Fifth tutee session with TZ and YY, Friday March 21, 3:30-5:00pm
We meet at CIES lounge. I meet YY first and we talk about her plans after CIES. Her hope is that her husband and young daughter will visit and they will have a Florida tour, including a Disney vacation. This was a good topic to build on last weeks subjects, family and maps and directions, even useful phone apps. I also needed to encourage her to use more vocabulary in English and form questions properly. I did this by modeling interview questions as if I was planning the vacation with her, like a tour guide. "How old is the child?", "How long will you stay?", "What is your budget?", "Where would you like to visit?", "I can recommend…". I hope this will help her plan more effectively in the next few months. We will revisit this topic again.
When TZ joins us, we continue to talking about general considerations for traveling with young children. I have kids, but I am surprised TZ is knowledgeable and has some concerns. He mentions not to buy a lot of baby gear (stroller, etc.) in China, but to get them here where it is much cheaper. He thinks her plan to quickly visit five parks in a few days is "crazy", and they will all be very tired. This presents a difference of opinion that leads to YY working hard to find words in English and she resorts to asking him for Chinese translation (I lost my list, "on-site hotel", "car seat", "package discount" etc.). I totally agree with TZ. I ask her to try to find English words, because I understand her problem. We focus on what is good for the child: rest and time out of heat and sun, quality food, easy travel, safety and comfort for family. I have a Disney planning guide that I will bring later to help her. We can use this for reading and speaking practice, I think.
My students were very engaged and although they were using more Chinese together, it was to find and learn English travel related words that they will both use regularly.
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