My Favourite Teacher :)

Every good story ends with a beginning.
When I am drafting this article, I have already completed ten 25-mins classes and have enrolled in another ten 50-mins classes of teacher Nicholas.
I am sharing this story with all of you as I really learned a lot from Nicholas. I started with trial lessons for over ten teachers and was confused about how to begin with learning conversational English. And everything changed when I have found the right teacher.

Nicholas is well-prepared for classes, his lessons are well-structured without any waste of time. The topics provided for discussions are so interesting and applicable in daily life, we went through topics like deepfake technology, utopia and dystopia, Bitcoin, question tags, nomadic styles, memory and entertainment. The contents are so rich that after each lesson, I would like to spend more time on having research and reflections as self-regulated learning. In that case, the 25-mins lesson is a lot more than 25-mins.

Below are some of my reflections from each class:

Regular class 1 (Deepfake technology): I was impressed by how deepfake technology might change our way of life. We had discussions on propaganda, which in a certain way, changed my perspectives in seeing the world. We explored the differences in between being fake and being real through the discussions on editing and doctoring a photograph.

Regular class 2 (Utopia and dystopia): This is a topic related to the discussions in regular class 1. As a follow-up discussion on being fake and being real, the concepts of utopian and dystopian actually can be applicable to our daily lives. The world seems to be unstable in these couples of years, however, is there an ideal place to live? How can we define utopia and dystopia? And how can we carry on? We have insightful discussions in regular class 2.

Regular class 3 (Bitcoin): We had more than just Bitcoin in regular class 3 but I was mostly impressed by the concepts behind Bitcoin. As a way of exchanging values, Nicholas introduced the concept of “money” to me from both ancient times to modern times. Can Bitcoin replace cash or electronic payment in the future? How will it change our daily lives and most importantly, what actually are the roles of “money” throughout history in humankind?

Regular class 4 (Question tags): I used to think that question tags are simple but indeed they are not in Nicholas’s lessons. They can be used to direct, guide, or control a conversation. So, this is a lesson about communication strategies and I find it very useful particularly in workplace. I gained solid improvements in communication after attending regular class 4.

Regular classes 5 (Nomadic styles): People in this generation often think of a nomadic way of life, we talked about this from the perspective of a society and drawn a conclusion with different needs at different stages in life. It is a topic worth to be discussed in different age groups as it is a good starting point to talk about one’s life goals. This is regular class 5.

Regular classes 6-8 (Memory): I love the idea that different types of memory can be intersected. No matter it is fond or sad, vivid or faded, and from childhood or just a fresh one. It can be a philosophical discussion under this topic as memory constructed who we are, reminded us where do we come from as well as how do we become the ones we are today.

Regular classes 9-10 (Entertainment): Each part of a genre tells us part of life. When it comes to the topic of movies, why do we see movies? What is mean by a good film? We talked about the nature of each genre and their examples. I was inspired by the question of whether the narrative comes first or the character comes first? (I forgot the exact wordings, but it’s something with similar meaning)

The same principle applies to a teacher-student relationship, is it the good students come first or the good teachers come first? Nicholas has proved the answer. He is a teacher with my enthusiastic recommendation to my friends, a teacher you looking forward to continue with the lessons.