Day two in Guangzhou

Friday morning was spent at Guangzhou School for the Blind, running a taster workshop for 35 students (a few more than anticipated). Their English language skills varied but were generally very strong. We only had two hours so in that time, introduced the group to some English songs including the hokey cokey and developed 10 word dialogues around a series of encounters between people in a train station. We learnt a lot from the session and next time, would stretch the student’s creative language skills more by introducing more playmaking techniques. After lunch we split up to observe lessons at Guangzhou No 5 Middle School, Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Foreign Language School and Jiang Nan Middle School. It was fascinating to see the teachers successfully implement many of the games and activities used in the workshop the previous day. Feedback sessions held after the lessons confirmed the value of 100 Words in terms of supporting the development of a larger vocabulary and specific language skills such as speaking and listening skills. Our last night in Guangzhou was spent taking a night time cruise on the river and going to a seafood restaurant. Saturday morning was spent meeting British Council staff for a debrief before catching the afternoon train to Hong Kong and a night time flight back to snow bound Britain.