---
title: "Async/await for cleaner reading"
course: "FE101 · Build your first website"
unit: "Going async"
lesson: 28 of 36
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/build-your-first-website/async-await-for-cleaner-reading
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Async/await for cleaner reading

Lesson 28 of 36 in **Build your first website** (FE101), unit "Going async". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Define an async function and explain its meaning
- Use await to wait for a Promise inside an async function
- Understand that calling an async function doesn't block the program
- Compare 'async/await' to 'then' syntax

## Teaching notes
A rewrite, not a restart: the student converts the .then() chain THEY wrote in the previous lessons to async/await with try/catch - same promise, cleaner reading. Traps: await only works inside async functions, and a forgotten await yields 'Promise {}' instead of data (connect to how this editor prints Promises).

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 28 complete: Async/await for cleaner reading."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Real pattern: dependent requests" (lesson 29 of 36), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/build-your-first-website/real-pattern-dependent-requests.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Turning a response into data with .json()
Next lesson: Real pattern: dependent requests