Xinhua News Agency, Wuhan, November 14 Title: One session is stronger than the other - China's "Back Wave" in the Eyes of an American Teacher
Xinhua News Agency reporters Le Wenwan, Li Wei and Jiao Qian
Dressed in black embroidered cloth shoes and sachet tassels fluttering in the wind on her shoulder bag, Diana Bertello walked into the classroom. After taking stock of her homework and exchanging greetings with the students, she began teaching speaking.
Bertello, 63, is from the United States and worked for a major insurance company. Encouraged by her family, in 2011, she dreamed of becoming a teacher, and traveled across the ocean to Wuhan to become an English teacher at Hubei University of Technology.
At first, Bertello found that the students did not have a solid foundation and had many problems in learning English. To this end, she met with a number of Chinese English teachers to understand the situation of English teaching, sort out the problems, and propose ways to improve. "I streamlined my students' extracurricular learning and focused on laying a good foundation for them."
In the classroom, students are divided into groups and are reading aloud the original English books such as "Twilight", "Jurassic Park", and "Timeless Boy". This is Bertello's own immersive reading pedagogy - students in groups of 3 to 4 people, take turns reading books, listening to the readers to correct the pronunciation problems of the readers according to the books. Bertello joins the groups in turn to guide the students' speech.
"Classes like this allowed me to discover problems that I wasn't aware of and increased my reading." Lin Ling, a first-year student at Hubei University of Technology, said, "Mr. Bertello corrected my pronunciation and changed my concept of learning. I was lucky enough to be her student. ”
During the pandemic, this pedagogy is also applicable in online classes. "Because the students are already familiar with collaborative group teaching, my online teaching is very smooth, and many teachers have learned from my methods." Bertello said.
After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia in Wuhan, Bertello gave up the opportunity to leave Wuhan. "I'm not panicking at all. The school provided me with all kinds of food and daily necessities, and I didn't lack anything. "China's approach to fighting the epidemic is commendable, and the government has taken various measures to ensure that everyone's life is not affected." ”
Bertello's curriculum allows students to find ways to learn and build confidence, and the recognition of students makes her feel fulfilled. "Once, I met a student who told me that my courses had affected his life. All of this makes me very happy. ”
The Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that by 2035, China will build a cultural power, an education power, a talent power, a sports power, and a healthy China. "Many countries have development plans, and it's not hard for China to achieve those goals. China is already moving in that direction. In the past 9 years, I have felt that the students are stronger than the first, and I am impressed by their improvement in their comprehensive English ability. ”
In addition to the progress of students, Bertello has also witnessed many changes in Wuhan. High-rise buildings are rising from the ground, the river flowing through the campus is becoming clearer and clearer, and the streets are getting cleaner and cleaner..." The city slogan of 'Wuhan, every day is different' is not a false statement. ”
In his spare time, Bertello enjoys staying at home reading novels, embroidering, and entertaining friends. Over the years, she has made many friends in China. "The people here treat me like family, and I feel like family here. I hope that the people of China and the United States will learn more about each other. ”
At the end of the semester, Betlo will retire and return to Florida in the southern United States. "I want to tell my grandchildren what I have seen and heard in China, and I will always remember my Chinese family." (End)