(1) News by Tara
Please LISTEN to the latest news of the week by Tara.
(2) Feedback on the orals (and voting for best performances, and best actress and actor)
(3) The Customer is always right: Discussions about a conversation with a customer. Some of you would still do other English exams later this semester and this would be your last opportunity to practice your oral English in class.
(4) Vocabulary exercise
The vocab paper would have the same format as before with mostly multiple choice questions and also a few words to be written. If you revise the vocab we learned through the semester, you don't need to stress. Please try to prepare as some of you need a good score here as not all of you performed that well during our orals this week. Good wishes to you.
12 - W14a - The customer's always right.pdf
Replies
Ha, you know much more about western consumer trends than I expected! Yes, this is how it mostly works in the western countries and the designers of this lesson were clearly foreigners from the west. They have surely not been in China to witness how consumerism works here, in particular regarding the relationship between customer and dealer. I think what you are saying is that the customer is not always right in China, right?! And then of course, I agree with you! I have been a witness many times when some customers would be rude, unfriendly or plain disrespectful toward the dealer or one of the shop assistants just because they can do it in China. Pse read my comment to Liu Yi (second paragraph, and top of the 5th page of this discussion) for my reasons why I think it can't work here. China still needs a lot of education before customer behaviour would get better! ;-)
Li Fengxian did very well for her level even though she might have forgotten some of her words. She made an impression on me. If I can get her for just one more semester, I think she will start speaking English. She has great potential. :)
You are right with your view about the customers NOT always being right. In fact, I think in China they are seldom right! Look at my reply to Li Ningning above and then you'll see the two reasons why I think that concept would never work in China. Maybe you may not completely agree, but that wouldn't convince me to change my mind about that as I have experienced enough after five years in China to believe what I have said! ;-)
The role plays "were" interesting you mean, right (as it has already taken place in the past)? Yes, not only had their performance been quite entertaining, there were many others too. It was really nice to have been a witness to those good performances.
I agree with you on the customer issue. It doesn't work in China. I gave two reasons for that to Li Ningning above - pse read it. I am of the opinion that if there isn't going to be a change of heart among the Chinese people, there would always be tension and arguments between customers and dealers. China is a strange country ...! ;-)
Yes, the were good performances in your class, but likewise in class 2. I was very surprised by the high standard. There were two other parts of the lesson we'd also discussed in class today, the news by Tara, and the question about the customers. You haven't mentioned any of that. Did you not know we would also do that in class?
I agree with you on the customer issue. In China this can't work as the dynamics of consumerism is so different. It can only work in the west and is clearly a western concept. I said above that there are two reasons in my opinion why it can't work here. Firstly there are too many consumers to 'force' dealers and businesses to give good customer service, as others would always line up to buy the next product. So, they don't have to worry about getting a customer to return. And then secondly, and maybe most importantly, there are the issues of respect and trust which is lacking here, and another student has mentioned the lack of morals and that customers often don't show any dignity in their dealings with the dealers/businesses. I think much education still lies ahead for the Chinese consumers! ;-)
You mean a 'role play', Xuanyu? Well, you had a chance to choose the best contributors today; hope the right ones have been chosen. We'll see next week ... But I agree with you, there were some great performers in your class. Interesting that so many girls think Xiao Hao was the best ...! Looks like the man is quite popular in that class!
As far as the customer question is concerned, we didn't have time today to discuss in more detail. But as I mentioned above to other students, in China the customer is probably seldom right as they often display such bad behaviour. This may only be applicable in western countries.
Firstly,I wanna say all of us had good performance,and some of us bring happy,another bring something of life.So I think everyone performed well.My goal of this performance is bring happy to all of us,and I think maybe I gotta it.I'm not a person always good at expressing laugh,but I think I had tried my best to wrote the story,me and Di Xin also wanna performance the story well.Even we are jokes,but it's enough when we bring laugh.As for customer is always right,I don't think so,but I can understand.Because it respect a kind of attitude of selling,sellers wanna sell goods need a good attitude.It's why we said customer is always right.
Yes, the students' different performances brought much laughter and enjoyment into the classrooms. I have also enjoyed most of the performances and I am very impressed with the amount of talent among our students. Oh, and some of them have even dressed up for their roles ... such great conviction to entertain well!
I realized that in China this thing about customers being always right has actually become outrageous due to the customers' rude behavior. They think they have the right to demand everything without giving the necessary respect and showing some dignity. What happened to that in China (okay, I'm generalizing, but I think you know what I mean)?! I think there's still a lot of education to take place! Luckily we have a new generation that is now entering society ... and I am fortunate to teach some of them! ;-)
Yeah,I also think we make the performance different,and I also dressed up for my role------long skirt similar to Rose's,I changed it before the class in the toilet when I off the first class that morning.I understand what you mean,indeed,some customers did wrong,but not all the customer that rude,we all won't,and I believe you will teach some of new students of right attitude,just like you taught us!
What do you mean by, "and I also dressed up ..."?! You were the only one who dressed up specially for the role play (there were others who brought some additional items to put on, but I don't remember noticing any other apart from you really dressing up)! That's what my comment meant about me noticing "some of them" even dressing up ... meaning YOU! But unfortunately, your classmates didn't appreciate your and Di Xin's excellent performance ... although, in defense of them, I must admit that dear Di Xin did struggle a little with her dialogue and I did tell the class to consider language too and not only acting ... Sorry! But to be part of the best 5 is still an achievement I am convinced about. ;-)
Haha, thanks for the compliment; but I must admit there are indeed some wonderful people in China too (look at my students, for instance!). :)
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