The Answers on the Social Media are Not Always Right

I can’t read anymore Mah Jongg posts on Facebook In April. With the new card there are always going to be lots of questions and people looking for clarifications. It’s not the questioners that bother me, but the answerers.

So many people consider themselves, experts, and whose to say how one qualifies as an expert. Lots of people also teach Mah Jongg. Most in small groups once in a while and some like me, as a full time job. There is no certification for teachers, and lord knows there should be one.

I say this based on hearing from my students how learning from others went, after they came to my class. I feel like there should be a few basic requirements for teachers. First, don’t drink before or during class. Second, have some kind of plan about how you are going to teach. Third, if you teach with a partner, don’t constantly disagree with each other about material parts of the game. I hear the nightmare stories that my students have told me that make me embarrassed for “teachers.”

I personally am no longer going to read the online questions because if I do I can’t help, but read the online answers. Oh Lord. The wrong things people write. Some times I understand what they might be getting act, but their imprecise use of language messes up the answer.

All games involve strategy and it amazes me what people think about Mah Jongg strategy. One person wrote that the FIRST thing she teaches her students is that Mah Jongg is a defensive game. Really, the First Thing?

The idea that this is a defensive game could not be more wrong. Yes, we all need to understand defense, but you can’t take a totally defensive position from the start and ever have a chance to win. You just can’t keep what you think other people want and have space to save what you need to win. If your attitude is defensive all the time the best you can do is tie, but mostly you are guaranteeing you are losing. Of course if you don’t see a way towards winning yourself you should turn to defensive play, but you just can’t start that way.

The more I read what people write the more I can see their personalities in the way they play and the way they teach. Glass half empty people take a much greater defensive tact. “I don’t care if I lose, I just don’t want you to win.”

What a terrible point of view to live by. I teach completely the opposite and I think that is why people love playing the game. I want to be happy when someone else wins, and still try and win myself.

This is a game. Teaching it and learning it need to be nothing but fun. I did a zoom class last week and it was not fun at all. There was no way to joke around with my students. They probably learned the material, but golly, what a dull way to do it.

If you are looking to learn anything, make sure you like the teacher and they know how to convey the information in a way that is enjoyable. No glass half empty teachers for a game. And stop reading the answers on the internet unless you know the source is reputable like the women who run Mah Jongg Websites and pod casts and teach big classes. There are plenty of actual experts, Dara, Debbie, Donna, Johni, Fern, Molly are a few trusted names.

My students know how to reach me to get their questions answered. Don’t trust social media to get the right answer.