End of Second Week of Teaching!

This has been a busy week for us in China. I have been teaching my class a lot of games that they can use to help their own students learn English and have more fun. One of the major concerns of the teachers who have come to learn from us is how they can inspire their students' interest in learning English. I have discovered that a lot of the games I use at summer camp and youth events are easily adaptable to help with learning English vocabulary and oral skills. Yesterday I led half the participants in a Pictionary competition and believe me, there was some serious competition! My hope is that these teachers can take these new games back to their schools, along with the stories we have shared about life in America, and make their English language classes more fun and engaging for their students. We are surely starting to have some fun in our classes here. I have been able to reach a level of comfort and friendship with my class in a relatively short time, mostly thanks to their abundant hospitality and eagerness to learn from us. Tomorrow we get to go visit the famous Tea Mountain of Ya'an where legend says the very first tea came from. Expect to see pictures of that trip posted soon!

p.s. The picture is of some of us hanging out at a tea house along the river learning Chinese card games from our new friends.