Advertisement
Published: March 12th 2006
Edit Blog Post
The Group
At the warriors - see, not a giant anymore The abilities of the children vary wildly within classes, let alone between classes and grades. Some of the first grade students have better English than some sixth graders could ever hope to achieve. I had a particularly enthralling English conversation class with quite a weak fourth grade class, who all successfully leaped the hurdle of asking my name and age - several times, to check I wasn’t falsifying information. Then they seemed a bit stuck, so I asked them their favourite animals and colours for about three hours, then they reverted to the text book. Their current lesson is ‘what do you want?’, which was asked several times. Then one kid got adventurous, and asked me ‘what does the goat want?’ Luckily, I had flicked through the lesson about 5 seconds before the class started (and people say they leave you unprepared), and so wittily replied ‘the goat wants grass’. I stopped them before they went onto bears and monkeys (apples and bananas, respectively), and got them to sing and dance until the magic bell went. It got a bit surreal, three girls singing a popular Chinese rock song, while one umbulated in traditional Chinese fashion, and two other did the
Bell Tower in the snow
I was hoping to get a day off school, but they can deal with the snow here, rather than screeching to a halt at the first flake! salsa. And no one claps after these performances, the children just sit down again quietly. And yet continue to perform class after class, with no discernible incentive.
Had a really enjoyable class with the best sixth graders, which reminded me why I’m here. The questions started off quite basic and tame, with a few “have you got a boyfriend?” and “what’s your phone number?” from the boys which drew a few giggles. I saw some whispering and plotting in the back row, and finally an American boy about 11 years old stood up, mortified. He said that they wanted to hear him talk English, but he didn’t know what to ask. We had a bit of a chat, then I let him sit down, before his head actually exploded of embarrassment. I caught up with him after the class, and asked him how he was getting on. He’s been back and forth for about 6 years, his mum is Chinese, and he really doesn’t seem happy at all. He asked me if I was used to the staring and the shouting yet, I answered that it was fine. He said that he still wasn’t used to it. It’s awkward
Xi'an
It may not be Paris, but it's lovely enough growing up, without being a foot taller than everyone. Still, I’m sure he’ll be fine, but he gets hassle in America as well, as he’s half-Chinese.
Some of these children are nightmarish. Doing the colour questions, one boy answered that his favourite colour was translucent, as the air is translucent, and we need the air to exist. Not sure I know any 9 year olds at home that would say that in their native tongue, let alone another language. However, my impressed reaction was sharply reduced when he asked e if I could speak Chinese. When I replied that I was learning, he asked why did I bother coming here, as I couldn’t communicate with anyone. That’s the way to encourage mutual cultural understanding! That level of precociousness does irritate me, as it’s clever, but not clever enough, if he was more aware of life, he’d know what a ridiculous statement that is. I got my revenge by ignoring his madly flapping hand for the rest of the lesson.
Schools here have lunch breaks from 12 to 2.40, so I usually end up at one or other teachers house for dumplings, potato and beef, lots of spinach, and pots and pots of rice. It’s so nice to be invited into their homes, the librarian taught me to make dumplings, Hellen did sweet and sour pumpkin, which is so yummy, I also met some of their young children, husbands, and the occasional sibling (obviously a very rare occurrence, due to the one-child policy). One of the teachers has a sister, and her parents both got punished by being put down a salary scale, which only really serves to make them less able to adequately look after the children. All the teachers live in huge blocks on school and university grounds, most are married to each other. The flats are tiny, basically bedsits, one room for the bed, TV, child’s stuff and all that; a kitchen; and when visitors come over, they set up a small table in the hallway that everyone squats around to eat at. It’s fine when the child is small, not sure what happens when they get bigger, there physically isn’t enough room to squeeze people in.
By the end of the second week, the novelty of being a primary school teacher was wearing thin, I was feeling frustrated and underutilised. My main reason for being in the school was to teach the teachers, improve their pronunciation and grammar, so they are better equipped to teach the kids. However, due to an innate tendency to search for the easy way out, and quick solutions, they thought it would be better I just teach the children. Which as an idea is fine, but irritating to think that I’ve worked so hard on article use and how to say ‘brown’ properly, but as soon as I leave, the kids will be subjected to some very inadequate teaching. Some of the class monitors would be better than the actual teachers. And the teachers kept giving me tips on how to be a better teacher of 6 year olds - something which I am never going to do again. I tried to explain to the group leader my issues with the placement, so she just gave me more lessons. Hellen, one of the other teachers, got so angry - they only teach about three hours a day, and I was doing six. In a very English way, I didn’t complain, just grinned and bore it, whilst fuming inside. How not to achieve things in one easy step. On my last day there, the group leader finally realised that I wasn’t a teacher at home, bit late by then, I am changing placements to teaching med students, something I am far better equipped to do, and they are motivated to learn, as opposed to the teachers who just seemed to want a quick way to teach English. So, as Richard is going back to London, I decided to traipse around the country with him for a week, to get into better form and reassess why I am here. Three Gorges, Shanghai and Beijing - here I come!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 7; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0597s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kieran
non-member comment
Ignorance and Arrogance
I'm afraid that young childs naiivity in asking why you came without the language is neither confined to China nor to children. I got a 20 something lady banker from Tokyo attack me for not being able to speak her language. I told her I was learning but this wasn't enough. At least the child can plead youthful ignorance. Keep the writnig up I enjoy it and there are many parallels as well as many differences that I enjoy spotting. :)