：你是在台灣的英文老師，對吧?"
學生： 對！
我：如果我今天想跟你學英文，一個小時給你350 or 400
你要教我英文嗎？
學生：Come on，I think u r wasting my time！！
我當下聽到這個回答，便看著學生，沉默不語.................
他馬上了解，如果他要求便宜的老師，他是在浪費我的時間
結果學生對我說：哦！我知道了.....
-------------
學生一定可以找到更便宜的老師
因為台灣人喜歡銷價競爭，
但是如果你覺得錢賺得不夠，
請問需要多少的教學熱忱來支持不平均的收入？？
一分錢，一分貨！！
發生的故事分享給大家
（一）
我有一個美國學生，有一次他問我
“Katrina, 我的朋友在新竹也有學中文，他的老師比較便宜，
也有中文證照跟經驗，為設麼你開的價錢比較高？？"
我回答：你是在台灣的英文老師，對吧?"
學生： 對！
我：如果我今天想跟你學英文，一個小時給你350 or 400
你要教我英文嗎？
學生：Come on，I think u r wasting my time！！
我當下聽到這個回答，便看著學生，沉默不語.................
他馬上了解，如果他要求便宜的老師，他是在浪費我的時間
結果學生對我說：哦！我知道了.....
-------------
學生一定可以找到更便宜的老師
因為台灣人喜歡銷價競爭，
但是如果你覺得錢賺得不夠，
請問需要多少的教學熱忱來支持不平均的收入？？
一分錢，一分貨！！
To All Mandarin Teachers & MTs To Be 1
As a MT in Tw, I've always been asked a very first questions by my MT coworkers.
剛開始教中文要收多少錢？
三百五十元一小時可以嗎？
四百五十元一小時會太多嗎？
My answer?
你會不會太便宜呀？？老師～～
我的問題是，即使沒有經驗
但是你至少考了華語實務教學證照啦！
有了證照為設麼還那麼沒有自信呢？！！
是覺得自己不夠好嗎？
但是你中文就算再差，也沒有外國人爛啊！
是覺得自己沒有經驗嗎？
就算是有經驗的老師，一開始也是從零開始呀！
覺得自己中文不夠水平嗎？
外國人教英文都沒有證照，他們還不是一樣教地很開心
你至少還有專業國際證照也，
說起來，已經有資格到海外教華文了
老師們，你到底在怕啥！！！？？？？
你們怕的東西，我個人都覺得不是問題
我怕的是，
你們仗著自己是Chinese native speakers
隨便呼蘭外國學生！
我拍的是，
你們對自己太沒有自信！！！！！！
-----------------------------
待續
剛開始教中文要收多少錢？
三百五十元一小時可以嗎？
四百五十元一小時會太多嗎？
My answer?
你會不會太便宜呀？？老師～～
我的問題是，即使沒有經驗
但是你至少考了華語實務教學證照啦！
有了證照為設麼還那麼沒有自信呢？！！
是覺得自己不夠好嗎？
但是你中文就算再差，也沒有外國人爛啊！
是覺得自己沒有經驗嗎？
就算是有經驗的老師，一開始也是從零開始呀！
覺得自己中文不夠水平嗎？
外國人教英文都沒有證照，他們還不是一樣教地很開心
你至少還有專業國際證照也，
說起來，已經有資格到海外教華文了
老師們，你到底在怕啥！！！？？？？
你們怕的東西，我個人都覺得不是問題
我怕的是，
你們仗著自己是Chinese native speakers
隨便呼蘭外國學生！
我拍的是，
你們對自己太沒有自信！！！！！！
-----------------------------
待續
2011年10月11日 星期二
My Updated Work Schedule!!! Oct.
I've been receiving some phonecalls and emails asking for Chinese lessons.
Some stick to the lesson all the way and working really hard.
But few just quit half way of learning.
That's why I keep changing my schedule.
Remember!! No pain, no gain!!!
This is also how people in TW learning English.
It's NEVER been easy to master a foreign language
And to be honest, if you don't work hard,
even GOD can't magic your Mandarin!!!
Jiayou everyone!!!!
Katrina
Some stick to the lesson all the way and working really hard.
But few just quit half way of learning.
That's why I keep changing my schedule.
Remember!! No pain, no gain!!!
This is also how people in TW learning English.
It's NEVER been easy to master a foreign language
And to be honest, if you don't work hard,
even GOD can't magic your Mandarin!!!
Jiayou everyone!!!!
Katrina
Mon. | Tue. | Wed. | Thur. | Fri. | Sat. | Sun. |
11:00- 12:30 Liam | 11:00 12:30pm Steven UK | 11:30- 12:30 Mike USA 5:00- 6:30 Joel | 12:10- 1:10 Ryan | 11:00 12:30pm Steven UK | 11:00 12:30 Mike German | |
Chinese Class Evening (公司 家教) & 法國人 JP | ||||||
5:00- 6:30 Joel | 4:30- 6:00 Wallance | |||||
7:30- 9:40pm wells | 7:30- 9:40pm wells | 7:30- 9:40pm wells | 7:30- 9:40pm wells |
2011年10月7日 星期五
Learning Mandarin is HARD??? 1
This is a little perspective from me of how I feel about learning
both languages-English and Chinese.
I've been teaching Mandarin for 2 years or so and i admit that Mandarin is
NOT easy at all especially when it comes to reading and writing.
Even as a native speaker of this crazy language, I still have a lot to learn about the language.
Tips for learning Mandarin:
1.
Learning Mandarin sometimes needs a little bit imagination~
You need to have a picture in mind when u speak.
Example: 房間飛進了一隻蒼蠅 (there's a fly flying into a room)
- in Chinese, you need to picture a room first, then a fly is flying into a room
it's not like in English structure : S + V + O
in some cases, Chinese is more graphical than English.
English structures and grammar is more mechanic to me.
2.
Learning Mandarin CAN'T rely on English!!!
English is a convenient international language,
It seems easier for beginners of Mandarin to step up the language at the beginning.
But as a Mandarin teacher, I strongly suggest people DO NOT rely on it, even from the beginning.
Why? Because when you get used to it, it's hard to quit!!!
For the first few lessons of your class,
you may find it easy to understand Chinese by translating in Eng.
But when the language gets harder and harder for your study, the translation will drive you CRAZY!!
Example:
How do you translate ”對不起“ for the following example?
他是個好老師，但是我不夠認真，
我”對不起“ 我的老師
If you rely on the literal translation, then your Mandarin will be screwed up!! trust me!!
At this stage of your lesson, you need tons of examples
for each new phrase you've learn and apply it in the conversation.
You don't need to really know what's the meaning in your mother tongue
as long as you know how to use it!!
Here is a perfect example of how we shouldn't learn Chinese by Eng. translation!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjDByp7GN0
To be continued......
( P.S: As a non English native speaker, I tried as much as i could to convey my ideas
and thoughts in English. If you can't understand what I said above, please tell me then I will fix it. )
both languages-English and Chinese.
I've been teaching Mandarin for 2 years or so and i admit that Mandarin is
NOT easy at all especially when it comes to reading and writing.
Even as a native speaker of this crazy language, I still have a lot to learn about the language.
Tips for learning Mandarin:
1.
Learning Mandarin sometimes needs a little bit imagination~
You need to have a picture in mind when u speak.
Example: 房間飛進了一隻蒼蠅 (there's a fly flying into a room)
- in Chinese, you need to picture a room first, then a fly is flying into a room
it's not like in English structure : S + V + O
in some cases, Chinese is more graphical than English.
English structures and grammar is more mechanic to me.
2.
Learning Mandarin CAN'T rely on English!!!
English is a convenient international language,
It seems easier for beginners of Mandarin to step up the language at the beginning.
But as a Mandarin teacher, I strongly suggest people DO NOT rely on it, even from the beginning.
Why? Because when you get used to it, it's hard to quit!!!
For the first few lessons of your class,
you may find it easy to understand Chinese by translating in Eng.
But when the language gets harder and harder for your study, the translation will drive you CRAZY!!
Example:
How do you translate ”對不起“ for the following example?
他是個好老師，但是我不夠認真，
我”對不起“ 我的老師
If you rely on the literal translation, then your Mandarin will be screwed up!! trust me!!
At this stage of your lesson, you need tons of examples
for each new phrase you've learn and apply it in the conversation.
You don't need to really know what's the meaning in your mother tongue
as long as you know how to use it!!
Here is a perfect example of how we shouldn't learn Chinese by Eng. translation!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjDByp7GN0
To be continued......
( P.S: As a non English native speaker, I tried as much as i could to convey my ideas
and thoughts in English. If you can't understand what I said above, please tell me then I will fix it. )
2011年10月5日 星期三
New Oct. Schedule
Mon. | Tue. | Wed. | Thur. | Fri. | Sat. | Sun. |
11:00 12:30pm | 5:00- 6:30 | 11:30- 12:30 | 11:00 12:30pm | 10:30- 12:00pm | ||
11:00 12:30 pm | school STUDY!! J | free | ||||
5:00- 6:30 | 4:30- 6:00 | |||||
7:30- 9:40pm | 7:30- 9:40pm | |||||
7:30- 9:40pm | 7:30- 9:40pm |
New Oct. Schedule~
2011年10月4日 星期二
3 Ways to Learn Chinese Better and Faster
3 Ways to Learn Chinese Better and Faster
Learning Chinese isn’t easy, or is it?
No matter how long you’ve studied Chinese, there are efficient and not so efficient ways of tackling the language. Since you are already on such a tough journey, why not take the path with the biggest pot of gold at the end?
Some things are much more important to focus on than others when learning Chinese for use in the real world. Why? Because they are help make learning Chinese faster and more efficient, at least in the long run. Let’s take a look:
It is easier for a Chinese learner to guess what you are saying than a Chinese person
To a beginner or even intermediate learner of Chinese, tones seem less important than they actually are. We figure, “if I get everything else right but the tones wrong, Chinese people will understand what I am saying”. If this is what you think, though, you are wrong.
To the typical Chinese person, tones are a more fundamental part of language than non-tonal phonemic elements (sounds). Chinese people often understand each other perfectly well even when the non-tonal sounds are wrong but the tones are right. The opposite is not true. Making significant mistakes with tones totally throws off most Chinese people.
This is hard for a speaker of a non-tonal language to really understand. But it’s true. If you want to learn Chinese well, you must focus on tones – whether you are learning Mandarin, Cantonese, or any of the hundreds (thousands?) of ‘dialects’ (other languages) in China.
This is something that I am not too good at – I rarely learn individual characters, preferring to learn words instead. Yet experience has shown that if you want to learn written Chinese well, focusing more on learning characters individually is the best way to go.
And to those who believe that it is more efficient to only study speaking and listening to improve your spoken Chinese – you are right, in the short run. In the long run your speaking ability will trail far behind those who started on the path of becoming literate in Chinese.
Unlike English (which, thanks largely to its many permutations and non-native speakers, can usually be understood no matter how badly one messes up sentence order & grammar), Chinese is a language where sentence order, just like tones, must be correct to be quickly and easily understood. The fact is, most speakers of Chinese are Chinese, and so they are used to hearing people who have spoken Chinese since they were little speak Chinese =) Two things that almost all Chinese people get right most of the time when speaking Chinese are tones and sentence order.
So when you mix up the sentence order (usually by putting time in the wrong place), Chinese people get confused. Try not to do this. Chinese grammar is quite simple overall. But it’s not very flexible, especially when it comes to sentence order.
from http://www.thechinaexpat.com/3-ways-to-learn-chinese-better-and-faster/
From Katrina~
( I don't think it's my place to give suggestions about how to learn Mandarin well as a native speaker of this crazy language. For those who are interested in learning Mandarin can take a look at it, see people from different perspectives sharing how to learn Chinese well. )
Learning Chinese isn’t easy, or is it?
No matter how long you’ve studied Chinese, there are efficient and not so efficient ways of tackling the language. Since you are already on such a tough journey, why not take the path with the biggest pot of gold at the end?
Some things are much more important to focus on than others when learning Chinese for use in the real world. Why? Because they are help make learning Chinese faster and more efficient, at least in the long run. Let’s take a look:
3 Things you must focus on to get better in Chinese
- Tones
- Individual Characters
- Sentence Order
1. Tones
Learning tones well is the key to speaking any dialect of Chinese, and Mandarin is no exception. Drill them into your head. When you are unsure or have temporarily forgotten of how to produce certain tones, practice until you have gotten them right again. Whenever you learn a new word or character, make sure you know the tones that go with it. Relentlessly learn the tones for all new Chinese words and all the tones for old words that you have forgotten.It is easier for a Chinese learner to guess what you are saying than a Chinese person
To a beginner or even intermediate learner of Chinese, tones seem less important than they actually are. We figure, “if I get everything else right but the tones wrong, Chinese people will understand what I am saying”. If this is what you think, though, you are wrong.
To the typical Chinese person, tones are a more fundamental part of language than non-tonal phonemic elements (sounds). Chinese people often understand each other perfectly well even when the non-tonal sounds are wrong but the tones are right. The opposite is not true. Making significant mistakes with tones totally throws off most Chinese people.
This is hard for a speaker of a non-tonal language to really understand. But it’s true. If you want to learn Chinese well, you must focus on tones – whether you are learning Mandarin, Cantonese, or any of the hundreds (thousands?) of ‘dialects’ (other languages) in China.
2. Individual Characters
Is it better for you to learn (including their multiple possible meanings and sometimes pronunciations) individual characters than vocabulary? While in the short run, learning words (most words in Chinese are of the two character variety) will speed up your Chinese learning, in the long run, knowing cold the 3000 or so most commonly used characters will allow you to learn new vocabulary at a much faster rate – and you can often guess the meaning of new words instead of looking them up in the dictionary when you already know the various meanings of the individual component characters.This is something that I am not too good at – I rarely learn individual characters, preferring to learn words instead. Yet experience has shown that if you want to learn written Chinese well, focusing more on learning characters individually is the best way to go.
And to those who believe that it is more efficient to only study speaking and listening to improve your spoken Chinese – you are right, in the short run. In the long run your speaking ability will trail far behind those who started on the path of becoming literate in Chinese.
3. Sentence Order
The last thing to focus on when learning Chinese is the easiest to get right initially, but perhaps one of the hardest to keep straight in your head.Unlike English (which, thanks largely to its many permutations and non-native speakers, can usually be understood no matter how badly one messes up sentence order & grammar), Chinese is a language where sentence order, just like tones, must be correct to be quickly and easily understood. The fact is, most speakers of Chinese are Chinese, and so they are used to hearing people who have spoken Chinese since they were little speak Chinese =) Two things that almost all Chinese people get right most of the time when speaking Chinese are tones and sentence order.
So when you mix up the sentence order (usually by putting time in the wrong place), Chinese people get confused. Try not to do this. Chinese grammar is quite simple overall. But it’s not very flexible, especially when it comes to sentence order.
What do you think?
from http://www.thechinaexpat.com/3-ways-to-learn-chinese-better-and-faster/
From Katrina~
( I don't think it's my place to give suggestions about how to learn Mandarin well as a native speaker of this crazy language. For those who are interested in learning Mandarin can take a look at it, see people from different perspectives sharing how to learn Chinese well. )
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