19 March, 2017

I'm Going to be Famous!

...Nowhere outside China, probably, and "famous" may be stretching it, but, well...

Setting up the green screen

My first thought was of that kids' show "Blues Clues".

Or maybe like "Dora the Explorer" sans animation. 


 


A couple months ago, I was invited to be the "native speaker" for the online portal of a children's English curriculum here in China. Cool! Invited, by the publishing house. They have a series of books to teach young children the basics of English, and wanted to provide an interactive way for the kids to have a short lesson based on the book, right in their home.

We worked for over a month creating scripts to break down the first unit neatly into concise segments. The scripts had to be perfect, so they could be quickly modified for each successive unit. A couple weeks ago, we recorded a demo. 1 part curriculum, 1 part talking to the kids at home, 1 part talking with my hand-puppet sidekick. Blues Clues it ain't, but it's fun!

There are several series coming up they want me for. It's very exciting! Would I be willing to post audio files into a social media chat room for parents to learn how to help their children with English? You bet!

Would I also read some English storybooks for the publisher? Of course!

I am now a paid actor! (not that any of my American friends will see it, but still!)
My view from where I was sitting.

Woot-woot!

Children across China will be learning English from me... WITHOUT my teaching in a classroom! (I'm still teaching in classrooms for now, but I don't enjoy it and look forward to this better alternative.)

2 comments:

  1. This sounds very interesting. Enjoy your celebrity!! Why do you not enjoy teaching in the classroom??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Basically because children are monsters.
      I'm not trained as a teacher. I'm trained in English and Communications (business writing). I find it very difficult to control the classroom when the kids just want to talk in their own language to the student next to them.

      Delete

I enjoy a good debate. Feel free to shake things up. Tell me I'm wrong. Ask me why I have such a weird opinion. ...or, just laugh and tell how this relates to you and your life.