讲故事 / Telling Stories (2): Creating the Story Before the Lesson

Beginning language students find lengthy texts difficult -- with good reason!  To help my students learn stories (a paragraph or more in length), I use a basic story structure that includes a number of narrative keywords.  These keywords can also be used to extend their own speech outside of stories.

• 有一个人 - There (once) was a person.
• 但是 - but (followed by the problem)
• 所以 - so (followed by an attempt to solve the problem
• 去 - goes to / went to  (usually an attempt involves going to a person or place)
• 然后 - then (what happens after the attempt and/or ending the story)

Here's an example of one of the first stories I do (once we learn hobbies in Chinese 1):

有一个人。他叫Bob。他是学生。他喜欢打球。但是他没有球！Bob 很难过！

所以他去朋友。他说，“你有球吗？“  朋友说，“有！“   然后Bob打球。Bob很快乐！

There is a person.  His name is Bob.  He is a student.  He likes to play ball (play sports).  But he doesn't have a ball!  He is very sad!

So he goes to a friend.  He says, "Do you have a ball?"  The friend says, "Yes!"  Then Bob plays ball (sports).  Bob is very happy!

In the story above, the only new words students have for that day are the story keywords, "says," and the two emotions (sad & happy).  They've already seen "Do you have ...?" questions, and they have already learned "play ball / play sports" from the previous lesson about what hobbies someone likes to do.  They have already learned occupations and names.

Though I have an idea how the story will go, I always leave some things open for students to decide.  For example, in this story, I know that the following information can be decided by students:

• the main character's name
• the main character's gender (boy or girl -- decided by which student volunteer acts it out)
• the main character's occupation
• what the main character likes to do (as long as it's a verb-object combination)
• whether or not the problem is solved in the end

That means that this story could easily go a different way:

有一个人。她叫Tooth Fairy小姐。她是英文老师。她喜欢看书。但是她没有书！她很难过！

所以她去医生。她说，“你有书吗？“   医生说，“没有！“   然后Tooth Fairy 小姐不看书。Tooth Fairy 小姐很难过！

There is a person.  Her name is Miss Tooth Fairy.  She is an English teacher.  She likes to read.  But she doesn't have a book!  She is very sad!

So she goes to the doctor.  She says, "Do you have a book?"  The doctor says, "No!"  Then Miss Tooth Fairy doesn't read.  She is very sad!

Clearly these details are very silly. As long as it is (1) school appropriate and (2) still uses all vocabulary words for the day, then it should be as silly as possible!

Now, this is a very simple story, but once students master the basics, just about everything can be taught in a story -- including actual traditional Chinese myths and legends!  My first year students got to learn the story about the monster named "Nian" (year) for the Chinese New Year unit -- and in Chinese!  Here was the script:

很久以前，有一个怪物。怪物叫年。年喜欢吃人。年来中国，中国人都很怕！

有一个老人。他说，“年怕红色和热闹！“  所以年来中国，中国人贴红色的福字，贴红色的春联，和放炮竹。年很怕！他回家！然后中国人很快乐！

A long time ago, there was a monster.  The monster's name was Year.  Year liked to eat people.  (When) Year came to China, Chinese people were all very scared!

There was an old man.  He said, "Year is afraid of red and noise!"  So (when) Year came to China, Chinese people hung up red "good luck" characters, hung up red spring poems, and set off firecrackers.  Year was very scared!  He returned home!  Then Chinese people were very happy!

My first year teaching, I never thought I could pull off an actual Chinese legend taught in Chinese in the middle of Chinese 1!  If I were adhering very closely to a textbook, I probably still couldn't.  However, after students master story keywords and know the story structure by heart, adding some details for an actual legend is easy!  Chinese legends also add words that students love to use in other stories (their own and for our class stories together), such as "monster" and "a long time ago."  For example, I just completed a Valentine's Day story about the cow herder and the weaver woman, and somehow an entire class decided today's new story would star the sleepy cow herder who attends Harvard University and is practicing his Chinese characters for his Chinese test.

For my last example, I'm going to pull from my Chinese 2 class, so you can see how the stories can get more complex over time, including multi-part sentences and many more details. The stories also can deviate more and more from the story structure seen previously -- which is not only okay, but a good thing!  After all, stories can be told in a number of different ways.

有一个男孩子。他上Mutant高中。今天是他的生日！所以他今天晚上八点开舞会！他请三个最好的朋友。朋友们都送给他礼物。第一个朋友送给他粉红色和绿色的蛋糕。第二个朋友送给他一把紫色的花。第三个朋友送给他一只熊猫。朋友们都唱歌：“祝你生日快乐！“   然后他们吃粉红色和绿色的蛋糕！（可是熊猫不吃蛋糕。因为他是熊猫，所以他吃竹。）

There is a boy.  He attends Mutant High.  Today is his birthday!  So he's throwing a party at 8pm tonight!  He invites three of his best friends.  The friends all give him gifts. The first friend gives him a pink and green cake.  The second friend gives him a bouquet of purple flowers.  The third friend gives him a panda.  The friends all sing "Happy Birthday to You!"  Then they all eat pink and green cake!  (But the panda doesn't eat cake.  Because he's a panda, he eats bamboo!)

Next post, I'm going to explain how I go about actually introducing the stories to students, including getting some questions going for interpersonal (not just narrative) language skills!  (If you're wondering how I go about introducing students to Chinese characters, I promise I'll get to that soon, too!)

讲故事 / Telling Stories (1)

My primary teaching methodology: TPRS. Total Proficiency Through Reading & Storytelling. Also known as Total Physical Response + Storytelling. I like to give the old name, too, because there are three major components:

• learn vocabulary & structures with gestures
• practice vocabulary & structures with stories
• practice vocabulary & structures with reading

The last two years, I've started with adhering closely to the textbook and then end up hardly using it at all by halfway through the year, because I have an epiphany that my kids aren't learning as much with the textbook and are, in fact, hating and resisting learning Chinese more with each passing day.

With the stories, my students get to practice Unit vocabulary in an engaging, wake-up-you-sleepyheads way every class period. My students can put sentences together in a narrative using story keywords (which they rely on less and less after year 1). My students can read full paragraphs ... or *gasp* two paragraphs ... in Chinese characters combining new vocabulary & structures with the familiar story keywords and progression. My students can answer questions quickly and correctly about the stories' main characters and events, and consequently can apply that to questions about themselves and their surroundings.

And selfishly, the biggest perk of all: I love my job. I want to come in even when I feel like crap, because I know I will enjoy myself and my interactions with my students, even the "oh so dreadful class." I spend the day laughing & smiling with my students, successfully teaching them something and seeing them remember things from previous lessons, and I go home with pretty minimal amounts to grade.

This methodology can be really hard to imagine, so I'm going to break it down in a short series of blog entries so that other teachers can get what I'm talking about. I am NOT saying this is the only methodology that can be successful with American students. By breaking it down, I hope that any Chinese teacher reading this can get some helpful ideas on what they can add to their own class. If at the end of the series, you're still interested in learning more about this methodology, I'll be sure to have some links (other blogs of teachers who use it, books for support and more ideas, and websites for seminars to see it in action).

我当中文老师 / I'm a Chinese Teacher

I'm a Chinese teacher in the U.S. Not a college professor, a K-12 teacher. There may not be too many of us compared to the world language powerhouses of French and Spanish. I bet Latin and German far outnumber us, too. Yet I'm here, teaching Chinese, and creating mostly everything I teach. Like I said, there aren't many of us, and we generally don't teach in the same district, much less the same school.

This blog is a cross between reflection and sharing ideas for other Chinese teachers. If you have ideas to share, please send them to me! I'll add links, give you credit, do whatever it takes to make sure the ideas get shared!