Chinglin Peer Tutoring Program July – August 2006 Jointly Organized by Fukien Middle School (North
Point)
See more pictures and update at: http://www.maplewood-edu.com/community/chinglin2006_details.htm I am so happy to have joined this program in this summer holiday. At first, I didn’t understand
what the tutors said, so I was not interested in this program. In my opinion,
it was only a waste of my time. Gradually, I got used to their accent
/pronunciation and I started to like this program. There were nine students in
our groups and we had two tutors, John and Calista. They are studying in an
international school, so they speak English very well. In class, they taught
us grammar, pronunciation, writing and reading. They also played English
games with us. Sometimes they chatted with us and told us something about
their life. John also lent some English books to us to increase our
vocabulary. After joining this program, I have learnt more about grammar,
pronunciation, writing and reading. I can also speak English more confidently
and practise listening more in English. This program is good for improving
our English. I enjoyed myself in this program. Many thanks to John and
Calista. (Charlene) In this program, I have learnt lots of interesting things and
words about animals, weather, countries and so on. My English has improved.
To me, three hours of the lesson a day was not too long as the program was
very good. The teachers are very friendly and cute. We are like friends and
they taught us very well. Sometimes we didn’t understand what they said and
they would communicate with us in Putonghua. I like them very much. So does
everyone, I believe. If I have a chance again, I hope they’ll help me with my
English. (Kelly) I come from the mainland. So my English is not good. But
I think I was lucky to have a good chance to learn English during the summer
holiday. I understood what the tutors said. I believe I have learnt some new words and improved my
listening skill. I remember we stayed together most of the time in school. I don’t
think I will forget the tutors. They are our friends. I like them and would
like to thank them again. (Susan) It is hard to think the three-week “Peer to Peer English Tutoring
Program” would be over soon. The lessons helped improve my English skills and
made me more confident to speak English. I usually memorize what the teachers
say in class, but I don’t know how to apply in real life. Since the tutors
are my age, I was not afraid to ask them questions and they also shared their
problems with us. All the classmates also find this program very useful. Not
only does it help us to broaden our minds, but it also provides us with a
chance to boost our confidence in speaking English and to get to know more
friends from abroad. Finally, I hope more student tutors from different
countries can join this program so that we have great fun interacting with
them and understanding their cultures. (Carrie) My English teacher told us about the “Chinglin Peer Tutoring
Program” two months ago and we read more information on it on the Internet.
Most of us were interested and joined it during the summer holiday. At first, I couldn’t understand what the tutors John and Calista
said. I thought listening presented the most difficult problem to me. The
frustrations and failure echoed so deeply in my mind. I guessed the other
classmates also had the same problem. Yet the tutors taught us how to improve
ourselves through trials and errors. Gradually, we started learning to listen
in English. They have become our friends. Furthermore, I like playing games
in this program. We could have a lot of fun and gain much knowledge from the
games in English. The lessons suddenly became more and more exciting. The program was great. Three weeks of study was too short for us,
yet precious and unforgettable. I will recommend it to my schoolmates next
summer. Many thanks to my English teacher as well as my tutors. (Bonny) In the program, the tutors
taught us a lot of words, played interesting games and provided us with a
chance to speak English. At the very beginning, I didn’t know what the tutors
said. But now I can understand at least 50% of it. I also knew more
information about other countries, animals, food and so on. I felt happy to
have attended this program. If I have a chance, I’ll join it again. (Sammy) I remember when Miss Chan told us about the program and
recommended it to us, at first, I didn’t want to join it. After
consideration, I asked some of my friends to join with me. In the first lesson, I met the tutors Francis and Byron. They
spoke so fast that I couldn’t follow. All of us remained shy in class. I
thought they were not good. In the two weeks’ time, we had changed our attitudes towards the
tutors. They taught us lots of new words and corrected our pronunciation. The
most unforgettable event was playing “a millionaire”. I can’t forget the day
on July 27. That day, we challenged other classes by inviting them to play
the game. At first, we led the game. But because of our wrong decision, we
finally got beaten. To conclude, the program met my expectations. I have learnt lots
of new words and things. Most importantly, the tutors helped me correct my pronunciation.
If the program is offered again next summer, I’ll ask my friends to join it.
If they don’t, I will definitely join it again. (So) During this summer holiday, we went back to school to attend an
English program. I joined it because I wanted to improve my English. The time
was short, but we had great fun. We played games, learnt new words and read
some articles. All these are useful to our English learning. The teachers
come from an international school. They taught us lots of new things. They
are very friendly. If I have a chance, I’ll join this program again next
summer holiday. (Leslie) I had taken lessons for three weeks during the summer holiday. I
find that my English has improved because of the tutors’ help. During these
days, tutors taught us how to analyse sentence structures and how to
pronounce correctly. They asked us to read words one by one so that they
could hear them clearly and point out our mistakes. At the same time, they
also gave us some practice exercises about grammar. If we didn’t know, they
explained to us patiently. Except for these, they also told us how to write.
They said, “If you want to improve your writing skills, you should do more
practice.” So they asked us to write more. When we finished, they often
checked it at once. It’s very kind of them. I want to thank them very much. (Ava) I joined this program because I wanted to improve my English. At
first, I couldn’t understand what the tutors said. But after several lessons,
I understood more easily. Most of the lessons were fun and helped to improve
my English. I think the program matched my expectations. I can pronounce more
clearly and listen more quickly than before. I hope more students can
participate in a similar program in the future. (Michael) I did not want to waste my time doing nothing at home during the
summer holiday, so I decided to take part in this English program. I wanted
to gain something I had never thought about before. I really got a lot of surprises. I appreciated the tutors so
much. I started to wonder why they could speak English in an excellent way
when they were the same age as I. I did want to do that as well as they. The
program matched my expectations overall, because I found too many things I
could not do well. It was full of challenge to me and it was beyond my
imagination. The program does make me think that more reading, listening and
speaking are the most important to enhance students’ English proficiency. I love to play games most of all for they were not boring. And
the games needed plenty of knowledge and wisdom. I was also particularly
impressed by the tutors who were so diligent. I respected their care so much.
To be honest, I can pronounce the alphabets from A to Z well. Of course, I
can’t still pronounce them perfectly now. I think it is difficult to improve
my English, but the tutors had never given up. I can hardly express my mixed
emotions and my thankfulness for their help. (Sam) It was an exciting summer holiday. I had to go back to school to
improve my oral English. At first, I thought it would be boring because I
didn’t think I could improve it in such a short time. But to my surprise, the
lessons weren’t boring. The tutors always played games with us in these three
weeks. It was wonderful. We could talk with some tutors who come from an
international school. They are friendly and speak English very well. When
playing games, we could learn something in English. (Wai
Wai / William) I think I have gained something from joining this program. At first, I joined it because I wanted to improve my oral
English. I expected to pronounce more clearly and learn more vocabulary. My two tutors are from different countries. One is from America;
the other comes from Canada. So their English is extremely good. They said
that reading English books is a good way to improve English. So we read an
English book by ourselves. It could improve our vocabulary and grammar. The tutors taught us pronunciation. It was difficult for me
because I couldn’t read with the correct pronunciation. However, after
several lessons, I thought my spoken English had gradually improved. The most
interesting event was playing games. It was great fun and helped to improve
my listening skill. I hope more schoolmates will be able to join this program next
summer holiday. (Martha) This summer, I had to go to school to join an English program. I
thought this program could help me improve my English and make new friends. After three weeks, the program matched my expectations. I am not
afraid of speaking English in front of others. What I like most was playing
games with the tutors. I will recommend this program to my schoolmates. I am sure they
will have a great time with the tutors. (Annie) Before I started this program, I hoped I could improve my
listening and speaking skills. Three weeks later, I find this can’t be
achieved because the tutors just spoke Cantonese / Putonghua with us. They
didn’t know what we liked most in class was to speak English. However, I
still learnt some grammar. It is very useful in writing and speaking. The
tutors worked hard and they wanted us to learn as much as possible. They are
friendly and make friends with us. The lessons were great fun; we still felt
very happy. After the program, I find learning English well is very
difficult, yet very challenging to me. I work hard and watch English TV
programs as recommended by John. (Man
Wai) This is a good try to let
young tutors help us with our English. They explained difficult words in
sentences easily. They are very nice and can speak English well. I think they
were our idols during these days. I really want to say thank-you to the
tutors. (Leo) I will be in F4 this year. I think I am very weak in speaking and
listening. I hoped I could improve these skills by joining this English
program. The tutors who are studying in an international school are
friendly. Because of their help, my listening and speaking skills have
improved gradually. During these days, the most memorable event was playing games as
I could learn English in an interesting way. Many thanks to the tutors. (Christine) I had joined this program for 20 days. The program matched my
expectations. My English has improved. It helps build up my confidence in
learning English. Most importantly, I can listen better than before. I like playing games with the tutors. We felt nervous and excited
while playing games, but we could also learn new words. (Michelle) I hoped to improve my English, so I joined this English program. I was very worried at first because my English teacher told me
that the tutors would chat with me all in English. When I met them for the
first time, I didn’t understand what they said. I thought it was too bad for
me. But the tutors are always very friendly to help me. Gradually, I came to
understand better. I felt very happy at that time. Thus I would like to thank
John and Calista. I will recommend this program to my schoolmates if it is
offered again next summer. (Hung
Hung) Read tutors'
essays and experience sharing. |