English Club then does this with them:
I'm talking to a student about Saturday night. He wants Anna and me to present The King's Speech to members of English Club. He asks me to give him a copy of the film (with subtitles), a photo of the two of us, and brief bio.
English Club then does this with them:
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Merry Christmas! Having read some of my entries from the last few months, I hope it's obvious that I've learnt a lot from teaching English in China this semester. I had hoped that exactly what I have learnt would be equally obvious but, in many cases, I've got more questions now than when I arrived in September and a few more answers without questions as well. As it's Christmas, and there's nothing on the telly that you haven't seen before, I thought I'd go over some of my highlights from my time here so far, and add some spuriously connected 'lessons' as well.
TV: Welcome to English Corner "Make it say something." "Look! It's going to speak!" "Give it something, throw it some food. Then it'll speak English!" I imagined the thirty or so Chinese students stood before me, mesmerised by the foreigner in front of them at the first English Corner of the semester, felt they were at language-practice petting zoo. English Corner is a weekly opportunity for students here to speak with the resident laowai, and to try out the vocabulary they've endlessly drilled in the classroom. I was invited to the first meeting, in front of the library's new giant TV, while Anna judged the final of the Host Competition. It didn't start well. I arrived to find that the menu offered only Bryan and me and that the other foreign teachers had given their apologies/ made excuses/ avoided the phone calls of invitation. This wasn't a problem to start with - the gathered students were transfixed by the television above, but when it switched off mid-film, I found myself surrounded by an entire class from the Business School, and their teacher. Feeling the pressure of the sixty eyes focussed on my lips, I picked two random kids at the front. Yeah, exactly, 'What?'.
Sherree, Ohio Nick, Anna and I were invited to the first English Club meeting of the year, a chance for the Chairman, Leadership Committee and Departmental Leaders to introduce themselves to the new fresher members. They've recruited 104 (up from 12 last year) students to help the foreign teachers, all 30 of us, to learn Chinese and to survive in the city when sightseeing, shopping, buying train tickets etc. When I say, 'they've recruited 104 students', let me explain - a committee of 12 boys have recruited, interviewed and selected 104 new members of the Club, and it's probably pure, innocent coincidence that 80% of them are females. I'm sure the lads were looking for English language proficiency. Anyway, the meeting. We were there to introduce ourselves to the students, and vice versa, and to applaud enthusiastically at speeches in Chinese that we couldn't understand. One Chinese speech sounds much the same as another, not must to write home about, but the novelty of being shown off because I'm foreign hasn't yet worn off, and still feels quite special. |
Photo Blog hereThere's a selection of photos from my time in China, and travels over Spring Festival, on these pages. Categories
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