Chinese Students - Blogabond

Hello everyone. It has been a couple of days since my recent posting, and I have some good excuses. First, as usual, I have been busy. When I get back to my place late in the evening, my first instinct is not to jump onto the internet. But the main reason is that I have been slightly under the weather. I went about two and a half-weeks eating nothing but the local, traditional Chinese food (including some things that I could not identify) and had no problems. Then a few days ago I go to Pizza Hut, a western steak-house, and McDonalds and voila...my stomach can't handle it...hmmm. Needless to say, it illness appears to have been mild.

My "Young" Kids: Obviously Not Laid-Back

I am now almost done with my first week of teaching the children of the teachers at Xiamen Public School #6. This is a much different experience than teaching the students OF #6. First off, as you can see from the pictures...no uniforms. Second, they seem to have more energy. Now you teachers out their may assume that "energy" is simply a euphemism for bad behavior. This is certainly not what I mean. I am teaching two classes: one of young kids (ages 9-approximately 13) and the other high school age kids. The young kids are just so excitable. While high school age kids (here and in the US) tend to be more docile and laid back, the younger kids laugh, fidget, jump, scream and just plain get excited about the goofiest things. These kids have very limited English skills. I spent the day today pointing to my nose, elbow, hair etc as they screamed out the words in English. I don't think they understand half of what I say in class. In fact, I swear there are a few young one's who literally have no idea what is going on...but they still seem to have a good time. So I call that a success.

My "Old" Kids: Cool and Laid-Back

This may only be of interest to fellow teachers, but one of the things that I have been blown away with here is just how similar these students are with students in the United States. Every class I have taught seems to have students who possess all of personality features of my students in the US--from the sullen kid in the back of the room, to the spazzy kid who wants to talk all of the time, to the earnest serious student who pays attention to every word you say as if their life depends on it. I don't mean to imply that I stereotype all students; rather, it is simply shocking how similar these kids are despite all of the cultural differences. I guess I expected to have to change my teaching more dramatically to match the unknown. There is certainly no doctoral dissertation in this statement, but...kids are kids. This experience has certainly convinced me of the fundamental similarity in all human beings. I know that such a statement seems bland, but it is one thing to know this fundamental sameness intellectually and quite another to understand it emotionally as I stare into the faces of kids who possess the same hopes, fears, dreams, and curiosity that I see everyday in the U.S.

More Construction--Note the Bamboo Scaffolding

I was able to sit down with two fellow Americans yesterday and have my first conversation with native English speakers in two weeks. These two gentlemen are teaching at a nearby vocational College, and their experience has been much different than mine. They are teaching English speaking skills to the English teachers at this school. Apparently many of their "students" are quite reluctant to speak English in front of them. This seems to be a common trait amongst English teachers here. Pretty much all students here learn English; it is a required foreign language. However, the curriculum focuses mostly on grammar, reading, and writing. The English classes all work to prepare students for the standardized tests. What this means is that there are many English teachers who barely speak English. Even several English teachers at #6, my school, say that they teach their English classes almost exclusively in Chinese. This, of course, is the problem with having a curriculum driven by standardized tests. While the teachers recognize the importance of speaking, there is not way to have a speaking component on the government mandated tests. And since their job is to get their kids to score well on these tests, the spoken language takes a back seat. Well, my host father just arrived home, which means that we are going to say some English and Chinese to each other very loudly in hopes of breaking the language barrier. More soon.

written by

mflamoe on July 16, 2009 from Xiamen, China

from the travel blog: Xiamen

Send a Compliment

Hey Mr. Flamoe!
Great to hear about your adventures in China... as a spanish speaker, i can't possibly imagine learning a language as diverse and completely different as Mandarin.
Your teaching style seems to differ a bit when you're dealing with your students and your host father... i wish you luck.
i can't wait to read more of your blogs.. i hope you don't find yourself in too many more positions between shark nuggets and wine.

Daniel

written by Daniel Griffith on July 18, 2009

comment on this...