Newsletter (2017-2018) April 2018 Newsletter | Page 8

WORKSHOP SPOTLIGHTS
Sasha Sikorska | Ukraine
As a second-year tutor at EdUHK, I honestly had run out of the ideas for new workshops. Repeating
the same ones that I had taught before was not interesting and delivering workshops on completely
random topics was not a good idea either. One day I was watching videos on YouTube and a video
with two Australians presenting so-called Aussie English popped up. I watched the video, and it
was a very funny one, so I thought, “What if I make a workshop on acronyms and abbreviations?”
Why acronyms and abbreviations? Because that’s how Australians speak––using shortened ver-
sions of the words. I started to research what would be interesting to learn and how to deliver the
workshop, so it could be educational but fun at the same time. I found few videos with people
talking using mainly acronyms and abbreviations in their speeches and prepared some games to
memorise the most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations.
On the day that I delivered this workshop, I still felt like it could have been more educational, but
the students that attended the workshop seemed to enjoy it and have fun while learning––that’s
the biggest and most important reward for us as International Tutors. So please join us at our work-
shops and be sure that you will not only learn but also enjoy your time!
Left: Sasha held a workshop on acronyms and abbreviations. Right: Oliver taught about the evolution of hip-
hop, which originated in the Bronx, New York City.
Oliver Wijayapala | USA
One of the workshops I conducted was “The Art of Rap and Hip-Hop.” In this workshop, students
explored the history of Rap and Hip-Hop culture and its place in contemporary media. I began the
workshop with various quotes about Hip-Hop culture. Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam
Recordings, said that “the thing about Hip-Hop is that it’s from the underground, ideas from the un-
derbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognised”. During the
beginning of our discussions, I noticed that although Hip-Hop culture is recognised in mainstream
Hong Kong pop culture, there were many misconceptions about the true meaning behind the Hip-
Hop movement. Through understanding the origins of Hip-Hop, students were able to appreciate
its history and understand the evolution between original and current Hip-Hop music.
In addition, students also learned how to create their own rap music through mastery of content,
flow, and rhyming techniques. Most importantly, students learned that rapping is similar to poetry
in that words originally became an expression for many inner-city youths to talk about problems in
their community. In addition, students came to understand that rapping, like other music genres,
evolved over time into different musical directions. This workshop offered students new insight in
analysing music production and rap lyrics.
APRIL 2018
6