Conversational Chinese: Ordering Lunch in a Chinese Restaurant

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It's going to be the Chinese New Year. It's very easy to think for some people to go to a Chinese restaurant. A post I wrote earlier was about teaching Mandarin through meaningful conversations, not parroting. It's a typical sight for any Chinese teacher to complain or get mad at a student reacting to the memorization. The real constraint is systemic in nature. Chinese teachers are being forced to teach Chinese the way they know how. Hokkien was used as a medium of instruction. If a person didn't come from a Chinese-speaking home, they were actually going to have a much harder time in a one size fits all arrangement. 

Now, it's time to talk about conversational again. Sure, this looks like the bon toi (question and answer) found in the Chinese classes. The only difference is with Chinese taught as a second language--it would give students fewer reasons to cry while memorizing Chinese phrases. 


This time, the "bon toi" here is more than just a question and answer. The waiter gives the answer. Now, the student must also memorize and understand the third statement. The customer asks a question, and the waiter gives an answer. The customer then says something before the next question. The question is asked by the water and the customer answers. It would involve memorizing not just the answer but also the question that goes with it. 

It would take Person A and Person B to memorize their lines. Of course, all five lines have to be memorized and understood. Recitations must be done by saying the lines in both Mandarin and English. It would also mean discussing the meaning of the words. It's not about just filling the minds of students with facts. It's also teaching them to think with the facts given to them. Education isn't just filling a pot but also lighting a fire to cook the contents of the pot. 

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