So I went back and religiously watched all 6 videos of Diane Neubauer's YouTube videos teaching her own parents Mandarin. I figured the best way to start TPRS is to replicate down to a T what Diane did. I paused all her videos, practiced imitating her sounds, and made a similar PowerPoint.
- Xiang qu - want to go to
- Bu xiang qu - don't want to go to
I also like how Diane mishmashes Mandarin and English just for the first lesson. As Mandarin is a tonal language, this has been done with the purpose of limiting and getting students familiar with the tones, and new written form [pinyin].
So my first batch of kids:
That really sparked a funny side of me and I googled some images of Kermit the frog in prison! (Re: The Muppet Show).
*AH HAh* moment for the teacher!
The second batch of students:
When we got to the Cold Character Reading; students were still a bit sceptical but when they saw Kermit being hauled away by police, they cracked up and become far more involved with the story. They just loved how naughty it was and were like; "MISS! Can't believe you!"
As one of the brightest students was leaving, he combined his prior knowledge (goodbye teacher and thank you), he also said; wo xiang qu lockers! The beauty of thus however was his pronunciation was perfect compared to his goodbye! He had naturally acquired and problem solved how to attempt using this new sentence to apply to other things.
I am encouraged by the level of output from the students. I absolutely think this has potential. I am daunted by attempting to do this by myself as everyone recommends coaches, workshops and mentors but I think it could be transformative! I can imagine classes where students are using language creatively all the time! I am especially impressed by how it naturally draws out students problem solving skills, without the need to be explicitly be taught, somewhat like when a baby begins to speak.
Something I do worry is it is a pedagogy which is teacher driven, I need a good balance where students are also driving and thinking for themselves. However, a short 15 minute activity like this each lesson is incredibly powerful!
Also to note; most of my students are boys! Highly unusual and TPRS has greater potential in reaching these students.