they’re letting me teach an English class to children!

Wendy came to me a few weeks ago with a proposition, the English teachers on campus proposed an Oral English class for their children twice week if I wanted an extra job. Okay for those of you who know me, know my initial reaction, an absolute NO WAY JOSE! But if China has taught me one thing it is to hold my tongue until all the chips have fallen and even then it is just best to swallow and keep opinions to oneself. Besides the extra cash would be nice for traveling. I agreed to meet with the parents and see the students levels first before agreeing to anything.

Wendy agreed to do all the translating and help with the negotiations. 10 students between the ages of 6 and 10 years old. 2 nights a week for 1 hour. I’m too much of a Reagan to do much negotiating which will change next semester that is for sure. If there is one thing about the Chinese I’ve learned they will squeeze you for all your worth and still try and make you feel like they are the ones getting the bad end of the deal, but because you’re you and you seem alright, they will live with the decision although you really should understand they are the ones suffering here. So with that said, I have to work Friday nights and underpaid in the tutoring world.

From Left to Right: Xuan, Rose, KeXin and Margaret

I did request all the students be given English names as I know it would be pointless to slaughter their Chinese names class after class. When speaking to the parents they just suggested I name the children as I saw fit. Maybe I’m uptight but that just didn’t sit well with me. Naming children is the responsibility of the parents in my book and I told the parents I would feel more comfortable if they discussed with their child and selected a name. Of course this method left the door open and I still have two students who have insisted on their Chinese name so Xuan and Ke Xin it is and slaughtered each week they are.

I have to admit the more I teach the more excited I get about the class. I don’t know what is happening, I think the world is coming to an end and I am growing a soft spot for children. For the first time in my life I am beginning to understand my parents love for kindergarten. The absolute joy on the children’s faces when they understand a new word or get an answer correct. Then of course there is they’re sweet smile and burst of applause at any Chinese I use.

Preparing for the one hour classes is labor intensive and I put more time into that one hour than anything for my college students, sad to say, but then the return is so much more from my ten children than all 8 classes combined during the week.

My only real run-in when teaching this class is getting the parents to accept the fact that I am an American, born and raised with a Western Education with two amazing parents who do not encourage parroting teaching. I finally put my foot down and told the parents if they wanted a Chinese style class they would be better off getting a Chinese teacher. Chinese students are great readers and boy can they memorize, some of my students can knock your socks off with their vocabulary but get completely confused the moment you give them a complete sentence. The parents and I had a little disagreement on simple sentences and what was appropriate for their children.

What it really all boils down to is the definition of what an Oral English class is. Unfortunately, that is not a question I’ve been able to get answered by anyone in this country so far, not even for my college classes. The parents where upset with the simple “I have…” sentences I had the students practice when I asked them about their body. When I give a direct question they are able to answer but when given a simple instruction to describe something they freeze.

I’m slowly and at times painfully learning but all in all I am happy I took this job and who knows by the end of this semester I just might be able to say I like teaching kids.

Okay maybe a little extreme, but extreme actions call for extreme retorts and these were my favorite jeans! Not to mention 1 of only 2 pairs I brought with me, yes only bringing two pairs of jeans was not one of my brighter ideas in packing.

The cursed cement block!

They have been tearing up and replacing what seems to be all the pipes on campus. They moved to the ones next to our building just this past week. It wouldn’t have been so  bad if I just went around but there is a little bridge like thing and it is a whole 5 seconds faster.

On the bright side it is on the inside seam and they are dark pants.

So running to meet up with James one afternoon I snagged my jeans on a piece of re-barb protruding from one of the displaced cement blocks.  I was relieved I didn’t get scratched and my tetanus shot has been updated! But all the same these where my favorite jeans!!

As for construction around here I just know I’m killing brain cells every time I walk past their work areas. The chemicals and materials just reek of dangerous fumes not to mention the metal and plaster dust kicked around.

I would just love to see CalOsha take one look at the work sites here!

Main street on campus leading to the dinning halls.

At least this bit of pipe is between bulidings.

As streets and sidewalks are interchangeable in China it has been a challenge with the roads cluttered to make room for traffic when walking.

Let's circle what seems to be hazardous here. Oh let's just save time and circle the whole picture!

Adjusting to new money is always a little tricky. No offense to the American buck but it is just boring compared to the Monopoly Money most countries  use. China is no exception, bright colors and scenic landscapes grace the back of each bill. Like the Euro the denomination also determines the size which makes it easier for sorting.

The formal terms are Yuan for the bill and Jiao for the cents. The informal is Kuai and Mao. Interesting note they don’t have the equivelent in pennies here. The smallest amount is 1 jiao or 1/10 of a Yuan.

For a country that does not eat dairy anywhere on the scale near America I had expected to have to give up this part of the food pyramid, but as of late I seem to have milk coming out my ears.

Milk in bags from a box that is not refrigerated, what is my opinion suppose to be?

Voted #2

Voted #1 (but that really doesn't mean much)

Homemade Soy Milk

For the Mid Autumn Festival each teacher received a large box of pears. Now you have to understand these are Asian pears which means they are HUGE!

A huge box just for me...great!

 I had bought one last week to try, little did I know I would be getting a huge box a week later! I left the pear out for four days waiting for it to soften so I could eat it. It wasn’t until after I got this box did I discover they are suppose to be eaten like Apples, crunchy.

Now that I know when to eat them…I still can’t eat all these!

3 LAYERS!!!! Thank heaven I have students!

I found this out in front of the faculty offices and thought it would be fun to post. I’m sorry I wish I knew how to but an X on my apartment but no luck.

It is oriented North top / South bottom so remember I’m on the south end of campus.

Map of campus

Blue – Dorms & Faculty Housing. I’m Building #5 on the south end

White – Classrooms

Green – Recreation Fields

Light Brown – Gardens

Red – Cantina & Shops

I never realized how few classroom buildings there are. You do have to remember they are all at least five stories though, NO ELEVATORS! There is a ton of dorms though. 

I have also discovered students are locked on campus throughout the weekend and may only freely leave Friday evenings through Sunday. Unless of course they are accompanied by a teacher, why do I have a feeling some friends made will have ulterior motives? Or my personal fav, they jump the fence about 20meters down from the gate, no joke I’ve seen it on more than one occasion. Don’t really know what makes the guards turn a blind eye some days because others there is a guard posted at the student’s favorite spot! Oh and why they just don’t card them on the way in I have no idea. Anyone may enter just not leave and let me tell you at the gate they enforce!

So this is my home! Can I just say I love the fact that there is no commuting time and the world’s best dumplings can be found at Cantina #3. (That is the red just north of me.)

So I finally received my schedule today. I taught two classes this week but the full load doesn’t begin until next week! I have to admit I took one look at the class titles and about blew a gasket! Custom and International Freight, what the heck, that was not in the job description neither was Business English for that matter! After  a horrid look of sheer panic I threw at James. He assured me it was all Oral English and what ever topics I wanted to cover were fine. I just needed to get the students to talk and practice their English. Well, that was a relief.  So here it is 12 hours!!

Monday:

• Custom and International Freight 903 — 2:30-4:10pm

Tuesday:

• Business English 902 — 8:00-9:40am

Wednesday

• Custom and International Freight 901 — 8:00-9:40am
• Business English 902 — 2:30-4:10pm
• Custom and International Freight 902 — 4:20-6:00pm

Thursday

• Business English 901 — 10:10-11:50

Friday

• International Business 901 — 8:00-9:40am
• Business English 901 — 2:30-4:10pm

The breakdown is

• 2 Freshman English Classes 2x a week
• 3 Custom and International Freight Classes
• 1 International Business Class

So I really only have to Prepare 3 Lessons each week, 2 for my Freshman Classes and 1 for the other 4!

I have found a new toy on my computer. Okay so most would call it a tool but it won’t be a tool for me for a very very very long while, so until then it is a really neat toy. Ctrl + Shift changes the typing on my computer from standard latin script to Chinese Characters. Before you get all excited it does not translate English into Chinese but if you type in the pinyin it turns to characters when you hit the space bar.

I have to admit Characters are beginning to make more sense to me, I can’t read them mind you but it doesn’t seem as daunting as I had once suspected. Each Character represents a sound. Each word is made up of one or more sounds. I always thought that each word was assigned a random character that you were just expected to know. But just like any other language if you know the sound for the given symbol you can sound out new words.

So just for the fun of playing with my new discovery here are some of the words I’m Learning

I  -  wû -        我 

You  -  nî　你

He/She/It  -  tá  (verbably the same written differently)　他　她　它

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who  -  shúi　　谁

What  -  shen me　　什么

When  -  shen me shí hòu　什么时候

Where  -  nâ lî 　那里

{my personal favorite} Why  – weì shen me　　为什么

How  -  zen me yang   怎么样

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today  -  jin tian　　今天

Friday  – xingqi yi　星期五

September　－　jiû yuè   九月

11   -  shí yi　　　十一

So who knows maybe I will get characters down in this life time.

To make my life easier I went ahead and divided the semester into chunks tackling a different subject every two weeks. I am hoping to have a structured approach to each theme but change up the games. This is the basic breakdown of the topics we will cover.

19 Weeks -

• 1: Introduction & Greetings
• 2: Classroom Speech
• 3&4: Home & Campus
• 5&6: Descriptions
• 7&8: Shopping & Food
• 9&10: Sports
• 11&12: Directions & City
• 13&14: Travel and Transportation
• 15&16: Media
• 17&18: Cushion Time or Student Theme Choice
• 19: Finals

 Vocabulary, Idioms*, Basic Phrases, Dialogues, Group Activities.

*As it turns out I left my idiom book at home so I’m just gonna go to you all for help. So the week before I start a new theme I’m going to have a Post asking for idioms regarding the topic. So here is your heads up for the upcoming topics. I’m really hoping you guys will have fun with this for me.

Freshman Class #2

So let me just give the rundown. I got up early this morning because I was going to Skype home to talk to Auntie before heading to school. After I checked in I decided to get to class early, make a good impression on the students you know. I had planned to have my name on the board and greet the students at the door as they entered.

I arrived 15min early, I had checked out the classroom location last night to avoid confusion this morning. The door was opened to room 105 so I poked my head in, it was full of students. So I stood by the door to let the previous class finish. As I waited there a min I realized there wasn’t a class going on, the students were just conversing. No it was not in English but even when students are speaking a foreign language you can tell the difference between class time and play time.  I poked my head in again and realized there was not a teacher at the podium.

I stepped into the classroom this time and they all fell silent. I asked if this was the 8 o’clock Oral English Class. Suffice it to say I was floored when the response was yes. Come on a Freshman English class that started at 8am had practically a full classroom 15mins prior to the beginning of class! The first thing that ran through my head was either this class is that dedicated, probably not, or as a Foreigner I am suppose to be really good entertainment, crap I didn’t have any comic routine planned.

The first matter of business was the role sheet, yeah that will be on the list of vocabulary to teach. I decided to run up to the offices since I still had a few min. Mind you I was on the first floor and the offices are on the fourth, really people offices on the fourth floor! To make the jog even worse James wasn’t in, I did manage to find an English Teacher who was surprised I had not been given a roll sheet prior. She also cleared up the early class surprise. The students are required to be in their seats 10minutes prior to class, so they are not that dedicated nor was I expected to be that entertaining. This discovered did relieve some stress.

With out a formal roll I just sent around a paper to have them all write their name, to my relief they all had English names already. Wendy had told me if some didn’t have one just to write some names on the board and have them choose. Does that seem anti-climatic to anyone else. I don’t know I just think naming should be a little more labor intensive then picking a random name from the board. Any the names were all over the place. Surprisingly I had no repeats which I truly appreciate.

Some of the names include, Beata, CC, Onnugolla, Cherry, Reamer, and Oscar(she is a girl). After talking to Dantzelle and Adam I have a pretty tame class when it comes to names, Adam had a Metron last year, (Transformers anyone?)

After getting names I did a quick introducation of myself. Eyes difinitely widened when I said I was the 2nd oldest of 5 children. Being from California is always a hit! Thank you Mom & Dad for such a recognizable state! I can proudly say I am from the most popular State in America!! I wear that badge proudly, I never have to explain the location or what California is known for.

Then we did a milling activity, Find someone who… It took some coaxing to get the students out of their seats at first. They are most definitely use to lecture style classes. I will break them of that, our classes are about 2hours long. I teach for 45minutes then we have a 10minute break then a final 45minutes.

I split the semester up into themes covering one theme every two weeks. We went over the plan for the semester and I had all the students copy it into their Notebook. Just to note, getting students to take notes is just as hard in China as it is in the states.

Then we began brainstorming vocabulary for Introductions/Greetings. I’m hoping once we get into a routine more students will volunteer, I always feel guilty when I have to call out names because I tend to call out the students whose name I remember the best. I did get them paired and talking for a few minutes before I dismissed for the morning.

When the time was up I thanked them for a good class and dismissed them. No one moved. So I turned my back to begin erasing the board and only a few students made for the door. Okay odd, in the States there would be a mad rush for the door regardless of lesson. I asked the students what they did to signal the end of a lesson. They waved their hands and said Good-Bye. Then it finally dawned on me they stayed in the same classroom and the teachers came to them.

This morning was Freshman Class #2. I discovered all these students are in the same major, Applied English. They will be a family for the next three years. They have all the same classes together and their roommates are from this group. I am excited to teach the Freshman as they are adjusting to new surroundings and have no expectations for me.

Overall I feel the day went well. I was not nervous once I got going and the class was respectful for the most part. There will always be the boys in the back who talk excessively, and everyone says girls are the talkers. Just because they are not discussing the latest fashion trends or their latest shopping spree doesn’t mean boys can’t find something to talk about.

Thursday I have the Freshman Class #1. The great thing about this year I can prepare one lesson and teach it twice. I will make it this year and better still I am going to enjoy every min of it!