Help
Looking for somebody capable of teaching a potential player from "there are 52 cards in the deck". Non-card player who occasionally watches a table but has no clue what's going on. I have a learning disability so physical whiteboard lectures are an absolute must (read: it's non-negotiable; if you use PowerPoint slides only I would rather you not respond). Will pay for the right fit because Im uncomfortable learning in groups and don't have access to a club. Reply if and only if you're capable of filming in a classroom and using a physical whiteboard.
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Looking for beginner teacher
#2
- Group: Full Members
- Posts: 265
- Joined: 2021-November-17
Posted Yesterday, 13:26
David:
I hope this doesn't come across as condescending in any way. I can sense the frustration in the comments you've posted and am asking questions just to see if I have any helpful suggestions. (I'm not a teacher so can't help with your request directly.)
1. What's your goal? For example, is it to play bridge on BBO with robots at the other 3 seats?
2. What is it about the whiteboard that makes it work so well for you? For example, if you were to play bridge on BBO, would you be able to process information (such as the way cards and bids are shown) well enough to play?
3. If there are existing recorded lessons on YouTube where the teacher happens to use a whiteboard or write on paper, would that work for you?
4. Are you on Discord? I think there are a couple of active bridge-related groups where people might have ideas/support for you.
5. Finally, rather than approaching this from the bridge side, have you considered approaching it from the neurodivergent side, .e.g, finding some like-minded people who are interested in learning bridge with you?
I hope this doesn't come across as condescending in any way. I can sense the frustration in the comments you've posted and am asking questions just to see if I have any helpful suggestions. (I'm not a teacher so can't help with your request directly.)
1. What's your goal? For example, is it to play bridge on BBO with robots at the other 3 seats?
2. What is it about the whiteboard that makes it work so well for you? For example, if you were to play bridge on BBO, would you be able to process information (such as the way cards and bids are shown) well enough to play?
3. If there are existing recorded lessons on YouTube where the teacher happens to use a whiteboard or write on paper, would that work for you?
4. Are you on Discord? I think there are a couple of active bridge-related groups where people might have ideas/support for you.
5. Finally, rather than approaching this from the bridge side, have you considered approaching it from the neurodivergent side, .e.g, finding some like-minded people who are interested in learning bridge with you?
#3
- Group: Members
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 2025-February-05
Posted Yesterday, 16:44
jdiana, on 2025-February-12, 13:26, said:
David:
I hope this doesn't come across as condescending in any way. I can sense the frustration in the comments you've posted and am asking questions just to see if I have any helpful suggestions. (I'm not a teacher so can't help with your request directly.)
1. What's your goal? For example, is it to play bridge on BBO with robots at the other 3 seats?
2. What is it about the whiteboard that makes it work so well for you? For example, if you were to play bridge on BBO, would you be able to process information (such as the way cards and bids are shown) well enough to play?
3. If there are existing recorded lessons on YouTube where the teacher happens to use a whiteboard or write on paper, would that work for you?
4. Are you on Discord? I think there are a couple of active bridge-related groups where people might have ideas/support for you.
5. Finally, rather than approaching this from the bridge side, have you considered approaching it from the neurodivergent side, .e.g, finding some like-minded people who are interested in learning bridge with you?
I hope this doesn't come across as condescending in any way. I can sense the frustration in the comments you've posted and am asking questions just to see if I have any helpful suggestions. (I'm not a teacher so can't help with your request directly.)
1. What's your goal? For example, is it to play bridge on BBO with robots at the other 3 seats?
2. What is it about the whiteboard that makes it work so well for you? For example, if you were to play bridge on BBO, would you be able to process information (such as the way cards and bids are shown) well enough to play?
3. If there are existing recorded lessons on YouTube where the teacher happens to use a whiteboard or write on paper, would that work for you?
4. Are you on Discord? I think there are a couple of active bridge-related groups where people might have ideas/support for you.
5. Finally, rather than approaching this from the bridge side, have you considered approaching it from the neurodivergent side, .e.g, finding some like-minded people who are interested in learning bridge with you?
The frustration IS real. So your queries deserve answers:
1) Playing with three robots is my "first base". Being able to play with a partner is what I really want, but established players being hostile to beginners is as well documented as bridge teachers treating anyone and everyone under the age of 70 as not welcome (and I'm 46). I don't have the patience to expose myself to a partner who likely won't give patience back. I guess you could say playing the individual events on BBO is a Plan B.
2) It's all about parsing about what's important so I can take the concepts to the table. With PowerPoint slides, I can forget about that. I've tried. Someone else who answered privately (but can't help) could tell that there is potential for me to develop to a point where I can at least enjoy the game, if only the learning materials were accessible.
3) To date I have yet to find one. My ideal teacher needs to leave their humor at the door and focus on teaching, nothing else. Dry and droning lectures with plenty of opportunities to ask questions, some of them you would consider to be borderline asinine, are exactly what I want. YouTube videos can't do that.
4) With all due respect, what on Earth is Discord?
5) That's not happening. I don't drive, so finding other neurodivergents is equivalent to asking me to jump into the Charles River in Boston and expecting me to swim when I can't.
David
#4
- Group: Full Members
- Posts: 265
- Joined: 2021-November-17
Posted Yesterday, 17:54
Hi David.
Thanks for answering my questions. Sorry - I should have sent you a private message; I didn't think of it.
Discord is an app that provides an online platform for chatting that includes (if you want it) video and audio. Groups are usually organized around shared interests. It started out as focused on gaming but has become more general since then. (I'm 65 years old so not a natural Discord user. I was in a bridge Discord for a while but eventually left.) I was thinking that you might be able to meet some like-minded people online, not in real life. I understand that you don't drive.
Jim
Thanks for answering my questions. Sorry - I should have sent you a private message; I didn't think of it.
Discord is an app that provides an online platform for chatting that includes (if you want it) video and audio. Groups are usually organized around shared interests. It started out as focused on gaming but has become more general since then. (I'm 65 years old so not a natural Discord user. I was in a bridge Discord for a while but eventually left.) I was thinking that you might be able to meet some like-minded people online, not in real life. I understand that you don't drive.
Jim
#5
- Secretary Bird
-
- Group: Advanced Members
- Posts: 7,634
- Joined: 2003-July-12
- Gender:Male
- Location:Calgary, D18; Chapala, D16
Posted Yesterday, 20:59
First, let me say that I am not a teacher, I am a director and an A (but not expert) player. I do well in mentoring situations with players who are experienced but not necessarily strong, and are looking to mend gaps in their knowledge or their planning. So I would not be good for you even were I to want to do this - still remembering my teacher's comment of "don't let [mycroft] near the novices" (all he will do is confuse them).
But were I to try to do it, I would normally be doing teams chat or the like, with, as you say, PedantPoint slides, because you can have face camera and text display. That's doable from my laptop. To change from that to your required style would require:
So you're asking me to put up over $1000 just for the tools to try something that will work for you, assuming that my teaching style does (which we don't know yet).
And worst of all, bridge isn't really something that you learn from slides (or whiteboard, or...) anyway. There's a language to learn, sure; and basics (8-card major fits are golden, 26 HCP give or take for game, here's the game bids, here's how you open and respond, and from there...) to memorize - but a good teacher will be explaining why so that the what makes sense, rather than giving you rules to memorize and regurgitate. But you run out of those things really quickly, and even lesson 1 only works when we get cards into your (virtual) hands, and you can watch the wheels turn and practise the language and lessons.
I repeat - you can not learn to play bridge, even at the beginner level, in a lecture hall. You have to play the lesson hands (and sooner than you think, you have to play non-lesson hands!)
Pre-recorded lectures won't help much without playing the hands that match the lessons. Even live lectures, with questions answered, will give you a bunch of statements that will not fit unless and until you play the hands. The reason people are suggesting a group (virtual or in-class) is that yes - there are many, me included, who have insufficient patience for absolute beginners. But you know who does? Other absolute beginners - who are also looking for someone at their level to learn the next step.
The joy of bridge is that, once you learn the basics, you can play a game in Boise or Bengaluru or Budapest, even if you can't speak the language of your partner, because you both speak the language of bridge. (*) The other joy of bridge is that once you take that first step to "new player" - which I will admit is a big step - you have a game that you will be learning for the rest of your life; because you'll see the holes in your knowledge *at the (virtual) table* and go looking for answers, and the answers are there (here, BW, books, advanced lessons, ...) And I really hope you find something that works for you.
So, the reasons I don't try to meet your (completely reasonable, from your end. This is not a criticism or a "surely he can't need all that to learn") requirements are: I can't teach you, I can't afford to try, and without a practice table of players anything I do try won't work. There are many who don't have the first two issues - but nobody can fake the third.
(*) Yes, I know, regular forum people, in some places the "accents" are not mutually intelligable. But really, it does work more than one would think from the outside.
But were I to try to do it, I would normally be doing teams chat or the like, with, as you say, PedantPoint slides, because you can have face camera and text display. That's doable from my laptop. To change from that to your required style would require:
- a whiteboard and markers: USD 130-200, depending on the size and style (how about an easel and paper (USD 100 or so), would that be okay?)
- Video camera capable of doing full display projection and recording, probably USD 300-500 or so
- Streamer quality microphone (and headset?): USD 200-300 or so
- If it was going to be put into lecture form instead of live, recording and editing software (probably USD 139 at least)
- And a room I could set all this up in.
So you're asking me to put up over $1000 just for the tools to try something that will work for you, assuming that my teaching style does (which we don't know yet).
And worst of all, bridge isn't really something that you learn from slides (or whiteboard, or...) anyway. There's a language to learn, sure; and basics (8-card major fits are golden, 26 HCP give or take for game, here's the game bids, here's how you open and respond, and from there...) to memorize - but a good teacher will be explaining why so that the what makes sense, rather than giving you rules to memorize and regurgitate. But you run out of those things really quickly, and even lesson 1 only works when we get cards into your (virtual) hands, and you can watch the wheels turn and practise the language and lessons.
I repeat - you can not learn to play bridge, even at the beginner level, in a lecture hall. You have to play the lesson hands (and sooner than you think, you have to play non-lesson hands!)
Pre-recorded lectures won't help much without playing the hands that match the lessons. Even live lectures, with questions answered, will give you a bunch of statements that will not fit unless and until you play the hands. The reason people are suggesting a group (virtual or in-class) is that yes - there are many, me included, who have insufficient patience for absolute beginners. But you know who does? Other absolute beginners - who are also looking for someone at their level to learn the next step.
The joy of bridge is that, once you learn the basics, you can play a game in Boise or Bengaluru or Budapest, even if you can't speak the language of your partner, because you both speak the language of bridge. (*) The other joy of bridge is that once you take that first step to "new player" - which I will admit is a big step - you have a game that you will be learning for the rest of your life; because you'll see the holes in your knowledge *at the (virtual) table* and go looking for answers, and the answers are there (here, BW, books, advanced lessons, ...) And I really hope you find something that works for you.
So, the reasons I don't try to meet your (completely reasonable, from your end. This is not a criticism or a "surely he can't need all that to learn") requirements are: I can't teach you, I can't afford to try, and without a practice table of players anything I do try won't work. There are many who don't have the first two issues - but nobody can fake the third.
(*) Yes, I know, regular forum people, in some places the "accents" are not mutually intelligable. But really, it does work more than one would think from the outside.
When I go to sea, don't fear for me, Fear For The Storm -- Birdie and the Swansong (tSCoSI)
#6
- Group: Members
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 2025-February-05
Posted Today, 01:08
mycroft, on 2025-February-12, 20:59, said:
First, let me say that I am not a teacher, I am a director and an A (but not expert) player. I do well in mentoring situations with players who are experienced but not necessarily strong, and are looking to mend gaps in their knowledge or their planning. So I would not be good for you even were I to want to do this - still remembering my teacher's comment of "don't let [mycroft] near the novices" (all he will do is confuse them).
But were I to try to do it, I would normally be doing teams chat or the like, with, as you say, PedantPoint slides, because you can have face camera and text display. That's doable from my laptop. To change from that to your required style would require:
So you're asking me to put up over $1000 just for the tools to try something that will work for you, assuming that my teaching style does (which we don't know yet).
And worst of all, bridge isn't really something that you learn from slides (or whiteboard, or...) anyway. There's a language to learn, sure; and basics (8-card major fits are golden, 26 HCP give or take for game, here's the game bids, here's how you open and respond, and from there...) to memorize - but a good teacher will be explaining why so that the what makes sense, rather than giving you rules to memorize and regurgitate. But you run out of those things really quickly, and even lesson 1 only works when we get cards into your (virtual) hands, and you can watch the wheels turn and practise the language and lessons.
I repeat - you can not learn to play bridge, even at the beginner level, in a lecture hall. You have to play the lesson hands (and sooner than you think, you have to play non-lesson hands!)
Pre-recorded lectures won't help much without playing the hands that match the lessons. Even live lectures, with questions answered, will give you a bunch of statements that will not fit unless and until you play the hands. The reason people are suggesting a group (virtual or in-class) is that yes - there are many, me included, who have insufficient patience for absolute beginners. But you know who does? Other absolute beginners - who are also looking for someone at their level to learn the next step.
The joy of bridge is that, once you learn the basics, you can play a game in Boise or Bengaluru or Budapest, even if you can't speak the language of your partner, because you both speak the language of bridge. (*) The other joy of bridge is that once you take that first step to "new player" - which I will admit is a big step - you have a game that you will be learning for the rest of your life; because you'll see the holes in your knowledge *at the (virtual) table* and go looking for answers, and the answers are there (here, BW, books, advanced lessons, ...) And I really hope you find something that works for you.
So, the reasons I don't try to meet your (completely reasonable, from your end. This is not a criticism or a "surely he can't need all that to learn") requirements are: I can't teach you, I can't afford to try, and without a practice table of players anything I do try won't work. There are many who don't have the first two issues - but nobody can fake the third.
(*) Yes, I know, regular forum people, in some places the "accents" are not mutually intelligable. But really, it does work more than one would think from the outside.
But were I to try to do it, I would normally be doing teams chat or the like, with, as you say, PedantPoint slides, because you can have face camera and text display. That's doable from my laptop. To change from that to your required style would require:
- a whiteboard and markers: USD 130-200, depending on the size and style (how about an easel and paper (USD 100 or so), would that be okay?)
- Video camera capable of doing full display projection and recording, probably USD 300-500 or so
- Streamer quality microphone (and headset?): USD 200-300 or so
- If it was going to be put into lecture form instead of live, recording and editing software (probably USD 139 at least)
- And a room I could set all this up in.
So you're asking me to put up over $1000 just for the tools to try something that will work for you, assuming that my teaching style does (which we don't know yet).
And worst of all, bridge isn't really something that you learn from slides (or whiteboard, or...) anyway. There's a language to learn, sure; and basics (8-card major fits are golden, 26 HCP give or take for game, here's the game bids, here's how you open and respond, and from there...) to memorize - but a good teacher will be explaining why so that the what makes sense, rather than giving you rules to memorize and regurgitate. But you run out of those things really quickly, and even lesson 1 only works when we get cards into your (virtual) hands, and you can watch the wheels turn and practise the language and lessons.
I repeat - you can not learn to play bridge, even at the beginner level, in a lecture hall. You have to play the lesson hands (and sooner than you think, you have to play non-lesson hands!)
Pre-recorded lectures won't help much without playing the hands that match the lessons. Even live lectures, with questions answered, will give you a bunch of statements that will not fit unless and until you play the hands. The reason people are suggesting a group (virtual or in-class) is that yes - there are many, me included, who have insufficient patience for absolute beginners. But you know who does? Other absolute beginners - who are also looking for someone at their level to learn the next step.
The joy of bridge is that, once you learn the basics, you can play a game in Boise or Bengaluru or Budapest, even if you can't speak the language of your partner, because you both speak the language of bridge. (*) The other joy of bridge is that once you take that first step to "new player" - which I will admit is a big step - you have a game that you will be learning for the rest of your life; because you'll see the holes in your knowledge *at the (virtual) table* and go looking for answers, and the answers are there (here, BW, books, advanced lessons, ...) And I really hope you find something that works for you.
So, the reasons I don't try to meet your (completely reasonable, from your end. This is not a criticism or a "surely he can't need all that to learn") requirements are: I can't teach you, I can't afford to try, and without a practice table of players anything I do try won't work. There are many who don't have the first two issues - but nobody can fake the third.
(*) Yes, I know, regular forum people, in some places the "accents" are not mutually intelligable. But really, it does work more than one would think from the outside.
So in other words, you're stupid and inconsiderate of learning disabilities. Got it.
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