An essay by Susan

I believe that Free Talk keeps improving me

Susan Li Pingchang

Four years ago, when I found there was an optional part in the camp called Free Talk, I had no idea what it would be like. Then I had a whim to try it.

I found that though it is called “free talk”, I was actually not feeling “free” at the very beginning. Usually there were quite a few new words in each essay. After I looked them all up in the dictionary, what I usually did was to translate the essay into Chinese literally, which, because of the different culture, most of the time, didn’t make sense at all. At that moment, I would feel like I was in a tough situation without knowing what to do. Worse than that, when the foreign trainers were giving their opinions on some points of the essay, I sometimes ended up not being able to follow. That would make me very nervous. And the more I was nervous, the blanker my mind would be. When Jeff raised a follow-up question, no Chinese teacher volunteered to answer it. My heart would keep pounding, because I was afraid I would be called to give my opinion.

So did I learn anything from the free talk? Yes, I did! First, my vocabulary is getting larger and larger, and my listening is improving. I believe if I keep participating I will learn more. I believe free talk keeps me improving my English.

As time goes by, with the accumulating vocabulary, we talk more and more, deeper and deeper in both the camp free talk and Jana’s free talk. We sometimes get into heated discussions. We sometimes turn to related, interesting topics. We sometimes share our own experiences. I begin to raise my own questions or give my opinions. I am happy I can learn something valuable or special from each free talk. And I think my English is getting more and more fluent. I am not nervous any more. It is more like a free talk now. I believe free talk not only keeps me improving my English but also builds up my self-confidence.

In Jana’s free talk, beside the essay, I also learn a lot of teaching activities and I learn more about western festivals. She is so nice to share with us some good books and movies that are very instructive and very inspiring. I like them and I have to say they help me a lot in my academic teaching. So I believe that free talk not only builds up my self-confidence but also makes me a better teacher.

Back home, I have informal free talk with Mary Ellen, Terry and Janessa. I am learning more about the differences in culture between China and the US. I am learning more intelligent, fun games. They all help me improve.