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Final Feedback - Tandem Language Exchange

The student summarizes their tandem learning experience studying Czech with a partner from the Czech Republic. Some strengths included getting to know phrases not in textbooks and cultural backgrounds. Weaknesses were the time needed to prepare lessons and difficulty keeping sessions engaging. The student recommends including more pair presentation projects to make lessons more fun. Pronunciation practice and correction from their partner helped improve their Czech language skills.

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56 views3 pages

Final Feedback - Tandem Language Exchange

The student summarizes their tandem learning experience studying Czech with a partner from the Czech Republic. Some strengths included getting to know phrases not in textbooks and cultural backgrounds. Weaknesses were the time needed to prepare lessons and difficulty keeping sessions engaging. The student recommends including more pair presentation projects to make lessons more fun. Pronunciation practice and correction from their partner helped improve their Czech language skills.

Uploaded by

w
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Final Feedback

Please upload a document with final feedback on your tandem learning experience.

(see video theory on reflections)

Answer the following questions 

1/ Where are you from, and what is your home university/college?

I am from Taiwan and I now study in the master’s program of international relations at
Charles university

2/ Why did you choose the Tandem Languages class?

Because I would like to meet more local friends and have more in-depth understanding in
both the language, culture, society and history

3/ Was this your first tandem learning/teaching experience?

No, I have done language exchange before already

4/ What was the practical organization of tandem sessions  (online, in-person, etc.)?

It was held in-person on a weekly basis

5/ How did you get on with your tandem partner? Did your relationship develop during
the course? How did your relationship influence the learning process?

We got along quite well and both of us enjoyed our sessions together and always tried to
accommodate each other’s time to meet. I think it is important to have a self-motivated
and responsible partner when doing language exchange and I have to say I got just what I
wished for! Thanks to Anezka, I enjoyed introducing her Chinese history,
Chinese/Taiwanese culture, and the Chinese language.

6/ What language and what level did you learn?

I learned Czech at the level A1/2 since I am taking class outside of this.

7/ How did you maintain or improve your self-discipline?


I tried to use as much Czech as possible during my daily life and there is a sense of
achievement when I get something right

8/ Do you think you have achieved your language goal? What were some strengths and
weaknesses of your learning process?

Not yet but I do feel like there has been progress. The strengths were that I got to know
some phrases that are probably not on the textbook and some cultural backgrounds to the
language too. The weaknesses might be that it takes quite a lot of time to prepare a proper
“lesson” and it can be difficult to always make the session full of new knowledge when
there is not much time for my partner to prepare; the lack of experience in teaching might
also be a downside that Anezka needed to do and learn and there would be some time
wasted in this regard, but I do not blame her for this obviously

9/ What language and level did you teach?

I taught Mandarin (Chinese) and I am a native speaker

10/ What would you identify as strengths and weaknesses of your teaching activity?

My strengths would be that I could always quickly link the sessions to what we have
taught already and help her review in the meanwhile, and I can properly introduce
knowledge extending on the Chinese language so as to help Anezka understand the
cultural and historical background and it might be easier and fun for her to learn. I am
also used to listening to Chinese learners’ Chinese and able to correct what it is off but
understand when it is not perfectly accurate, so I do not discourage Anezka by her
pronouncing with imperfect pronunciation.

My weaknesses would be that I do not have experience teaching a complete beginner, so


it might be harder in the beginning for her to get into the language. It can also sometimes
be a bit dry when I teach because I want to build solid foundation for her, but then it
could get boring occasionally when there is too little fun element. I can also be lost
sometime when I do not know how much Anezka has understood or learned from what
we have talked about and do not quite know how to test if she actually knows, so I can
see what I should help her improve.

11/ COURSE EVALUATION


Your final comments on this tandem experience, including recommendations for the
organizers of the course (what you appreciated about the course; suggestions for
improvement)

It had been a lot of fun with my partner, Anezka, during the language exchange sessions
even if we did not manage to always organize the best lectures, because we learned not
only about the language itself, but also the history, cultures and the overall connections
linked to the language.

I think the lesson will be more fun if there would be more pair projects where the two
people should present something small to meet with the class as a part of the grade,
instead of relying heavily on uploading teaching plans and assignments. For instance, it
would be so much fun for me if every month or so we should prepare a 3- to 5-minute
presentation of the language, the culture, the history or make a comparison of anything
between the two nations, or even do something handy such as the national dish event held
in the last class of the semester!

12/  TANDEM  PORTFOLIO

Please, help future tandem participants and describe one activity that worked well in your
tandem sessions.

Being corrected my pronunciation and listening to the part where I have not fully
remembered, since the sound of the language is fairly different to my mother tongue.
There is nothing specific though, I believe there is only one process to learning
languages - be motivated, study and use it as much as possible!

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