Thoughts of China are running through my head. I have been thinking them for months now, but as the date approaches they become clearer. Rae is getting very excited too. She is finishing the second semester of her Master's degree in education and she is eager to put all of the theories relating to language teaching and learning that she has studied into practice. She wants to be a very good teacher, and I think she can me.
Personally, I think of my job as an English teacher as more of an entertainer cum cultural ambasador rather than a teacher. Most of the adult students are not really there to learn anyway. They are just bored students and housewives who happen to like foreigners and this is their way to be entertained by foreigners all day. Any crappy English class will be much more entertainling than the boring shows they play on the one English channel on Chinese television. This role is perhaps less rewarding than being a "real" teacher, but at least it is less stressful and much more amusing. This does leave me with some sympathy for those who actually want or need to learn English, but I suppose if one is truely motivated, they can always make themselves succeed.
The Chinese have an interesting view of the world. While they still like to maintain the supremecy of Chinese culture, they are aware of and interested in the outside world. Of course, they, like any country, like to see things that reenforce their self-agrandising views. The Chinese speech contest that my professor wants me to enter is a good example. It is called the 第三届"汉语桥"世界大学生中文比赛，the third "Chinese bridge" world university student Chinese competition. It is basically university students from around the world giving speeches in Chinese about "文化灿烂的中国" (China, a country with a splendid culture) or "山川秀丽的中国" (China's beautiful landscape). There is defentatly no better way to boost a nation's self image than to have a bunch of bright young foreigners coming to your country and telling you, in your language, how great your country is. Despite this, I still plan on competeing and I have some hope of a decent performance in the non-heratige beginner's category. Perhaps I will write more about this at a later date...
now I must sleep as I have a big day tomorrow seeing my professor about my honours thesis...
Marc
Personally, I think of my job as an English teacher as more of an entertainer cum cultural ambasador rather than a teacher. Most of the adult students are not really there to learn anyway. They are just bored students and housewives who happen to like foreigners and this is their way to be entertained by foreigners all day. Any crappy English class will be much more entertainling than the boring shows they play on the one English channel on Chinese television. This role is perhaps less rewarding than being a "real" teacher, but at least it is less stressful and much more amusing. This does leave me with some sympathy for those who actually want or need to learn English, but I suppose if one is truely motivated, they can always make themselves succeed.
The Chinese have an interesting view of the world. While they still like to maintain the supremecy of Chinese culture, they are aware of and interested in the outside world. Of course, they, like any country, like to see things that reenforce their self-agrandising views. The Chinese speech contest that my professor wants me to enter is a good example. It is called the 第三届"汉语桥"世界大学生中文比赛，the third "Chinese bridge" world university student Chinese competition. It is basically university students from around the world giving speeches in Chinese about "文化灿烂的中国" (China, a country with a splendid culture) or "山川秀丽的中国" (China's beautiful landscape). There is defentatly no better way to boost a nation's self image than to have a bunch of bright young foreigners coming to your country and telling you, in your language, how great your country is. Despite this, I still plan on competeing and I have some hope of a decent performance in the non-heratige beginner's category. Perhaps I will write more about this at a later date...
now I must sleep as I have a big day tomorrow seeing my professor about my honours thesis...
Marc
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