English Interview Practice at LMC Primary School

Interviewing LMC Students

After school on Thursday, December 5th, I went with 10 other students to Lui Ming Choi Primary School. We walked to the Shek Mun MTR station and took a bus to the school. We had a little trouble at first figuring out which room we should go into. But after a few minutes, we sorted it out. We split up and went into three rooms, with about four people in each room. I was in a room with Rachel Mok, Jenny Cheung, and Benedict Leung. Because it was our first time, Benedict explained to us what we should do. He told us not to follow the script exactly, but to ask questions that relate to their answer. I settled down in a corner of a room, waiting for students. 

Interviewing the "cute" student

In about a minute, the students started to enter the rooms. I interviewed around five to six students. Some questions/statements I asked them included: tell me about yourself, what would you do if you were the president of China, what do you want to be when you grow up, who is your role model, what is your favorite festival, tell me about a recent news report, what books do you read, and what are your hobbies. I wanted to laugh at some of their responses because sometimes their responses were really off topic. The Lui Ming Choi students gave me a  checklist to grade them when they arrived. I graded each student on their politeness, eye contact, posture, sentence fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, relevance to my question, and confidence when answering. There was this really cute student that said twice, "I am talented in science." His English was pretty good. Another student I interviewed seemed to have memorized everything by heart. She said something like this, "I am (name). I go to Lui Ming Choi Primary School. I am 11 years old...." She was like reciting facts she has memorized. Three of the students gave a little bow and would not take a seat until I told them to. All of them were so polite. A lot of them seemed pretty nervous. 

In a classroom

When we finished interviewing the students, we split into two groups and went into the students' classrooms to inform them of how they did overall. We each spoke about what they did well and how they could improve. When we finished speaking, the teacher commanded the students to say "thank you" and "goodbye" to us. Yes, commanded. She said, "Stand up!" like an army commander. I think she could have have been a little more gentle. Out of all the services I have done, this is my favorite so far. I really liked interviewing the students. Time flew by as I was interviewing them. I had a lot of fun.

Teaching English

Discussing our skit

On the Saturday of November 30, 2013, I participated in a teaching service. There were seven students, including me, that taught mothers English. We met at the number 1 platform at Hang On station at 2:00. When everyone arrived, we walked to this community service building. We helped carry cups to the meeting room for the "tea time" that would occur later in the day. We went into a small side room and went over what we would teach to the mothers. I was expecting to teach kids, but mothers were good too. We split into two groups. The girls were in one group and they guys were in another group. Both groups had a little skit to perform to the mothers. The guys performed their skit first. Their skit was more like a brief conversation about their daughter's dance rehearsal. After presenting their skit, they taught them new vocabulary. 

Presenting our skit

After the guys, it was my group's turn to teach the mothers English. Our little skit was about eating at a restaurant. There are three roles: Amy (the daughter), mother, and the waitress. I was Amy. I started the skit off by saying, "Mom, I'm hungry." Then, the mother (Rachel Mok) called for the waiter. I told the waiter (Jenny Cheung) what I wanted to eat, then the mother told the waiter what she wanted to eat. The waiter asked the mother if she wanted dessert. The mother replied by saying what dessert she would like. After we presented our skit, we taught them vocabulary from the skit. Most of the vocabulary are related to food. It included these words: hungry, spaghetti bolognese, Russian vegetable soup, soup of the day, banana split, and soft-hearted chocolate pudding. Some of the mothers knew already knew a lot of the words we taught them, but most of the vocabulary was new. 

"Tea time"

After we taught them the vocabulary, we had "tea time". The seven of us split up each went to a table. We ate cheese buns, some kind of pudding, and glutinous rice balls. I really liked the cheese buns. When I first saw the cheese buns, I thought they were cookies. Anyways, as we were eating, the mothers asked us questions about English. One of the mothers that I was in a table with asked Kevin and I about her son's homework and exam. She was confused when to use "st", "nd", and "rd" when writing dates. I told her that first is always 1st, second is always 2nd, and third and onward is "__rd". I think that cleared up for her. She also wondered whether or not you say "get on the bus" or "get in the bus". I have always thought that it was "get in the bus". But, I learned from another ICS student that it was actually "get on the bus". I hope we were able to clarify things for the mothers. At 4:30, we left the community service building and departed for home. This was a pretty fun service. I hope there is another opportunity for me to go again in the future.

Tai Po Organic Farm

A clean field

On the Saturday of November 23, 2013, I went to an organic farm in Tai Po to do service. In total, there were 11 students that signed up for this activity. Most of the students that signed up were in my grade. We met together at Tai Wo station at 9:00 in the morning. After meeting together , our group rode the 64K bus to an area near the organic farm. We had to walk a distance to reach the organic farm. This farm was located near a village. Three students helped out in the office, and the rest of us followed another farmer to a small field for instructions.

Picking up orange seeds

We set down our belongings on some chairs near the storage shed and started with some exercises. We stretched our arms, legs, and necks. Then, the farmer passed out some green trays to us and told us to pick up the orange seeds on the ground that a big tree drops down. She said that it would affect the growth of the plants. If a big tree starts to grow in the middle of the small field, it would take in all the nutrients and leave very little nutrients for the plants. For the next 45 minutes, we picked up the round, orange seeds. I managed to fill up 2-3 trays of these seeds. 

Guys sweeping up orange seeds

Some guys used a very interesting method to collect the orange seeds. Using their trays, they would scrape the ground and gather the orange seeds into one place. Then, another person would scoop the seeds into a tray. When our trays were full, we deposited our "waste" into this big pile to allow it to decompose. Anyways, after gathering the orange seeds, we pulled weeds from the ground. The weeds took the nutrients from the plants and were affecting the growth of them. The farmer told us to pull the vines and leaves that were in clumps. I didn't really know what I was supposed to pull. I'm pretty sure that I pulled out some good, useful plants. We also put these "waste" into the same big pile. Afterwards, we took a break and drank some water. We gathered up our belongings and headed to a greenhouse. The farmer told us about the purpose of the greenhouse and the plants. The plants are put in a controlled environment. When the plants mature, they have to be transplanted into a bigger pot. When the plants get too big for the green house, they are planted outside in the fields. She talked about other facts. It was rather educational. This concludes my service.

Pulling weeds

As I was picking up the orange seeds, I began to relate it to my faith. If left there for a longer period of time, the orange seeds will disrupt the growth of the plants. In my life, the orange seeds are like bad habits. The bad habits will affect the growth of my faith (the plants) in God. So, it is best to clear my life of these bad habits and focus on God. Furthermore, as I pulled weeds from the ground, I also thought of how I was spending my time. The "weeds" in my life take away my free time (the nutrients) and I spend it on unnecessary things. I should be spending more time with God and not with my computer.

A greenhouse

Overall, this was a fun and worthwhile trip. Perhaps, next time, I will come again.