🎯 Goal: Start talking about current work and tech choices
Teacher shares first: "Right now I'm working on a React project with TypeScript. We chose it because the team wanted better type safety..."
Then discuss naturally:
- What technologies are you currently using?
- What's your favorite tool/framework right now and why?
- What's a tech decision you made recently that you're proud of?
📖 Essential Phrases for Tech Discussions
Teacher introduces these while discussing the tech stack:
| Phrase | When to use it |
|---|---|
| I'm currently working on | "I'm currently working on a microservices architecture" |
| We opted for / went with | "We opted for PostgreSQL over MongoDB" |
| The main advantage is | "The main advantage is faster deployment times" |
| One trade-off is | "One trade-off is increased complexity" |
| It integrates well with | "It integrates well with our existing CI/CD pipeline" |
| I prefer X over Y because | "I prefer TypeScript over JavaScript because of type safety" |
Teacher acts as a tech lead/senior dev interviewing about the student's current stack
Sample Interview Questions:
- "Walk me through your current tech stack. What are you using and why?"
- "What was the most challenging technical decision you had to make recently?"
- "How do you decide which framework or library to use for a new project?"
- "Tell me about a time you had to convince your team to adopt a new technology"
- "What tools do you use for testing? Why those specifically?"
- "How do you stay updated with new technologies?"
Now the student becomes the interviewer! Ask about the teacher's tech choices, projects, and technical decisions.
Together, choose ONE scenario and discuss different approaches:
Scenario 1: Scaling a Monolith
Problem: Your monolithic app is getting slow with 10k+ users. Do you refactor to microservices, optimize the current stack, or try serverless?
Discuss: Pros/cons of each approach, what you'd recommend, technologies you'd use
Scenario 2: Choosing a Frontend Framework
Problem: Starting a new project. Team is split between React, Vue, and Svelte. How do you decide?
Discuss: Evaluation criteria, team skills, project requirements, your preference and why
Scenario 3: Database Migration
Problem: Your MySQL database is hitting performance limits. Should you migrate to PostgreSQL, switch to NoSQL, or optimize MySQL?
Discuss: Migration risks, downtime concerns, data consistency, your technical recommendation
🎯 Final discussion:
- Which phrase from today will help you most in tech discussions?
- Did this interview format feel realistic to actual tech interviews?
- What's one thing about your tech stack you explained better today than before?
Write a technical explanation (200-250 words) as if answering this interview question:
"Describe your current tech stack. Why did you choose these specific technologies, and what trade-offs did you consider?"
Must include:
- At least 3 phrases from today's vocabulary
- Specific technology names (frameworks, databases, tools)
- Reasons for your choices (advantages/trade-offs)
- Sound confident and professional (like in a real interview)