Richard -- Tutoring 4

As far as I know, few Asian languages have no definite and indefinite articles. For Kyung, this was the case, so I decided to focus this tutoring session on his writing. I had read his writing before and there were instances in where he would use an article incorrectly... and very frequently, too. Anyway, I started the lesson by explaining to him what the differences were between definite articles and indefinite articles.

Let me tell you, articles come naturally to me. I never thought even once whether I used them incorrectly (because I knew they were correct). Still, it is EXTREMELY difficult to teach.

So I use the white-board to draw pictures, telling Kyung that THIS drawing is a PARTICULAR one, different from all the rest. So I ask him: Is it "I saw the woman in the red dress walking" or "I saw a woman in a red dress walking" ? He was correct, so that was a relief.

As we moved on, it got more challenging for me to teach. There are always exceptions when it comes to articles. Yet I was constantly repeating myself. I had given Kyung a handout the week before with 60 questions with nothing but fill-the-correct-article-in-the-blank. We went down some (because I honestly was at a standstill). He had some correct, some not. I tried to explain to him why a certain one was wrong. I also explain to him why he was correct in some of them, hoping that that would reinforce his understanding of it.

Anyway, it was well over an hour, so I decided to stop with that handout and gave him a new one, which he never saw or even worked on. We went down the list of questions... and you know, he got them mostly all CORRECT. I was very surprised. I actually felt like a real teacher despite how I taught articles (because I thought I was failing, honestly). It was great!

He told me I was a good teacher! I was happy and confused. How did I do this? -- especially with how I approached in teaching it. The lesson was over by then, so I gave him a short writing assignment asking him to write about what he does when he wakes up. I told him to try to use articles as much as he could, but to use them correctly. I'll see if he gets it, still. Hopefully he does.

Anyway, I thought he learned something. I mean, he was very happy he got most of the questions right in the handout, so I must have done something right, huh?