I do a Mandarin group lesson on Tuesdays. It’s online, so the students are at home.
One of them (let’s call her Amelia) uses the computer in the kitchen, which for some reason cannot be moved to another room. Her husband comes in during the lesson to get coffee and things, so every single clatter from her side, however minor, gets heard by the whole group. (Noise gets greatly amplified digitally, I’ve discovered. A student moving a sheet of paper across the table becomes a loud shuffling noise, for example.)
Amelia will get asked to mute herself whenever it happens. She’ll then say after a few seconds, “OK, I’ve muted myself now,” or “Can you hear me now?” It happens every single time, no matter how much we point out to her that she couldn’t have, as we’re not supposed to be able to hear her if she’s muted herself.
Having said this, how is she to know/check that the muting has been successful? I suppose it’s up to us (or me specifically, as the teacher) to say, “OK, you’re muted,” when I see it onscreen, so that she knows.
(London, 2024)
No comments:
Post a Comment