TEACHING MAHJONG WORKSHOPS - AN EXPERIENCE

EP had his first two basic mahjong workshops last weekend, and I went along for a gander.

The first workshop on Saturday wasn't quite well done, due to the small class size (only six persons) and a little lack of planning on our parts. The situation was further exacerbated by the fact that half of the class didn't seem very interested in the game in the first place. However, with the first workshop under our belts, we were able better to plan for the Sunday workshop, which had a much larger class, a more interested group and as a result, everyone had a better time.

A large proportion of the class were senior citizens, since they are also the main target group for this set of mahjong workshops. While EP had expected to run into language problems due to this, it wasn't as bad as we anticipated, since we are quite ffectively bilingual (by Singaporean standards, at least). What I ran into, however, were, poor short term memory, short attention span etc, all the issues associated with seniors generally.

I am no teacher material; I am too lacking in patience. I used to think teaching little kids were the ultimate challenge. It would take only this long before all their Whys, Whats, and Hows drove me crazy. I think teaching senior citizens mahjong may rank up there as well. For me at least.

Imagine this going on during the hands-on session, after EP had already gone through the basic theory with the class:

Senior Citizen: So, what is pung?
Me: Oh, that's when you make a set of three identical tiles. You have two have two of the tiles in your hand first...blah explain blah....
SC: Orh....ok, ok.

2 mins later

SC: How do you make a pung har?
Me: Oh, you have to have two identical tiles in your hand, and you....blah explain blah....
SC: Orh, yah, three of a kind, three of a kind....

5 mins later

SC: I have one (X tile) here, can I pung that (X tile)?
Me: No, sorry, you have to have two of them in your hand...blah explain blah....
SC: Oh yah, must be three....

2 mins later

SC: How to pung har?
Me: Like I said before, you....blah explain blah...
SC: Oh, ok, understand.

3 mins later

SC: Why I cannot pung har?
Me: Because,  you need to have two identical tiles in your hand before....blah explain blah...
SC: Oh yah hor.

Rinse and repeat for entire two hour hands on session.

Please note there is no intention to make fun of senior citizens; but there is no denying that such issues do exist when seniors are involved. I have to be frank and admit it takes more than what I have to sit through all that class after class. It is therefore a very good thing that EP is the trainer for the workshops, with all his teaching experiences under the belt, and not I.

The above frustration aside, it was exciting to introduce mahjong to the group, and see people getting hooked on the game. It feels good when I hear the students comment that they finally understand why so many love the game. And I am sure it goes ten fold for EP.

EP has a few more workshops scheduled for the upcoming weeks, but we still want to make time for our own mahjong sessions as well, especially since we have our eyes on the big event later this year. I have all my fingers crossed; and toes too!