Video: Learn to Say Quotes from Lao Tzu
Concept: In this interactive video you will learn how to say 3 quotes from Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, in both Chinese and English. In addition to the spoken and written text, music and images will help set the mood for you to have an inspiring multi-sensory experience.
Process: The first step was to find genuine quotes from Lao Tzu written in Chinese. From there I translated the Chinese into English. I then had my Chinese tutor, Ruth, record her voice saying the quotes in Chinese. The audio quality of her Skype recording was low and so I did some audio editing enhancements using Audacity. Next, Ruth helped me with my pronunciation of the Chinese. Using Audacity and my webcam mic, I recorded my voice saying the quotes in Chinese and English, as well as instructions. Using Pond5, I purchased royalty free images and video and music to help set the mood for the students. I edited them all together using Pinnacle video editing software.
Influences: Lao Tzu was my inspiration as I enjoy being inspired and motivated to be my best person each day. Teachers who instruct lessons in a relaxing manner are also my influences. I wanted students to experience what it is like to say the quotes in the originating language, as well as English. Also, I wanted students to experience the quote with text, music and images and video in order to help inspire them to feel the meaning behind the quotes.
Conclusion: As I was giving my presentation, I received much feedback. First, I was told that the sound of my voice was very relaxing. This is important since I realize how the tone of someone's voice is even more important than the words spoken. Second, my statement of "and now let's relax like a kitten" while showing a video of a kitten napping on a bed put the students at ease and ready to learn in a relaxing and fun environment. This is my philosophy on teaching. Other students noted how the moving stars background and the music was relaxing. Students also told me that hearing the sounds of the Chinese language helped them be closer to the Dao and that the language has an appealing rhythm to it. One also said, "was a cool experience to try and sound it (Chinese) out. " As far as images, the ducklings seemed to be the far favorite as people liked seeing the mother duck lead her baby ducks. The favorite quote was by far the last quote "One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know." One issue that happened while playing the video was that the music on the video stopped towards the end of the video. For some reason there was a glitch and I spent hours fixing it and re-uploading it to google drive. I did ask the students what favorite quote of Lao Tzu's was not in the video. One said, "Nature is not human hearted." One thing that I took away from the experience giving the presentation is how much I enjoy teaching, and that I like to teach in a relaxing and fun style. Another happy response was when someone said that they liked how I included my Chinese tutor Ruth into the video. Yes, Ruth has been a tremendous help over the past 2 years in helping me learn Chinese. Lily, who was in the very first Chinese 101 class with me noted how my pronunciation has come a long way. That compliment meant a lot to me since I have been working very hard on all aspects of Chinese, especially my pronunciation.