This video (4.5 minutes) records one of my classes of nursing students in Zhengzhou, Henan, China in 2010.
The secret key to teaching well is to learn from students, and odd as it seems, the students who learn best are nearly always those who are most eager to teach. Somehow, swapping ideas keeps the universe in balance. Nowhere is this more true than in language teaching and language learning. Human language that is worth knowing about is always an exchange. It can be so interesting. We all like to share fun, and nearly all of us hate being treated like zombies. When a teacher tells me she is bored with teaching, I know that she is a burden to her students and a fool to herself. Life is so short, and there are so many wonderful things to find out about. Since 1976, in seven countries and every imaginable kind of setting I have taught English language and linguistics, sometimes directly and sometimes to those learning to teach. That has been a privilege and a fascinating journey, by no means complete. I see myself as a wandering scholar, an ancient tradition that keeps one forever young.
My doctoral dissertation on language teaching productivity can be seen at http://thormay.net/lxesl/lxtangle_abstract.html.
Thor May,
thormay AT yahoo.com
Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
June 2010