Teaching English in Beijing

This is my third week of teaching English. I now have a full schedule of classes and am settling into a routine and getting to know my students and their needs a little better.

On Monday night I have a class called English Corner at the Metro YMCA. There are about 12 students attending including one Metro staff person. For this class we have picked topics to be discussed at each class. This past week we discussed the population in China, the effects of the one child policy, and the aging population. About half of the students attend university and half are working. Ages range from about 18 to about 70. The class is mostly women with two or three men attending each week. They all want to practice speaking English but some are a little shy. I find this an endearing but, at times, frustrating trait that I have come across with all age groups. I am challenged to come up with ways to get each of the students involved in the discussion. Most of them have the ability to speak English but not the confidence. That is, most of them have learned English in school but have not had very much practice speaking it.

Wednesday morning was my first time teaching a beginner class for a group of mostly seniors. As I entered the classroom, I was greeted with thunderous applause! I looked around to see who the celebrity was and, gasp, it was me! They had written a beautiful greeting for me on the blackboard with my name in Chinese characters. The class consists of mostly older women with one man attending. There were about 25 in the group. This is apparently a community outreach class which the Y is giving for free. I had been given a book to use the week before. It is geared to the beginning student specifically with the Olympics in mind. I had a Y staff person, Candy, with me as a translator. As I began to teach I kept getting interrupted by the woman in charge of the program at the community center. She apparently didn't like they way I was teaching. The Chinese have a way of speaking which is very loud and can sound very argumentative. When translated, I was told that what I was teaching was too hard for them. Basically, I was following the book from the first page which was a chapter on "Greetings". Well, we did get if sorted out and I think the class had an enjoyable learning experience. The class is only one hour per week and I worry that the expectations are higher than the reality of how much English they can learn. I tend to teach while standing and after the class the staff led me firmly back to their office. They insisted I "refresh" myself with a cup of tea all the while talking about how exhausted I must be. Little did they know I had just got my engines revved and could have gone on another hour.

Thursday I had a new student, Eugene. I am tutoring him one-on-one. He is from Korea and has been living in China for four years. He attends high school and is 18 years old. He told me the reason he is in China is because the school system is better than in Korea. Here they get a full curriculum, including English 6 times a week. In Korea, they only had English once a week and many students attended English classes at night after their regular high school classes. His English is pretty good but he needs practice enunciating. Again, I noticed many of the students tend to mumble. They need practice enunciating and moving their lips to make sounds. He also is having trouble with the grammar as it is taught in the school. They are taught by a Chinese teacher. He showed me his recent workbook and some of the language is rather quaint. It looks like it has been literally translated from Chinese.

On Friday afternoon I have two one-on-one classes with 7 year old boys. This is a huge challenge since I am not a professional teacher and I think teaching 7 year olds requires a degree of expertise and experience that I don't have. The parents believe that because I am a native English speaker I can give the best to these boys. I'm not so sure. Just keeping them interested in something for 10 minutes is a challenge.

After these two sessions, I have a group of twelve 11 to 13 year olds for English Corner. We picked out topics to discuss every week and I try to think of ways to keep them involved. We usually start out with some conversation and then a game or a group activity. This is working pretty well and getting better as I get to know the kids and their personalities better. One thing I appreciate is that they will give me feedback as to what's working and what's not.

Saturday is another busy afternoon and evening. I have Eric one-on-one and then Ms. Wong. She is about 30 - 35 years old and works as a trader for a financial company. She is eager to increase her vocabulary mostly through conversation. This is very enjoyable for both of us as we sit and talk for an hour about any topic that comes up.

In the evening, we have English Corner for adults. This is a small group with two or three men and two or three women. Two of the men work together at a bank and travel 45 minutes to get to the session. One of the women is a college professor, another is a student from Korea. So you can see the group is quite varied. We are working with topics from a book that I brought with me. The discussion is generally lively and stimulating and seems to be enjoyable for all.

I'm teaching about 10 hours per week and will not take on any more students or groups. Preparation time takes up another 4 hours or so and I expect to be involved in meetings with administrative staff at the branch for another few hours per week. I am generally taking Tuesdays and Sundays as days off. I will be talking about my travel experiences in another blog. Right now since Blogspot seems to be undergoing some problems, I am not able to upload any pictures but hope to do so in the future.

Questions of a Generation

Last night I had my best class so far. It was held at the Beijing YMCA metro office. There were 11 people attending ranging from a senior in high school to a man who is fluent in reading and writing English and who translates books and texts from Chinese into English. Other students included several college students, a tour guide, a YMCA staff person and a couple of men who work in Beijing. Some of these people are self taught in English and others have had at least 6 years of English in high school and university. One is majoring in English. When I asked why she said it's because it is "easy." Overall, their main goal is to practice speaking English and increasing vocabulary. After introductions around the table, one of the students brought up the question of the Cultural Revolution. Wow! I'm no expert but thankfully I had recently read "Wild Swans" which gave me a thorough overview of the cultural revolution from one family's perspective. Guess what? I seem to be one of the most knowledgeble people about the cultural revolution in the group. By the way, "Wild Swans" is not published in China.

Most of the students are young, ranging in age from 17 to 25. A few are older than that. Philip told us he went to school during the cultural revolution (1966 - 1976) beginning from age 6 to age 16. Another young woman who raised questions about the event said that her parents won't talk about it and so she is curious as to what happened then.

The discussion shifted to the "Long March" which happened in 1936. The CCTV has been running specials on the "Long March" because this is its 70th anniversary. One of the students, Robert, said that it aroused in him very deep feelings of patriotism because of what the people had suffered on the Long March and because they served as an example for him (as heros of their nation). All I can say is that I saw parallels with this and our own feeling of patriotism regarding the American Revolution. The spin the news media in China seems to be putting on the Long March is that now they can build on it for the "Long March" into the economic future of China.

This is such a revelation for me as I try to overcome my negative feelings against communism in China in particular. I remember as a young child and a Catholic school student in the 1950s, the nuns talking about the persecution of the religious in communist China. Well, who knew anything about politics then? And what do I know now? All I know is the people I meet are wonderful, open and honest and looking forward to having a good future in China and in the world. Most of the students I meet are arranging to spend at least one year if not more studying in an English speaking country. Some are going to England, some to Australia and at least one mentioned she wants to go to Germany.

By the way, Germany seems to be building big partnerships in China. One of my Chinese friends told me that they can accept Germany because they admit to their past atrocities during World War II but they can't accept Japan because they don't admit to their atrocities toward the Chinese people. Interesting perspective. Of course, all of the television programs I see focus on economics and Germany is a major economic partner with China. One of the advantages to being here and having these discussions is that it opens my mind to these other viewpoints, viewpoints that we don't necessarily get exposed to in the U. S.

Dogs Yipping

I don't know if it has to do with China's one child policy, but there seem to be an excessive amount of small dogs in my apartment complex. And in the morning and evening you hear a preponderance of dogs yipping. Sometimes it's ferocious, especially in the morning. Two small dogs seem to have it out. Othertimes it's annoying, especially in the evening. Yip, Yip, Yip! So you can't have a kid, but you can have a dog to make up for it. Is there a connection here or is it just my imagination? One of my Chinese companions said it's a problem because many people do not have their dog's innoculated against distemper and rabies. Oh boy! Hopefully they're not ferocious enough to bite me. But I also say "BITE ME!"

The Rain in Spain - or teaching English in China

I've been here a little more than two weeks. The first week was spent getting to know the staff. The second week was interviewing students and determining their level of English so they could be put into the proper classes.

It turns out that I will be teaching English Corner (conversational English) to young teens (11 - 13 years) and to adults. In addition, I will be teaching several students one-on-one. My first student is named Eric. He is 7 years old and speaks and understands some English. However, his mother wants him to improve his English by speaking with a "foreigner". That's me. I also will probably teach another 7 year old and another adult or two one on one.

Speaking of foreigner, on Friday night when we held our first classes, we had divided the children into two groups. One was the teens who would be with me and the other were beginning English speakers who would be taught by a young woman of Asian descent who grew up in and is from British Columbia. She is bi-lingual and is studying for her masters in law at a Beijing university. Well, when the classes began, the parents were up in arms because they did not consider the teacher from BC a foreigner and therefore not qualified to teach their little children English. Afterwards, the staff was joking that maybe we should have put a blond wig on her and equipped her with blue contact lenses so that she could qualify as a foreigner.

We're all learning as we go along but all in all it has been a positive experience. Of course, the adults are a lot more flexible and easier to communicate with. I still have to figure out how to keep a couple of 7 year olds and about 12 teens interested enough to show up every week.

It's a challenge but it is quite an exhilirating experience.

All the News That's Fit to Print

CCTV (http://english.cctv.com/index.shtml) is the Chinese controlled television network available here and the only channel I get in English. The news is filtered and not in depth and is regulated by the government. There are occasions when a broadcast will be cut off in the middle. I understand that happened the other day when there was some kind of trouble with Tibet. The newspaper, too, is regulated. I had also read that it is unwise to bring up anything political unless the Chinese citizen approaches the topic first. The TV has very little news about Iraq, and about the American government. Mostly it focuses on economic news as it relates to China. And even there, a lot is reported on Chinese partners in certain countries of Africa and other allied countries. The news is not delivered in soundbites like in the US and is not polished in the American style either. Sometimes I find that refreshing and other times I find it, quite frankly, boring. On the one English language station I receive, there are programs that are essentially travelogues of places to visit in China, in addition to the news. The one person I approached on the subject of North Korea knew who Bush is but not Rice. China is the center of the universe here, not the United States, although they realize it is in their best interest to learn English, as the United States is the dominant force in the world economically. Almost everything reported is based on the U.S. dollar.

Yesterday, I went to a book club meeting at the Chinese Culture Club (http://www.chinesecultureclub.org/). I was especially interested because they were reviewing "Wild Swans", which I had just read. Attending were several wives of diplomats and business men stationed in Beijing. Also attending was a Chinese woman whose field of expertise is Chinese culture. One point she made was that there is a vast and growing disparity between the rich and the poor in China. She seemed to think that the Chinese government is trying to hide this disparity. I see some articles in the English language newspaper and on TV positioning the Chinese government as a champion of the poor. So we shall see how this plays out. This woman seemed to think that we only see what is in the cities, the prosperity, etc., but that is not what's happening in the country. I still can't wrap my mind around it. There are 1. 3 billion people in China. That's one billion more people than in America!

I try to keep up with the news on the internet but, I confess, I'm not as diligent as I would be at home where I read the paper every day.

I expect to get HBO and CNN hooked up to my TV soon. But to be honest, I don't much miss the "vast wasteland" that we call television in America.

The Air That We Breathe

Most people have heard of the horrendous air pollution in Beijing. For one thing, I've only seen a blue sky a few times in the last two weeks. There is a permanent haze which rarely dissipates. Coughing and spitting are common. New cars are being registered in Beijing at the rate of about 1,000 per day. Presently there are about 2.5 million cars in Beijing and it almost seems that all of them are on the streets at the same time. However, Beijing has an excellent public transportation system with a modern subway and numerous buses, although I'm told they are very crowded at cetain times of the day. Taxis abound. I think there are something like 67,000 taxis in the city. I'm trying my best to ride in every one of them! Transportation is so cheap compared to American rates. A taxi ride from the Y to my apartment is about $1.27 (10 yuan). However, that price is prohibitive to most natives and even I try to walk as much as possible.

Bicycles are used by many and you'd better watch out! There are bike lanes where people travel 3 or 4 abreast. I guess there's safety in numbers. No one gives way to a mere pedestrian. On many streets when traffic is stopped for a red light, cars making right turns breeze on through and watch out if you're in their path. Interestingly, most everyone signals when they turn or change lanes. I haven't yet seen anyone hit a bike rider or a person but, boy, do they come close! The only time I've seen so many bike riders in a city was when I was in Amsterdam. There are very few motorcyles or vespas. Quite the opposite of Italy where vespas were everywhere. No one wears helmets and most taxis do not have seat belts in the back seat.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu

Last week I expressed a desire to see the Great Wall of China. Immediately Mr. Song sprang into action and arranged a visit for Monday. A friend of Mr. Lu, our Manager, drove Shelley and me to the Great Wall. We went to Mutianyu which is supposed to be less crowded than Badaling. As we drove there, we passed through rain and fog but when we got to the Great Wall we were greated with sunshine. It turned out to be one of the best weather days I've had since I've been here. We decided to take the cable car up and walk down. There were few people and most of them were English speaking tourists. Not only is the Wall itself impressive, the views are breathtaking. We ambled along the Wall for about a mile or more and then cut off to a path through the woods. Along this path was a stone museum and a beautiful cave. All in all it was a great trip and, like remembering your first anything, one I will always remember. It also was fun to get out of the city and enjoy the countryside and fresh (read unpolluted) air.

"The Great Wall is a magnificent construction project in ancient China, one of the wonders in the history of human civilization. The construction of the Great Wall began in the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. During the period of over 2000 years, more than 20 dukes or princes and feudal dynasties contributed to the building of the Great Wall. It was listed as one of the world's cultural heritages by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1987." (taken from a description I read)

The Great Wall is estimated to be about 6,200 miles long. However, some efforts at calculating its length, and taking into account its numerous meanderings up and down, have estimated it to be as long as 31,000 miles.