Overseas War Epidemics | After work, I planted vegetables in my small yard
Author: Zhang Lei
The epidemic situation of New Coronary Pneumonia continues to spread all over the world. China Overseas Chinese Network (ID: qiaowangzhongguo) specially launched a series of manuscripts of "Overseas War Epidemic" to tell their stories of "War Epidemic". In this issue, Zhang Lei, who teaches at Bengue School in Laos, tells his story of the epidemic.
Teaching articles
Due to the impact of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, schools in Laos have been suspended. In order to allow students to continue learning during the epidemic, I tried to use WeChat for online teaching. However, teaching on WeChat network has great limitations. Taking into account objective factors such as the internet signal in Laos, I finally decided to use YouTube to record Chinese teaching videos.
Online teaching of Chinese culture courses. (Photo by author)
Before each lesson, I have to prepare for a long time, prepare interesting and teaching pictures and videos. Based on the students' thoughts and feedback, the students are very interested in the Chinese cultural part, especially the traditional Chinese hot pot.
Our classroom teaching facilities are usually limited in conditions, without multimedia teaching equipment, and many pictures and videos cannot be displayed, so it is difficult for students to feel Chinese culture intuitively. So I seized the opportunity of this online lecture and made full use of the advantages of the Internet to make the Chinese class more intuitive and vivid, and led my Lao students to a Chinese cultural journey.
Paper-cutting course sharing. (Photo by author)
After each Chinese culture course is shared, Chinese vocabulary and sentences will be explained and learned.
For example, in the paper-cutting class, we will cut some small animals. Because this year is the year of the rat, students tend to cut small mice. We will review the expressions of the Chinese zodiac signs and twelve animal Chinese vocabulary.
In the Chinese food sharing (hot pot) class, I will teach students to learn the Chinese vocabulary of bowls, plates, chopsticks and other tableware and the expression of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, and light Chinese vocabulary. After watching the teaching video, we will also conduct a scenario drill in the WeChat communication group.
Students are listening to my online class. (Photo by author)
Combining the teaching of culture and language classes, having contexts and situations is more conducive to students' understanding and learning of Chinese vocabulary and sentence parts. Incorporating Chinese vocabulary and sentence teaching into Chinese culture sharing classes, these vocabulary and sentence patterns become vivid and warm through vivid pictures and videos. To a certain extent, the slightly boring vocabulary lesson becomes vivid and interesting. Finally, it is summarized and reviewed to learn Chinese efficiently and interestingly.
Life articles
When I heard that Laos was going to close the country, and the epidemic continued to develop, I went to the vegetable market once a week to buy vegetables, fruits and other necessities instead of buying them every three weeks. In the rainy season in Laos, the weather is very hot. In April, the highest temperature for about a week in a row was about 40 ℃, and there were many storms caused by the tropical monsoon, resulting in hot and humid weather. The purchased vegetables and fruits cannot be preserved at all for a long time, either rot or the leaves lose their moisture and become yellow.
Chives grown in your own small vegetable garden. (Photo by author)
Therefore, in my spare time, I planted vegetables in the deserted small vegetable garden. I bought the seeds of leek roots and lettuce in the market. With the help of the Lao teachers, I fertilized and watered them every day to manage them, and eventually they grew up. Although it does not look as good as the products sold in the market, it is absolutely green and pollution-free. While satisfying three meals a day, this is also a good life experience.
Life in the epidemic still requires a sense of ritual, whether it is teaching work or daily life. We all need to be more patient.
To allow students to learn Chinese happily, it takes patience to try, analyze and summarize, and find teaching methods that suit the students, as is life. In short, it is an optimistic and positive attitude towards life. Live a bland life of anti-epidemic life full of poetry, and enjoy the process while capturing happy moments.