(1) Role plays: Stories from Morocco: You are making a movie similar to the Stories from Morocco and are interviewing your partner who is the protagonist (leading player) in your movie. Questions you can ask may include those in Activity 5 of the worksheet, but you can make up your own questions too. Pairs (2)
(2) Discussion: My ideal friend: Questions about friendship (pairs).
Replies
Men Yaqiong, why do you wait till the class nearly started before doing your comment?! Your comment can't be well-thought through if you have to rush like that. I hope you would plan better for your future comments.
Sorry that we didn't cover your two questions about friendship today. I think they are valid questions, but unfortunately your comment was too late for me to see your questions in time. But you can start your own discussion here in this group and maybe you can ask your class for the answers to those questions. You can make your topic, "More questions about the ideal Friendship"! ;-)
If I have a chance to directing a movie about learning English .While interview the protagonist ,I will ask some questions like"what is you purpose of learning English?”,"which part of English do you like best?"and''Do you agree that Chinese have more difficulties than Moroccans in learning english,and why?”(Morocco is a special place because of its diverse language environment .But in China ,all people only speak Chinese.I think its the difference between the two place.)
Friendship is one thing that worthing to cherish,as far as I am concerned, it is fortunate to have a heart-to-heart friend.And if you want people are friendly to you,you must be the same nice to him.I think good friends should not only help each other but also share happiness and sadness together.As a saying goes"A friend in need is a friend indeed.''
Of course it is easier to learn and speak English in Morocco which has a multi-lingual environment, Luo Yuanyuan! Because of China's isolation from the outside world for so long (till around 1980), the Chinese only speaks one language and that makes the learning environment for learning a second language very difficult. One can understand why the Chinese students find learning English so difficult.
Yes, that kind of friend is a friend indeed (the one who is also willing to help you when you are in need!). You also said one should be nice to another person if you want them to be friendly to you. Then you know the saying, "do unto others what you want them to do to you", or "don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you"!
Well,i have looked the tasks.As for me ,i think the second task,namely the discussion is very intersting.Without dout ,we all hope that my friends shoud have a sense of humor,be intelligent , well-educated and so on. In fact,our friends are more or less not ideal.We can't be ideal ,perfect person,so we shoud accept the imperfect thing of friends.It has been the Confucian philosophy to accommodate divergent views.sorry,i don't know if you can undstand me .
Thank you, Zhang Min, for the name change. It makes it so much easier for the teacher with only one Amy here! But if you still wanted an English name here on the website, of course you are welcome to change your name again (just tell me your new name, please!).
Yes, we are not perfect beings; so, how can we expect to have the ideal (perfect) friends? I think I can understand what you mean. I am just glad that I don't have to look at Confucius every time to determine what choices I should make and how I should live! We are all born with common sense and I think that alone can guide us well in life. :)
Wu Ting, I can tell you what most students would answer to your first question ... "no, I don't want to learn English"! My experience is that most students in China don't care about a second language. They only care about getting a job and money, and securing a boyfriend or girlfriend. Seldom one gets it that their ambition stretches further than that. Maybe you are aware of this. My question is: How does one motivate the Chinese students to understand the importance of learning a second language (which would obviously be English I guess, as English is the most spoken language in the world)? And then, how does one get them to start learning the language seriously?!
It is 'role' play, Zhang Tianjiao! My experience is that role plays are more fun ways to motivate students to practice their English. And it is much easier than doing individual speeches, specially when students have to present an oral for grading. Yes, I agree, a balanced friendship is important.