16 JUN 2006

 

 

 

Dearest Crystal:

 

You should have been the first one for me to write and thank for everything you did for me during my first two days in Beijing. I couldn’t have made it without you. You are the finest tour guide I ever had. Don’t ever stop doing this kind of work. In fact, providing this service to newcomers to Beijing seems to be a virtual guarantee for you to always have filled E:P:N classrooms. I would have a sign-up list for several semesters in advance. Nothing makes belonging more desirable as having to go on a waiting list!

 

Again, please forgive me for being late in saying all this. My excuse is a botched eye operation, but really, I should have written sooner. And I am ashamed to say that even Eastman has not yet been thanked for his vital part of bringing us all together. Today, I finally wrote to Shirley, so I am catching up and doing what I do best: coaching people to pursue their dreams. Sometime soon, tell me yours. It will help me be the type of friend I know how to be.

 

First, Crystal, you may want to ask attorney, Hongmei, (Shirley’s friend) in Shandong to suggest a structure for the entrepreneurial leg of this study, probably a corporation, if we get you started privately.

 

On the PPT presentation at http://clozeonline.us/EPN_classroom.ppt, I use the name EPN-CCC, Inc. for E:P:N Classroom Consortium of China, Incorporated. This, of course, could be anything the group decides to use. It is just my input. However, since this China project will hopefully be only the first of many consortiums, it would be helpful if we could use a name that can be adapted to other countries. Like EPN-CCJ could be used in Japan.

 

What you will need are:

 

·    Probably a business license (Hongmei could coach you on that).

·    You’ll need a 100 sq meter facility (app 8m x 12m) with parking.

·    12 networked computers. I suggest you get company trade-ins; they cost very little. Maybe Grace’s husband can help. Ask him.

·    And you’ll need a dedicated heart to the process of using E:P:N for improving learner motivation and language production . . . including better grades on text-based math questions (through better reading comprehension) and better grades on all TEFL-type examinations.

 

Crystal, you won’t need Internet access if you use my software, which is free, of course, for the duration of the study. The data for the C-test restorations will be on your laptop, as will be the bilingual sayings they search and choose from.

 

That’s about it. I would suggest that you send a copy of everything you do to Eastman, to allow him to be your mentor. This would help you in the form of support while allow him to be meaningfully involved.  In fact, it would be great if he could groom a go-getter such as you in his own city. 

 

Eastman may be the perfect “ombudsman” to this China project . . . an E:P:N based matchmaker who gets the right people together at the right time, and for the right reasons, as I am trying to do.  Ask him. Though I plan to ask him myself as well, it would help him make a decision if you shared with him all of your feelings. I would trust him to coach you to not even get started if he felt you might not be ready to do this successfully.

 

We’ll talk some more soon. And, for the study’s sake, please write to me/us soon . . . and not just with questions, but also with thoughts and feelings that might help us with the selection process for the private leg of this study in other provinces.

 

BTW, have you seen our picture yet? I think it looks charming, don’t you? It’s at http://clozeonline.us/Beijing/Crystal_Wang.JPG.

 

I’ll write again soon. Take care.

 

Joe

 

Oh! I found a very lovely home for your present to me. Our daughter, Jeanine, has the type of home your runners were made for. She is very fond of them. Thank you. You are a very caring and thoughtful young lady. I look forward to helping you get started.

 

http://mylnn.net