Teacher Torture in Beijing
I don't usually post twice in one day but I just had to today. I frequently search out other blogs and see what is out there on the teaching front. This post is from the front lines of the battle. If you are in the West you know that there are problems in Schools. It probably depends on your age how you relate to this, but surely all of us knew trouble makers or perhaps you were one of them. The behavior that you will see on this video is probably a teachers worst nightmare. What you have is an elderly Chinese teacher showing considerable restraint in a near hopeless situation. I'm not saying that all schools are like this but certainly this kind of problem exists in other parts of China and the world. One university I taught at which admitted anyone who had the money had similar problems but just to a lesser degree.
I don't have these kind of problems at my school but I do see a lack of
discipline. I see parents who just let their kids run wild, climb on my furniture, put their dirty shoes on my walls. Chalk it up to the one child system, cultural differences or whatever. They are good kids most of the time but contrary to what we often believe in the west there are lots of young punks who just don't have any respect for their elders. We as teachers or would be teacher hear that teachers are respected in the East. I think this is generally true, but there are some really bad cases too, just like in the west. The difference the punks don't have access to firearms so there aren't as many headlines, like the recent massacre at Virginia Tech. Here are two links that will show it to you as it happened. It doesn't say much for the future of China, but it did draw serious outrage and an interesting reprisal. You can see it
here at The
Shanghaist and see some comments
here at Global Voices online.
To Translate or not to Translate, that is the Question
If you have taught ESL for any length of time you have probably seen some very interesting translations, or perhaps you have tried to make sense of some instructions for some kind of electronics you may have purchased. That is a real challenge. One reason that I enjoy teaching younger students is that they learn a new language in much the same way that they learn their first language. If a student writes in their first language and tries to translate it into English it surely will be a mangle of bad grammar, word order and vocabulary. Some languages follow similar word order and sentence structure, others do not resemble English, so I always recommend that students do not translate writing from their first language. When a student writes in English they can usually produce a far superior piece of writing. This idea is also true in the oral area of language acquisition. Chinese is quite "flowery" and I'm sure it possesses a very poetic nature, but it just does not translate well without high level skills. So you must insist that the student write from what they know in English.
This brings me to another point that I feel is critical to the development of the students language skills. Many students want to be placed in the more advanced classes, before they have really mastered the basics in the beginning levels. This is really a big mistake. Surely, it is easy to understand that they want to attain higher levels but moving into the more advanced classes is sure to stunt their growth. They frequently cannot comment on the lesson or the concepts. Here in China this is especially true because the system of education does not foster that kind of critical thinking. It does not mean they cannot think for themselves, it only means they are unaccustomed to extrapolating information and forming an opinion, since most of their classes have only one point of view, the teachers. So it is often quite difficult to start or maintain any discussions that require personal opinions. The culture promotes a certain don't talk don't tell attitude. This is quite normal considering the history of free expression. It is not that they can't it just is drilled into them socially. This is changing somewhat as information and ideas flow into their world via the net and other sources. There is a new generation of students who have access to a more worldly view. A few years ago it was practically unheard of to have a student disagree with a teacher. This old view of education, the Greek idea of a discussion between the teacher and the student perhaps is making a comeback. It will certainly be a challenge to the teachers in China as they will have to reeducate themselves in how to teach in this way.
So don't be tempted to place students in higher level classes before they have mastered the easy classes, translate only for vocabulary, and conduct your classes in a way that creates a never ending flow between the text and speaking about it out of the book and your students will begin to think in English and develop good grammar. If you get them at a young age the will be learning in a similar way that students learn in their first language, which translates to accelerated learning.
worldtour aka Larry Rhoe
Labels: ESL, teaching, translating
Why Chinese Children drop out of English Classes
For anyone who has taught English as a second language, the problem of turn over, or drop-outs, is a never ending battle. There are many reasons for this which include, scheduling problems, learning problems, differences in ability, teaching styles, and the most difficult one to deal with, parents. I continually have problems with parents who for some reason or other think they know how their children should be educated. Perhaps they have a unexplainable faith in the Chinese system of learning, rote learning, or they site inability to understand, or sometimes it is just overbearing individuals who must enforce their will on all around them. These are the worst type. I told one of my classes that had a mother like this that I was not going to let anyone dictate to me how to teach. Logically this should be easily understood. They come to me as an expert, which has been certified by the authorities, but then they want me to be more like the Chinese teachers. "They don't understand you". Well yes, at first they don't understand much but neglecting the oral side of learning and the listening means they will never be able to have a conversation, other than one that is read from a book. It's such a simple concept, language first and foremost is spoken. The majority of high school and even college graduates cannot have a meaningful conversation beyond "where are you from" and "can you speak Chinese". For those people that have a chance to travel to a English speaking world, this becomes painfully obvious as they are not able to talk to anyone, even after studying over a decade. Many schools cater to the wishes of the parents, reasoning that it is a good business practice. This is a fatal flaw in thinking. There is no reasoning with this sort of person. It's just the wrong thing to do. Stick to your guns. You are the expert. There will be drop-outs no matter what you do, so just conduct your classes in the way that will foster all of the skills needed to become fluent. You really can't teach English by teaching it in Chinese! This has been proven beyond a doubt by the vast majority of students who study for ten years and cannot understand a basic conversation or speak about anything beyond the mundane.
If you are a good teacher, you will receive excellent word of mouth advertising. Of course, this may just fill your bosses pockets with cash or if you're smart and willing to make teaching a full time job for yourself it will fill your own pockets. Fortunately, good teaching will be reflected in the marks that your students receive in their schools, if your grammar lessons are effective. Unfortunately, speaking is not yet tested, but that is changing as the Chinese testing system begins to realize it is just as important as being a good test taker.
worldtour aka Larry
RhoeLabels: drop-outs, teaching, teaching tips
Where is the theater in China?
China has a long history of performance, but most of it is traditional. There are fine productions in television and movies, but there is little live theater. I recently received an email from my brothers theater group in Vancouver Washington asking for some help in finding a way to get a tour going in China. A tall order but I want to try and help. I want to reach out to any teachers here in China who may have contacts with English departments who may be agreeable to work with this idea. When I taught at Beida, Beijing University, Peking University, I saw a professional production of Arther Millers "The Crucible". It was a good production and drew some good crowds from the University and the public.
English is such a priority for students, so if you have some contacts, please contact me so I can pass them on to the planners. The picture above shows the name of the repertoire theater group which is headed by my brother Llewellyn Rhoe. You can click on the picture to view some photos from the website. It is
The Main Street Theatre.I would guess that fewer than one or two percent of the students have seen a theater production. Any help in this project would be greatly appreciated and may also help you too, as you may see your stock rise. If you have any contacts who may be interested in helping with this idea please let me know, as it is a large undertaking. Be assured these artists are talented and would love to bring some culture to your school.
worldtour aka Larry Rhoe
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Labels: help wanted, theater, theatre
Spring has come and so have the Lilacs
Spring has finally come to Harbin. That means that the lilacs are in bloom which is the cities official flower. They are everywhere. I must say the city has done a good job at trying to plant trees and shrubs to make the city a little nicer. There are crews out planting new trees every spring and summer. Through out the Northeast of China you will find trees being grown. This is a good thing and probably due to the deforestation of much of the land. Coming from the Great Northwest of the U.S. , I can say that is surely one thing that I miss, the forests and abundance of trees. Where I live in Washington state, some of the forests have been harvested and renewed 3 times. Most of San Francisco was built from the forests where I live on the Hood canal and Olympic peninsula. So it is really nice here in Harbin when it finally after the long winter finally ends and the buds start. There is one thing that is common here that is a little hard to understand. The Chinese are obsessed with trimming trees, so after the first leaves show up they disappear and the tops of trees are whacked off. The effect is a little strange as it creates streets filled with no tops, and the growth of the trees are shaped in a particular fashion.
On the teaching front classes are going well and I'm pretty much booked up to capacity. I want to point those teachers who may be working for around 5k rmb towards a very doable doubling of their salary, with about 4 extra classes a week. If you have a large enough apartment you can easily start some classes during your off time. If you are a university teacher your weekends can bring in an extra 1000 rmb with 4 classes. If you keep your prices below the language schools and are a decent teacher the word will spread and you will not have to advertise. If you are a private language school teacher you will have lots of free time in the week to have some after school classes or just one per night at around 5:30. If you want to focus on young learners you should be able to schedule an afternoon class around 1:30 as many students in that age group have one day per week that is a half day of classes. So it presents a good opportunity to double your income with a few extra hours of work. Most teachers have 14-20 hours of teaching per week so there should be lots of time, unless you are having to do all the curriculum and have lots of testing to mark. Of course if you are here to just to spend money or time on your interests then this model may not be for you.
worldtour aka Larry Rhoe
Labels: ESL, Harbin, Springtime, teaching
Work Work Work
Oh, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. No the ship is not going down it's just workers day. You know, it's not really celebrated in the States. We do have Labor Day but it is not the same thing. Behold the Glorification of the worker. These vintage posters are always interesting. But since I am not Chinese it really is just another work day. The parents of my students wanted classes so I was happy to crank out another lesson. If you want a jump on the competition just bite the bullet and hold class. It was rather nice this morning, much quieter than usual. No rubber hoses pounding on plastic buckets announcing another collector of recyclables. Not the usual horns honking incessantly, or the chop chop chop of food reducing to chopstick size bites. Oh the joys of the holidays.
Seriously, work is a good thing, it will always be there for you. Your friends and family may let you down but work will always be there for you. It is a bit different here. That kind of attitude is not so common. If you can bring your work ethic with you and focus on what you want, there is more opportunity here in China than most places I have traveled to. I never fancied myself as a businessman, I just knew I could teach well. I don't run my business like others, I offer good value at very reasonable prices. This seems to work anywhere and it has worked well for me. So raise a glass to those who keep the wheels greased.
worldtour aka Larry Rhoe
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Labels: Mayday
I don't usually post twice in one day but I just had to today. I frequently search out other blogs and see what is out there on the teaching front. This post is from the front lines of the battle. If you are in the West you know that there are problems in Schools. It probably depends on your age how you relate to this, but surely all of us knew trouble makers or perhaps you were one of them. The behavior that you will see on this video is probably a teachers worst nightmare. What you have is an elderly Chinese teacher showing considerable restraint in a near hopeless situation. I'm not saying that all schools are like this but certainly this kind of problem exists in other parts of China and the world. One university I taught at which admitted anyone who had the money had similar problems but just to a lesser degree. 
