With Li Ming not elaborating further, the conversation about the topic came to an end as simple as that. In any case, the other participants of the course were also slowly arriving.
Li Ming glanced at all of them but he didn’t recognize anyone else from either the elevator or the corridor. It seemed that all of them had come up here after the three of them.
Yao Ai also watched on as more and more people arrived and turned back to Li Ming. "Oh, this is really like in back in school. I hope the course won’t be boring though. There were some classes where I almost fell asleep. And I’ve never been that good at languages. Do you think a course in communication will be any better?"
Li Ming gave the teacher a sideways glance who had raised a hand to his mouth as if he was trying not to laugh out loud before he turned back to Yao Ai. She was a little too open with what she thought, wasn’t she? Clearly, with sitting so close to the teacher, he would be able to hear every word she said. "Well, I guess it is different from learning a language. As for being boring … I guess that will depend both on how much you like the topic and also how the course is structured. But I guess it will be different from a class at school."
Duan Zhi Hao leaned forward, inserting himself back into the conversation. "I promise you it is! It depends a bit on the teacher though. Some of them are really traditional so it feels a lot like being back in school or university. But there are also some that take a different approach. Especially the younger ones so …" He faintly raised his brows and motioned toward the teacher sitting at the front, feeling that this should be self-explanatory.
Yao Ai was still afraid of being recognized so she didn’t dare to look over there but she had gotten a glimpse of him before so she was pretty sure that he was one of the young ones. "Well, I guess I can only hope for the best then."
Li Ming gave a hum but then couldn’t help but inquire a bit further. "Did your parents choose this course as well?"
"Well … they didn’t directly choose it. They just said I should choose one of the courses that they offered and this one sounded quite alright. Also, some of these courses are going for three months. That seemed so long! I figured I’d do a short one first to see how it is. If I like it, I can still go back for another one. But this one … I thought that it would be best for starting out."
Li Ming nodded, feeling that this was quite sensible. "Well, it does give you an opportunity to take a look and figure out whether you would like it or not. If you don’t, you can find something else to do and take things in a different direction without having invested too much. But if you do like it, that would be time well invested and you can still take more advanced courses afterward."
"That’s what I thought! I think my parents were a little disappointed that I chose a short one but they didn’t really say anything. I’m sure they will interrogate me about it when I come home though. I’d better take lots of notes so I can tell them all about it."
"Better do that then, yes. Anyway, it can’t hurt to have notes so you can take a look at them later on either." Speaking of that, he took a glance at the time and realized that the course would already start in a couple of minutes. He also wasn’t too sure what to expect. But anyway, he was curious about it. So he wasn’t dreading this in the same way that Yao Ai was.
Finally, the last participant arrived and the break time also came to an end.
The teacher that had been sitting at his desk got up, giving them a smile. "First, let me welcome you to this comprehensive course in communication. This might only be a two-week course but I hope that you will have learned the most important basics about the topic when you walk out of this room for the last time.
"First, let me introduce myself: My name is Linghu Jiahao. I studied communication both nationally and abroad and have since given courses for corporations around the world.
"Now, after returning to Shanghai, I am offering a course that is less focused on communication in the business world. Instead, we will address communication in all parts of life. The course will allow you to understand the theory so that you can identify and overcome problems in any kind of communicative situation in the future.
"While I will try to use many different examples to make the theory easier for you to understand, I would like to know what your reasons for joining this course were so that we can adjust it to your needs. So, please introduce yourself to everyone and say the sentence or two about your motivations." He turned to Duan Zhi Hao first and nodded. "Would you like to begin?"
Duan Zhi Hao straightened up. Having done this several times already, he wasn’t nervous at all and got up, inclining his head toward the others and starting to introduce himself, sounding almost as if he had memorized that speech.
Li Ming had already gotten to know Duan Zhi Hao so he only glanced at him before he turned back to the front, looking at the teacher instead. Even though he hadn’t said much yet, he did like his way of speaking. It was slow and deliberate, very calming. He seemed like a person who would be patient in explaining what they were supposed to understand. He really felt that they were off to a good start here. The next two weeks, he would definitely enjoy them.
