Tutors, we welcome you!
Thank you for volunteering to be an English tutor to a Chinese student. Take a minute to watch this video to understand what English Tutoring is about. Chinese Tutoring Video
SCHEDULE, MEETING TIME AND PLACE
Our tutoring schedule follows the school calendar. We officially meet weekly on Sunday’s from 10:45-12:15 at Trinity Baptist Church from September through May with some holiday breaks. If you are unable to tutor on Sunday morning, you may schedule another regular fixed time to meet with your student once a week.
- First week: Share your Life Sketch
- Second week: Have your student share their Life Sketch
- 10 weeks before Christmas: Share lessons 1 – 10 about Creation through the Birth of Jesus
- 7 weeks between New Year & Easter: Share lessons 11 – 17 seven I am’s of Jesus about who He said He was and about the meaning of his death on the cross and His resurrection.
NOTE: If you do not have enough weeks to cover all 17 lessons, choose the ones that you feel are the most meaningful.
EXCHANGE CONTACT INFORMATION WITH YOUR STUDENT
Your regular fixed time for tutoring is to be honored on a weekly basis. Unless someone has an unavoidable conflict in their schedule, explain to your student that you will be expecting to meet with them; however, if either of you are unable to meet, be sure to communicate with each other as far in advance as possible. Decide the best way to communicate. Exchange phone numbers, emails and We Chat accounts to stay connected with each other. Most Chinese have a We Chat account so we highly recommend that you download the We Chat app on your phone.
MATERIAL & RESOURCES
- Your Life Sketch & Your Student’s Life Sketch
Write a summary of your life to share at the first meeting with your student. Include your physical birth, as well as your spiritual birth as a Christian. Share about your life challenges, goals, dreams and purpose. You could call it your testimony; however, we call it your Life Sketch, because you will be asking your student to write their Life Sketch to share with you on week 2.
During your first meeting, have the student read your Life Sketch aloud to you. This will be a great opportunity for your student to practice speaking English without having to think of what they want to say. It will be a good way for you to understand ways you can help them improve their pronunciation.
For the 2nd week, ask your student to write their Life Sketch. It may be short or long. It may be factual or poetic. It can be whatever your student wants to write. But it will be more comfortable for them to read it aloud to you giving them the opportunity to think in advance about what they want to share. - Does your student have a Bible?
It is important to read from the Bible if your student is open to that. We have a free English Bible for your student so please let us know if they need one. Chinese/English Bibles are available for $10 to purchase from the book shelf. Many Chinese do not own a Bible or have never seen a Bible. Start by showing them the Old Testament (before Jesus was born) and the New Testament (about Jesus). If they are interested in reading the Bible on their own, show them how to start reading in the New Testament, otherwise they are inclined to start with page 1 and read from cover to cover which is not a good way to introduce them to the Bible. Share your favorite Bible verses to help them become acquainted with the Bible as a source of spiritual guidance and that it is important to you to read for your daily life. Show them how to find a book of the Bible, a chapter and a verse. A good way to explain it is to tell them it’s like finding an address ~ first go to the city, then the street, then the house number. The book is like the city, the chapter is like the street and the verse is like the house number. - Lesson 1-10 Creation through the Birth of Jesus. Lessons 11-17 The Seven I Am’s of Christ. These lessons linked above are intended to be used September through December to prepare them to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of Jesus – and January through April to prepare them for the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter – the crucifixion and resurrection.
- Several tips: 1. Email the link to your student in advance of the lesson you will be discussing. Many of them will love reading the article prior to your meeting; however, if they come to tutoring without reading it in advance, no problem. The lessons are short and you will have time to read them together. 2. These lessons are intended to guide your tutoring into organic, helpful conversations. Be willing to listen carefully to what your student shares in your discussions. It’s important for them to feel accepted so that they can honestly share with you what they think. Pray for God to give you divine appointments with your student. God can work in strange and mysterious ways. We have seen it happen time and time again. So let the discussion happen naturally. It does not have to be forced at all.
- Easy English News
This monthly publication is a newspaper written to help ESL students learn about America. It will be available to you in October, November, February, March and April. The students love it because it has informative articles about current events, the history of America and holidays. Words highlighted in bold are listed on the back page under Word Help to give the meaning as it appears in the article. You may want to talk about some of the articles if you have time, then give this newspaper to your student to take home to read.
Encouraging your student
In addition to helping Chinese students improve their English through helpful conversations and friendship, our purpose is to be the door for the Chinese to desire a life of knowing the true, living God and to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Tutors who share the Bible and their personal experience can be a bridge between the Chinese who know little about God to having an opportunity to know Him. Encourage your student to participate fully in other TCF opportunities besides tutoring.
- 9:15 a.m. every Sunday English Worship Service ~ Choir Room
- 10:30 a.m. every Sunday Fellowship & Lectures/Tutoring ~ Fellowship Hall
- 6:15 p.m. twice monthly Friday night Bible Study ~ dinner in Gym followed by small groups
- Special trips and activities
Our prayer
Our prayer is for all of us to live a life worthy of our calling.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:9-12
QUESTIONS?
Remember that you are beloved and highly esteemed. We appreciate you and your student certainly appreciates you! Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. We also love hearing about your tutoring time and any special prayer concerns for you and your student.
Karen King, Tutoring Coordinator
Trinity Chinese Fellowship
405-321-2122
We Chat ID: iSissy3
Email: tutoring@trinitynorman.org
