Storytelling to Tambora

Today, on the 23^rd of March I had my English review, that was in form of storytelling for 2^nd graders. I wrote a story that I thought was made for an older and more mature audience, so I had some pages that wasn’t in “children's language and I thought that it would be too sophisticated for them, but it turned out to be just fine after a few tweaks and synonyms. I did sense that because of my story doesn’t has much of a plot and is a bit confusing for 2^nd graders, after I told them they were a bit confused. But nevertheless, they seemed to enjoy it, especially the artworks.

When I was telling the story, I used Bahasa Indonesia first, and then I read the English translation. I also asked if they understood what this word meant, or what is this word in Bahasa Indonesia. When I asked about the translations, they did seem quite confused and just stared at me, so I eventually told them what it meant, and I asked them to repeat it sometimes.

I think that they were more interested in the artwork instead of the whole plot, so I think for my next storytelling session, I need to shorten the length of the book, and write a story with a more children friendly plot and easier/simpler words.

Nevertheless, it was a nice session, and I didn’t fail miserably, which was one of my worst case scenarios. Even though I would not opt for another session, because I just feel weirdly intimidated in front of the children, possibly because children are the biggest critics—I wouldn’t mind if I was asked to do another session.