Shownotes Transcript
I know that I have disappeared for almost two months. Let me explain. I took a social media break in August because I was pretty sick during that month. I think it was COVID again, but I couldn't be bothered to take a test. And then one of the symptoms was pinky eyes. So I was wearing my frame glasses almost the whole time and feeling extremely lazy to put on contact lenses and sitting in front of the camera.
So I took a break, a social media break, spending a lot of time with my family and friends, taking care of my two-year-old son, yes, I'm a mom, and watching him grow so fast in front of my very own eyes. It really humbles me down to see how fast a tiny little human being can grow, but it doesn't just stop there.
To be honest, I've been having this social media influencer crisis for quite some time and I think it was the right thing to do to take a breather and focus on me. Every day when I get on social media, I'm bombarded with all kinds of new content, new ideas, new out-of-the-box video editing style. The grind just never ends. I feel literally that I'm trapped in a rat race. But
Before I took the break, I felt anxious, discouraged, unconfident, and had very low self-esteem sometimes. I felt that I didn't have the time, the energy, or the right mind space to compete in this field as a hectic working mom.
And to be honest, I always feel very proud of myself in the sense that I don't follow the mainstream. I don't see myself as a person who loves following people or jumping on the bandwagon without thinking it through. I'm not a full-time influencer. My primary job is a teacher. And I'm doing a fantastic job, getting a lot of students every month, being recognized by more and more people. I really don't have to burn myself out in this realm of social media.
The reason why I started doing it in the first place was that I love and enjoy that connection with my followers and I hope I can do my part to create some useful, helpful and hopefully inspiring content for people that I care about and I have somewhat a voice in today's world.
But I know I should stop when it starts to take a toll on my mental health. And that's why I took a pause. And to be completely candid, it felt really good. It was like this massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had enough things on my plate and it felt great to have one thing less in my life. Social media used to be such a big chunk in my life.
And then fast forward to September, the IELTS new season came. As you all know, well, most of you know, the questions and topics and IELTS speaking tests get renewed every four months. In January, May and September, hundreds and thousands of new questions will fly in. And as an IELTS teacher who focuses on speaking test every four months, I need to stay in this
almost like a mental jail. I'm not even joking. Keep outputting and outputting just type, type and type materials, different versions of answers for my students. Every season, I will have this more or less 140,000 words written for them to prepare for the speaking test. Let me show you what I wrote in September. It's my baby. Seriously.
For part one section, under each topic, first I wrote some general expressions and knowledge related to the topic, and then you have the specific questions, and that's when you can see that I prepared multiple versions of answers catering to different needs, preferences, and personalities.
Look at this part two and part three combined document. I wrote general knowledge and expressions, the whole part two material. I made sure that I've used expressions that I provide in the beginning and showcased how to use them in an organic way. And then there is part three. I made sure I wrote my answers long enough so my students can pick out different insights, ideas, and expressions from different parts.
I also consciously and purposefully use the thought tools that I teach in class to demonstrate how relatively easier it can be to answer part three question once you have the right tools in your hand.
And then this part is incredible. I make sure that I always go through each answer in my course. It's insane if you think about it. It's 140,000 words. I spent hours and hours in my live streaming classes, but those hours wouldn't be able to cover all the topics, right? And that's why I also record some extra video classes for my students. I'm talking about 10 hours.
hour video classes just to go through everything. Not to mention, I also have other video classes teaching pronunciation, strategies, techniques, thought tools, and all that jazz. I know this sounds surreal, but that's how I believe teaching English should be like. I'm trying to give my students all that I can offer. And based on all these years of teaching, I've gradually changed my way of teaching 180 from focusing on techniques
to focusing on the real content, that expression, the way of talking. I realized that what my students or Chinese students in general need is not more strategies, not more techniques, more thought tools, but more references, more content, more things to talk about, more natural expressions and idiomatic way of talking for many many Chinese students in their years and years of English studying.
What they have been learning is how to pass an exam by choosing A or B or C or D rather than how to pull off a real life conversation. That's why they don't know what to talk about. They don't know what is appropriate and what is not. And that's why I'm here offering all the organic stuff, all the juicy meat rather than just some impressive looking but useless strategies.
So yeah, that's where I have been, what I've been doing and thinking in the past two months. October is a good month. Maybe I'll see you in my class.
