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TeachingGoToNewcomersDiscussion
Let's give each our opinion on how to teach go to newcomers. Hopefully we can assemble it into Teaching Go To Newcomers? Kris Rhodes: (How about a page on HowNotToTeachGo?) Dieter: Yesterday, I taught the basic aspects of the game to a newcomer. Then he played one of our clubmembers. I told him incidentally that he should put down the three stones so that White's lower right corner remained empty. Next, I played another clubmember. We wished each other good luck with the game, saying "Onegaeshimas" - or whatever it should be. It occurred that the newcomer was struck by both habits of politeness. He later asked "Should I know other things ?" I will most certainly include those GoodHabits in my next "first session" and include others like HowToProperlyHoldAndPlayAGoStone in second and third sessions. People usually get overwhelmed by too technical explanations. They just love it when those side aspects come into the picture. And I remember I did. Scartol: Things I usually include in my first lesson:
... and along the way I toss in the things I find most intriguing; the respect players show each other, the history of the game, how to hold a stone, Japanese terms, etc. I think it's important -- whatever is being taught -- to combine information with excitement. BenShoemaker: To create a useful TeachingGoToNewcomers? page I think we need to discuss:
I personally would find the organization and completeness of such lists to be very helpful. (As I think about it, it would be nice to have a list of concepts for the beginner to study further, not just during the first lesson. If the list could be in order of complexity, that would be great, but maybe at least ordered to allow certain concepts to build on others.) Dieter: I think we have that already at TeachingPaths and BeginnerStudySection Chris Hayashida: Having started playing go just over a year ago, and now teaching a beginner's class, I thought I'd share my thoughts, less on material, and more on style:
As for technique, I would say that these are the most important, after the basic rules:
Conversely, I think these can wait:
Scartol: The more I teach beginners, the less use I have for the 9x9 board. It feels analogous to teaching someone how to play chess using only pawns. The complexity of the board's regions and groups is what makes the game interesting for me, and beginners get none of that on a 9x9 -- it's all corner play. I moved to the 13x13 as soon as I was able, and I encourage my students to do the same. Stefan: I think I know where you're coming from. Most beginners in our club don't play on 9x9 very long, but do on 13x13 for a while. I'd say 9x9 is for getting a working knowledge of the rules, 13x13 for getting a working knowledge of the basic techniques and concepts, and 19x19 for finding out you'll never have a clue. Chris Hayashida: Sorry, I didn't mean that the beginners should stay on a 9x9 board for very long. I should have written "smaller boards" instead of "9x9 boards." Usually our beginners start playing on a 13x13 within two or three nights. (More than anything, I think it's a lack of boards that's causing this, but the AGA will soon fix that. :) However, I do think that simplifying the game does appeal to some people. My comments above apply to 13x13 board as well. Our club is a little different, since we meet weekly in a local coffeehouse. Many people come to the coffeehouse, see the game, and decide to start playing. I think the simple rules attract potential students. It also helps that you can get several games in the course of an hour. These people are a little more intimidated by the 19x19 boards. I think it's a different situation than a "real" go club, since people visiting there would only be coming by if they wanted to learn to play anyway. This is a copy of the living page "TeachingGoToNewcomersDiscussion" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |