This week I have been teaching the little kids with Beth. There are 24 children aged 4-12. Yeah, a bit on the crazy side. How do you teach 24 kids of varying levels of English and varying age levels? Good question. I don’t know how other people would do it, but this is how Beth and I have managed for the last three days:
Day 1: We had no idea what we were up against. We were under the impression that the students were of a really low level and didn’t know much English—including the alphabet. So, the alphabet is an essential part of any language, so that is where we began. Oh was that totally wrong. The children knew their ABCs backwards and forwards. They were completely bored with our lessons pertaining to the alphabet. They had fun with a couple of the songs and games we incorporated into our lesson (namely musical chairs with the alphabet). But we soon found out that most of the students were at a much higher level than we anticipated, so it was back to the drawing board for the two foreign teachers.
Day 2: Day 2 was much better than Day 1. The kids were engaged and, better yet, learning. We continued with the idea of the alphabet, but took it a step higher and had them thinking of words that started with each letter of the alphabet. They had a lot of fun thinking of as many English words as they could for each letter of the alphabet. We also started on numbers. One activity they really loved was a math competition. I had two students come up to the board, and I said two numbers to add together, and whoever added them the fastest and wrote the number on the board got to stay up while the other person sat down. This was a good test of their listening skills, since I was orally saying the English numbers. Their math skills are certainly quite high; they were much faster at adding than I am AND the numbers were in their second language!
Day 3: Day 3 also went really well. We continued our lesson on numbers. We played Bingo, which they loved! It was so cute to see them get really excited whenever a number they had was called. What was also really funny to see was how quiet the students got when I started to say “And…the next number is…” There was so much tense anticipation for the next number. I gave them all stickers when they got Bingo. At the end of class I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I don’t know whether they understood everything that was going on in the story, but they were really engaged with it.
Everyday we start class by singing a days of the week song set to the Adam’s family theme song “There’s Sunday, then there’s Monday. There’s Tuesday, then there’s Wednesday, there’s Thursday, then there’s Friday, and then there’s Saturday. Days of the week (snap snap), days of the week (snap snap), days of the week days of the week days of the week (snap snap). Next we sing an alphabet sound song “Who let the A out?” Instead of singing the letters, the kids are singing the sounds the letters make (this is hard to replicate on the computer, but you can figure it out). The last song is there favorite: Head, shoulders, knees, and toes. They love when we get faster and faster.
We also sing “5 Little Monkeys” but a bit different, and it has hand motions, which they like. It’s “5 little monkeys swinging in the tree, teasing Mr. Alligator ‘you can’t catch me,’ along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be, and…SNAP goes Mr. Alligator under that tree. 4 little monkeys…” Also whenever the SNAP part comes up I get up close to two of the kids and clap my hands really loud near them. They think this is so funny.
Thursday we are going to discuss shapes/colors and Friday the months of the year/holidays. Friday is the last day of Model School, so we are also going to invite their parents to come the last 30 minutes for a party/presentation of the songs they learned during the week.
Overall it has been a good experience, but really tiring.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Model School 2nd Lesson
My second day teaching in Model School was Wednesday. I was doing my lesson on modes of transportation. I started off by asking the students questions about what they had covered the day before with Ms. Cross. They were able to answer most of my questions.
Then I switched in to asking them about modes of transportation and whether they could give me any examples. Their examples included: plane, car, bus, bike, train, horse, camel. I said that travelling very far on camel would probably not be very fun. Next I showed them the pictures that I had drawn of different types of transportation, explaining the ones that they didn’t know. The transportation I covered was car, bus, train, plane, taxi, bike, cruise/ship, sailboat, and RV. The RV was the only one I really had to explain.
Next I had them stand up, come to the front of the room, and put their backs to me. I put sticky-notes on each of their backs with a different type of transportation written on it. They were to go around and ask each other questions about what kind of transportation was on their back. They were not allowed to ask “what is on my back?” but rather to ask more probing questions, like “how many wheels does my transportation have?” or “can my transportation go in the air?” Once they figured it out then they could take the sticky-note off of their backs and hold it. Once every one had discovered their transportation, I had them go around and find the person that matched theirs and sit with them.
Next in pairs or groups of three, they had to describe in as much detail as possible the transportation on their sticky-notes. After that they had to come up with as many scenarios as they could for using that type of transportation, tying in Beth’s lesson from yesterday (reasons/types of travel). When they were done, I called them to the front by transportation to present to the class their descriptions and scenarios. To get the students to practice their listening skills, I asked questions about each groups’ presentation (specifics/ ideas that were not presented) and if they offered up a suggestion I threw them a small piece of candy that I had bought before class. When that was done, the students had their 10 minute break.
Back from break, I had the students rejoin with their transportation group to come up with 3 reasons that their type of transportation was really good, and 2 reasons that it was better than another type of transportation. I presented this activity as a debate. To explain the concept of a debate, I used the idea of chocolate versus ice cream, which they thought was funny. I told the students that the best group would get some prize candy. The groups did a good job with this activity, and I told them that they could all have candy on the way out of class.
Afterwards, I switched to talking about idiomatic expressions that pertained to travel/transportation. I first asked them if they knew what an idiom or idiomatic expression was. Some looked confused, some looked as if they had heard the word before but couldn’t remember what it meant. I explained the meaning, and then asked if they had ever heard an English idiom. One boy (who I think has been to America) whispered “knuckle sandwich.” I was very pleased, and explained what a knuckle sandwich was to the rest of the class, as well as black eye, and one more that I can’t remember right now, but the students thought was funny (if I remember I will put it up). Then I asked if they could think of any Chinese idioms, or phrases in Chinese that a foreigner might say that means something to them, but something completely different to a Chinese person (and which would cause them to laugh at the foreigner). They were thinking, and couldn’t think of anything on the spot, so I offered one. I said that I had heard that eating doufu (tofu) means something different to a Chinese person than it means to a foreigner. As soon as I said eating doufu, the class erupted in giggles (particularly the girls). When someone asks what you had for lunch, and you respond that you had doufu it is slang in China to mean that you were making out with someone during lunch. Luckily I knew this one from my TEFL trainer who literally ate doufu and crackers for lunch every day, and didn’t realize why people were laughing until a colleague of hers at the university mentioned the idiomatic meaning.
Anyways, I then turned their attention to the 5 idiomatic expressions on the board: “backseat driver;” “fender bender;” “hit the road;” “on the homestretch;” and “road rage.” I asked the students to draw a picture of what they thought each of the idioms meant. I first gave an example of thinking what “on the homestretch” might mean by drawing a stretched out house. The students came up with some creative suggestions about what each of the idioms might mean (like backseat driver as someone who has control of the car from the back; hit the road means using a jackhammer on the road). I then explained what each of them meant. I had a piece of paper with the idiom, its definition, and a sentence using it. I would read out either the definition or the sentence and have various students do the other part. After, I came up with different scenarios and asked the students which idiom applied. They got them all right. I originally wanted to split them into 5 groups, give each group and idiom, and have them create a commercial (about anything) but incorporate the idiom into the commercial. But I ran out of time, and actually ran over time. The nice thing about Chinese students is that they didn’t complain, start packing up, looking at the clock or interrupt me to remind me of the time. They are such sweet kids (I say kids, even though they are in college).
Anyways I thought it went well on the whole. There is definite need of improvement, so I am looking forward to hearing the other evaluations.
The first person who evaluated me was the site manager at Sichuan Normal University Main Campus. She observed me the first half of my lesson, from yesterdays review until the descriptions/scenarios of each transportation group work. Her observations of me are as follows:
Constructive/advice: I talked a little too slowly; I should correct the students’ on their grammar mistakes at the end of class; should tell students to speak up when they are presenting to the class; and some misunderstanding with the word ‘scenario.’
Positive: she thought the students were engaged; the students did most of the talking; I taught as though I had been teaching for years, even though I have only taught officially for one semester; I praised the students well.
The second person to evaluate me was our TEFL trainer. She observed me the second half of the class, from the debate through the discussion of idiomatic expressions. Her observations of me were good and fair. She had a few recommendations for when I teach at my site in the future. Her advice is golden since she is finishing up her 2 years with the Peace Corps this August.
That’s all for that. Next Monday Beth and I will be teaching the primary school children. I will probably be very tired at the end of every day next week, but I think it should be fun. I will miss the college students I was with, though. Friday I went by to say goodbye and got a picture with them, and one student asked if he could give me a hug. They are all so sweet!
Other adventures? Not too many that I can think of. I did go swimming with my host brother and his best friend twice now. We went to a public swimming pool that is Olympic size in length, but only about 5 feet deep. It’s fun, but so crowded. There are so many people swimming or splashing around. Some swimming vertically and some horizontally. You always have to watch out for other people in your way, which is especially difficult for someone like me who can barely swim. Oh it was also my first experience with a communal shower. First time it was really weird, second time not so much.
Also my host mom is a PE teacher (think I mentioned this already) and students have to pass a PE test in order to advance from middle school (I think that is what was explained to me). So the mom has been tutoring a middle school girl in PE, I believe once a week. The first time the dad, their son, and I just watched from the stands. This time my host brother said he wanted to exercise, so I joined in. First we both just jogged around the track. Oh I forgot to mention that we meet the student at one of Sichuan University’s tracks. On the track are many people: guys playing soccer; babies walking around followed closely by parents or grandparents; children riding their bicycles or skateboards, walking, throwing a ball around; women and older people walking around the track, and more. It is very busy. So after we ran about 3600 meters (a little over 2 miles), we joined the mom in her class. Mostly what we were doing were squat jumps. As a result, today I can barely walk down the stairs and I wince every time I use a squat toilet. In other words, I am so sore.
Oh, and last thing…on Thursday we learned about air and water pollution in China. The 5 major air pollutants in China are: ground level ozone (which consists of VOCs and nitrogen oxide—no I do not know what VOCs are, although they did mention that in the session); particulate matter (like dust, dirt, and other construction debris); sulfur dioxide (the result of which is acid rain); and carbon dioxide (more common in winter and on busy roads). There is also an inversion problem here (not quite sure what this means, but I wrote it down in my notes from Thursday, so it must have been important).
The provinces with the most problematic air are: Shanxi, Gansu (only the capital Lanzhou—Peace Corps volunteers here); Hunan; Henan; Chongqing Municipality (Peace Corps volunteers here); and Sichuan (obviously Peace Corps volunteers here; this is where I am currently). Lanzhou and Chongqing are two of the worst places in all of China, as a result all volunteers from this two regions are issued air purifiers that must be used for breathing for at least 8 hours a day. I also learned about some very polluted cities in America—some the equivalent to China (Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are two that were named).
But that’s all. Until next time. Have a good day today!
Then I switched in to asking them about modes of transportation and whether they could give me any examples. Their examples included: plane, car, bus, bike, train, horse, camel. I said that travelling very far on camel would probably not be very fun. Next I showed them the pictures that I had drawn of different types of transportation, explaining the ones that they didn’t know. The transportation I covered was car, bus, train, plane, taxi, bike, cruise/ship, sailboat, and RV. The RV was the only one I really had to explain.
Next I had them stand up, come to the front of the room, and put their backs to me. I put sticky-notes on each of their backs with a different type of transportation written on it. They were to go around and ask each other questions about what kind of transportation was on their back. They were not allowed to ask “what is on my back?” but rather to ask more probing questions, like “how many wheels does my transportation have?” or “can my transportation go in the air?” Once they figured it out then they could take the sticky-note off of their backs and hold it. Once every one had discovered their transportation, I had them go around and find the person that matched theirs and sit with them.
Next in pairs or groups of three, they had to describe in as much detail as possible the transportation on their sticky-notes. After that they had to come up with as many scenarios as they could for using that type of transportation, tying in Beth’s lesson from yesterday (reasons/types of travel). When they were done, I called them to the front by transportation to present to the class their descriptions and scenarios. To get the students to practice their listening skills, I asked questions about each groups’ presentation (specifics/ ideas that were not presented) and if they offered up a suggestion I threw them a small piece of candy that I had bought before class. When that was done, the students had their 10 minute break.
Back from break, I had the students rejoin with their transportation group to come up with 3 reasons that their type of transportation was really good, and 2 reasons that it was better than another type of transportation. I presented this activity as a debate. To explain the concept of a debate, I used the idea of chocolate versus ice cream, which they thought was funny. I told the students that the best group would get some prize candy. The groups did a good job with this activity, and I told them that they could all have candy on the way out of class.
Afterwards, I switched to talking about idiomatic expressions that pertained to travel/transportation. I first asked them if they knew what an idiom or idiomatic expression was. Some looked confused, some looked as if they had heard the word before but couldn’t remember what it meant. I explained the meaning, and then asked if they had ever heard an English idiom. One boy (who I think has been to America) whispered “knuckle sandwich.” I was very pleased, and explained what a knuckle sandwich was to the rest of the class, as well as black eye, and one more that I can’t remember right now, but the students thought was funny (if I remember I will put it up). Then I asked if they could think of any Chinese idioms, or phrases in Chinese that a foreigner might say that means something to them, but something completely different to a Chinese person (and which would cause them to laugh at the foreigner). They were thinking, and couldn’t think of anything on the spot, so I offered one. I said that I had heard that eating doufu (tofu) means something different to a Chinese person than it means to a foreigner. As soon as I said eating doufu, the class erupted in giggles (particularly the girls). When someone asks what you had for lunch, and you respond that you had doufu it is slang in China to mean that you were making out with someone during lunch. Luckily I knew this one from my TEFL trainer who literally ate doufu and crackers for lunch every day, and didn’t realize why people were laughing until a colleague of hers at the university mentioned the idiomatic meaning.
Anyways, I then turned their attention to the 5 idiomatic expressions on the board: “backseat driver;” “fender bender;” “hit the road;” “on the homestretch;” and “road rage.” I asked the students to draw a picture of what they thought each of the idioms meant. I first gave an example of thinking what “on the homestretch” might mean by drawing a stretched out house. The students came up with some creative suggestions about what each of the idioms might mean (like backseat driver as someone who has control of the car from the back; hit the road means using a jackhammer on the road). I then explained what each of them meant. I had a piece of paper with the idiom, its definition, and a sentence using it. I would read out either the definition or the sentence and have various students do the other part. After, I came up with different scenarios and asked the students which idiom applied. They got them all right. I originally wanted to split them into 5 groups, give each group and idiom, and have them create a commercial (about anything) but incorporate the idiom into the commercial. But I ran out of time, and actually ran over time. The nice thing about Chinese students is that they didn’t complain, start packing up, looking at the clock or interrupt me to remind me of the time. They are such sweet kids (I say kids, even though they are in college).
Anyways I thought it went well on the whole. There is definite need of improvement, so I am looking forward to hearing the other evaluations.
The first person who evaluated me was the site manager at Sichuan Normal University Main Campus. She observed me the first half of my lesson, from yesterdays review until the descriptions/scenarios of each transportation group work. Her observations of me are as follows:
Constructive/advice: I talked a little too slowly; I should correct the students’ on their grammar mistakes at the end of class; should tell students to speak up when they are presenting to the class; and some misunderstanding with the word ‘scenario.’
Positive: she thought the students were engaged; the students did most of the talking; I taught as though I had been teaching for years, even though I have only taught officially for one semester; I praised the students well.
The second person to evaluate me was our TEFL trainer. She observed me the second half of the class, from the debate through the discussion of idiomatic expressions. Her observations of me were good and fair. She had a few recommendations for when I teach at my site in the future. Her advice is golden since she is finishing up her 2 years with the Peace Corps this August.
That’s all for that. Next Monday Beth and I will be teaching the primary school children. I will probably be very tired at the end of every day next week, but I think it should be fun. I will miss the college students I was with, though. Friday I went by to say goodbye and got a picture with them, and one student asked if he could give me a hug. They are all so sweet!
Other adventures? Not too many that I can think of. I did go swimming with my host brother and his best friend twice now. We went to a public swimming pool that is Olympic size in length, but only about 5 feet deep. It’s fun, but so crowded. There are so many people swimming or splashing around. Some swimming vertically and some horizontally. You always have to watch out for other people in your way, which is especially difficult for someone like me who can barely swim. Oh it was also my first experience with a communal shower. First time it was really weird, second time not so much.
Also my host mom is a PE teacher (think I mentioned this already) and students have to pass a PE test in order to advance from middle school (I think that is what was explained to me). So the mom has been tutoring a middle school girl in PE, I believe once a week. The first time the dad, their son, and I just watched from the stands. This time my host brother said he wanted to exercise, so I joined in. First we both just jogged around the track. Oh I forgot to mention that we meet the student at one of Sichuan University’s tracks. On the track are many people: guys playing soccer; babies walking around followed closely by parents or grandparents; children riding their bicycles or skateboards, walking, throwing a ball around; women and older people walking around the track, and more. It is very busy. So after we ran about 3600 meters (a little over 2 miles), we joined the mom in her class. Mostly what we were doing were squat jumps. As a result, today I can barely walk down the stairs and I wince every time I use a squat toilet. In other words, I am so sore.
Oh, and last thing…on Thursday we learned about air and water pollution in China. The 5 major air pollutants in China are: ground level ozone (which consists of VOCs and nitrogen oxide—no I do not know what VOCs are, although they did mention that in the session); particulate matter (like dust, dirt, and other construction debris); sulfur dioxide (the result of which is acid rain); and carbon dioxide (more common in winter and on busy roads). There is also an inversion problem here (not quite sure what this means, but I wrote it down in my notes from Thursday, so it must have been important).
The provinces with the most problematic air are: Shanxi, Gansu (only the capital Lanzhou—Peace Corps volunteers here); Hunan; Henan; Chongqing Municipality (Peace Corps volunteers here); and Sichuan (obviously Peace Corps volunteers here; this is where I am currently). Lanzhou and Chongqing are two of the worst places in all of China, as a result all volunteers from this two regions are issued air purifiers that must be used for breathing for at least 8 hours a day. I also learned about some very polluted cities in America—some the equivalent to China (Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are two that were named).
But that’s all. Until next time. Have a good day today!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Model School
Today I had my first lesson in Model School. Oh the thrill and adrenaline of teaching (or maybe you don’t feel that way about teaching). I find it exhilarating to get in front of a class. I guess that’s why I majored in education. Today was no different. We were all nervous, unsure of what to expect from the classroom or our students. This first week I am teaching a group of college students with two other people. We are taking turns on different days. The first day of teaching was also my first day teaching the students on my own. It needed to be like that because next week my partner Beth and I volunteered to teach the one group of primary school children. No one wanted to teach them because for the next two years we will be teaching college students, so we all wanted the experience of teaching college students during Model School.
We were unsure of the age, English level, facilities, materials (like chalk or dry erase markers, tape, or flipchart paper), or number of students we would have when planning our lessons for the first week. This is good practice, though, because it will be much the same ambiguity when we leave PST and go to teach independently in a university in China. We found out that we would have 17 students. We soon found out the levels were mixed, with some students at an advanced level of Oral English and some at a more intermediate level. In the end we were left with 16 students total.
I started off class with introducing myself, explaining what the class should expect, and what we would be doing that day (as well as a bit of information for the two weeks). Then the other two teachers (Mr. Casey and Ms. Cross) introduced themselves to the class. Next I handed the students some pencils and paper, and had them listen as I read off a survey for them to fill in anonymously about themselves (needed to further explain the word anonymous, understandably). The questions and their responses are as followed:
1. On a scale of 1-5 how comfortable are you speaking English to a classmate (1 being not comfortable, 3 being a little comfortable and 5 being very comfortable). I also needed to re-explain the word comfortable, breaking it down to mean easy. The average response was 2.7 and the most common response was 3.
2. On a scale of 1-5 how comfortable are you speaking English with a foreign teacher (same scale explanation). The average response was 2 and the most common response was 3. So about the same, which I found surprising. I would have thought that the students would have felt more comfortable speaking with one another than with a native speaker of English.
3. How many years have you studied Oral English? The average response was 3.9 years, and the most common answer was 6 years. The outliers were 0 years and 4 months, and 7 years.
4. How many times have you spoken English in the past week? Average response: 1.2 times, most common response: 0 times. Outlier was 6 times
5. Are you an English major? 14 said no, and 1 said yes.
6. What are your concerns about using English orally?
Their answers were: vocabulary (4 people), grammar (6 people), talking (2 people), listening, structure, fluency, expression.
7. What do you hope to gain from this class?
7 replied that they hoped to learn about life in America/American culture
1 hoped to increase their vocabulary
2 wanted to increase their fluency
2 wanted to sing American songs
6 hoped to improve their overall speaking skills
1 wanted to learn about the history of America
1 wanted it to not be boring (and to watch TV)
1 wanted to improve their listening skills
In terms of the boring one, there is this understanding that American teachers are fun and play games. I would have to agree with this statement because American teachers have a different understanding of learning than Chinese teachers. Chinese teachers focus on auditory skills, and classes are lecture-based and teacher-centered. All the classrooms have a podium at the front, and often the podium is raised up on a platform or stage, so that the teacher is looking out over the students. American teachers tend to walk around the students and to leave learning up to the students, with a focus on critical thinking skills. Apparently students are taken aback when the foreign teachers remove themselves from the front of the room and begin to wander around. The students today did not seem really unnerved by this, but this is probably because they have already had a foreign teacher. Chengdu is a really big city with multiple universities and several foreign teachers. Similarly, Chongqing is a large city with many universities with likely foreign teachers (which one of my students was from Chongqing).
After the survey, Mr. Casey, Ms. Cross, and I did a short skit to explain how we wanted the class environment to feel. We already explained to the students that we were learning Chinese, like they were learning English. So I pretended to be a Chinese teacher and Mr. Casey and Ms. Cross my American students. So I came in and said “Shang ke le” which means “let’s begin class.” Both of them looked around confused and asked if they had learned that phrase already and what did it mean. Then I looked at them and said “Nihao ma?” Which means “how are you?” they looked even more confused and tried repeating after me. I looked at Mr. Casey, addressed him, and said ‘Nihao ma?” He asked if he should respond. Anyways, to make a short story long, they basically acted confused, and the students laughed at our Chinese inadequacies. I summed up by explaining that the only way to learn is to practice, and that not only is it okay to make mistakes, but that it is a good thing because they are trying.
Next we did a “Tea Party” activity (thank you Kylene Beers!). This activity requires the students to walk around the classroom and talk with other students. I gave each student post-it notes with 6 conversation starters. They walked around the room and I would clap my hands for them to find a partner, then clapped my hands and told them which conversation to turn to and to begin discussing it with their partner. This activity was a great way to loosen up the students and get them to talk using English. Occasionally I heard some Chinese slip in, but as a whole they did a great job. It was mainly used as an assessment for us to see where they were at in terms of vocabulary, structure, and overall fluency. The conversation topics were: say 5 things about yourself; name 4 foods you really like; describe the 3 best movies you have seen; describe your country (this was suggested by my host brother’s best friend who is the same age and level as my students); what would you do if you were given 1,000,000 kuai (their currency); and what country would you love to visit (I heard a lot of Australia on that one).
Next the students took a 10 minute break. The class is a total of 90 minutes (45 minutes, 10 minute break, 45 minutes).
After the break I had the students make a family crest. I explained what a family crest was, where it originates, and how it relates to American culture (Irish, Scottish, English backgrounds). The “family crest” was basically them designing a crest and splitting it into 4 sections and drawing things that represent them. For my example I drew my family, books and a paper; the outdoors; and sports. I gave them about 10 minutes to work on it, and then they each had to stand up a present it. This activity was the best assessment of their English abilities, as well as their comfort level speaking English. I told all the students they had to stand (either where they were or in the front) and present their crest. Two boys volunteered and then I started calling out names randomly on the roll. I only had to call out three names, and then the students warmed up to going without being called. This took the rest of the class period. I has to x out the other two activities I had planned (two truths and a lie; and a dialogue they had to put together of two famous people meeting each other for the first time. My example for that one was Jackie Chan meets Michael Jackson).
For the rest of the week our theme is travel. Ms. Cross is discussing various reasons for travel Tuesday (sightseeing/tourism; business; educational; etc.). Wednesday I am teaching modes of transportation. Thursday Mr. Casey is teaching about packing. And Friday Ms. Cross is teaching about making reservations. Next week Mr. Casey is staying with the students, and Ms. Cross and I are switching with the two women who are teaching the primary school students this week (and they go over to our students).
Things to know about the students. They are very well behaved and participated well in everything we did. There was a little chatter on the side, but nothing too noticeable (and from what I hear not preventable). When class was over at 410, I wrapped up by discussing what would be taught during the rest of the week, and mentioning that Ms. Cross would be teaching tomorrow, and then said okay, class dismissed. Well they all just sat there. So I said, okay you may go. But they still sat there. Finally, I packed my bag, and started to wipe the board clean (a student promptly started helping), and then we left. As it turns out, it is culturally respectful for students to wait in the class until after the teacher has left. Good thing to know for next time. But our TEFL trainer (who is finishing up her volunteer stint in the Peace Corps next month) told us that eventually her students got used to the foreign teacher notion that the students leave first. It’s interesting the culturally differences, even with the little things.
Sorry if I bored some people with the details. Probably the teachers reading this blog will find this more interesting than non-teachers. Oh speaking of teachers. There is this fellow Peace Corps trainer in my group that looks similar, and has similar mannerisms to Katie Carson. So every time I see this lady (Gareth) I think of you Katie, and it makes me smile.
That’s all for now. Peace, love, and many happy memories on both sides of the world!
We were unsure of the age, English level, facilities, materials (like chalk or dry erase markers, tape, or flipchart paper), or number of students we would have when planning our lessons for the first week. This is good practice, though, because it will be much the same ambiguity when we leave PST and go to teach independently in a university in China. We found out that we would have 17 students. We soon found out the levels were mixed, with some students at an advanced level of Oral English and some at a more intermediate level. In the end we were left with 16 students total.
I started off class with introducing myself, explaining what the class should expect, and what we would be doing that day (as well as a bit of information for the two weeks). Then the other two teachers (Mr. Casey and Ms. Cross) introduced themselves to the class. Next I handed the students some pencils and paper, and had them listen as I read off a survey for them to fill in anonymously about themselves (needed to further explain the word anonymous, understandably). The questions and their responses are as followed:
1. On a scale of 1-5 how comfortable are you speaking English to a classmate (1 being not comfortable, 3 being a little comfortable and 5 being very comfortable). I also needed to re-explain the word comfortable, breaking it down to mean easy. The average response was 2.7 and the most common response was 3.
2. On a scale of 1-5 how comfortable are you speaking English with a foreign teacher (same scale explanation). The average response was 2 and the most common response was 3. So about the same, which I found surprising. I would have thought that the students would have felt more comfortable speaking with one another than with a native speaker of English.
3. How many years have you studied Oral English? The average response was 3.9 years, and the most common answer was 6 years. The outliers were 0 years and 4 months, and 7 years.
4. How many times have you spoken English in the past week? Average response: 1.2 times, most common response: 0 times. Outlier was 6 times
5. Are you an English major? 14 said no, and 1 said yes.
6. What are your concerns about using English orally?
Their answers were: vocabulary (4 people), grammar (6 people), talking (2 people), listening, structure, fluency, expression.
7. What do you hope to gain from this class?
7 replied that they hoped to learn about life in America/American culture
1 hoped to increase their vocabulary
2 wanted to increase their fluency
2 wanted to sing American songs
6 hoped to improve their overall speaking skills
1 wanted to learn about the history of America
1 wanted it to not be boring (and to watch TV)
1 wanted to improve their listening skills
In terms of the boring one, there is this understanding that American teachers are fun and play games. I would have to agree with this statement because American teachers have a different understanding of learning than Chinese teachers. Chinese teachers focus on auditory skills, and classes are lecture-based and teacher-centered. All the classrooms have a podium at the front, and often the podium is raised up on a platform or stage, so that the teacher is looking out over the students. American teachers tend to walk around the students and to leave learning up to the students, with a focus on critical thinking skills. Apparently students are taken aback when the foreign teachers remove themselves from the front of the room and begin to wander around. The students today did not seem really unnerved by this, but this is probably because they have already had a foreign teacher. Chengdu is a really big city with multiple universities and several foreign teachers. Similarly, Chongqing is a large city with many universities with likely foreign teachers (which one of my students was from Chongqing).
After the survey, Mr. Casey, Ms. Cross, and I did a short skit to explain how we wanted the class environment to feel. We already explained to the students that we were learning Chinese, like they were learning English. So I pretended to be a Chinese teacher and Mr. Casey and Ms. Cross my American students. So I came in and said “Shang ke le” which means “let’s begin class.” Both of them looked around confused and asked if they had learned that phrase already and what did it mean. Then I looked at them and said “Nihao ma?” Which means “how are you?” they looked even more confused and tried repeating after me. I looked at Mr. Casey, addressed him, and said ‘Nihao ma?” He asked if he should respond. Anyways, to make a short story long, they basically acted confused, and the students laughed at our Chinese inadequacies. I summed up by explaining that the only way to learn is to practice, and that not only is it okay to make mistakes, but that it is a good thing because they are trying.
Next we did a “Tea Party” activity (thank you Kylene Beers!). This activity requires the students to walk around the classroom and talk with other students. I gave each student post-it notes with 6 conversation starters. They walked around the room and I would clap my hands for them to find a partner, then clapped my hands and told them which conversation to turn to and to begin discussing it with their partner. This activity was a great way to loosen up the students and get them to talk using English. Occasionally I heard some Chinese slip in, but as a whole they did a great job. It was mainly used as an assessment for us to see where they were at in terms of vocabulary, structure, and overall fluency. The conversation topics were: say 5 things about yourself; name 4 foods you really like; describe the 3 best movies you have seen; describe your country (this was suggested by my host brother’s best friend who is the same age and level as my students); what would you do if you were given 1,000,000 kuai (their currency); and what country would you love to visit (I heard a lot of Australia on that one).
Next the students took a 10 minute break. The class is a total of 90 minutes (45 minutes, 10 minute break, 45 minutes).
After the break I had the students make a family crest. I explained what a family crest was, where it originates, and how it relates to American culture (Irish, Scottish, English backgrounds). The “family crest” was basically them designing a crest and splitting it into 4 sections and drawing things that represent them. For my example I drew my family, books and a paper; the outdoors; and sports. I gave them about 10 minutes to work on it, and then they each had to stand up a present it. This activity was the best assessment of their English abilities, as well as their comfort level speaking English. I told all the students they had to stand (either where they were or in the front) and present their crest. Two boys volunteered and then I started calling out names randomly on the roll. I only had to call out three names, and then the students warmed up to going without being called. This took the rest of the class period. I has to x out the other two activities I had planned (two truths and a lie; and a dialogue they had to put together of two famous people meeting each other for the first time. My example for that one was Jackie Chan meets Michael Jackson).
For the rest of the week our theme is travel. Ms. Cross is discussing various reasons for travel Tuesday (sightseeing/tourism; business; educational; etc.). Wednesday I am teaching modes of transportation. Thursday Mr. Casey is teaching about packing. And Friday Ms. Cross is teaching about making reservations. Next week Mr. Casey is staying with the students, and Ms. Cross and I are switching with the two women who are teaching the primary school students this week (and they go over to our students).
Things to know about the students. They are very well behaved and participated well in everything we did. There was a little chatter on the side, but nothing too noticeable (and from what I hear not preventable). When class was over at 410, I wrapped up by discussing what would be taught during the rest of the week, and mentioning that Ms. Cross would be teaching tomorrow, and then said okay, class dismissed. Well they all just sat there. So I said, okay you may go. But they still sat there. Finally, I packed my bag, and started to wipe the board clean (a student promptly started helping), and then we left. As it turns out, it is culturally respectful for students to wait in the class until after the teacher has left. Good thing to know for next time. But our TEFL trainer (who is finishing up her volunteer stint in the Peace Corps next month) told us that eventually her students got used to the foreign teacher notion that the students leave first. It’s interesting the culturally differences, even with the little things.
Sorry if I bored some people with the details. Probably the teachers reading this blog will find this more interesting than non-teachers. Oh speaking of teachers. There is this fellow Peace Corps trainer in my group that looks similar, and has similar mannerisms to Katie Carson. So every time I see this lady (Gareth) I think of you Katie, and it makes me smile.
That’s all for now. Peace, love, and many happy memories on both sides of the world!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
July 17, 2010
Nihao!
I thought I would highlight some of the culturally differences that I have noticed and learned about thus far since coming to China almost three weeks ago (I think…sort of lost track of time).
Food:
The food is different in different parts of China (I am sure), so I am focusing on the foods that I have eaten or have heard others have here in Sichuan Province. Rice is the staple food in China (bread is the staple in America if you weren’t sure).
Rice is served at almost every meal. For breakfast one can have a sort of rice porridge, which consists of rice and a thick soupy liquid. It’s okay. It doesn’t have much flavor, so one usually adds a thick, spicy, red paste to it to make it taste better. For lunch and dinner rice is typically served in a bowl and one adds the other dishes to the bowl. Typically someone may only go through one or two bowls of rice. The majority of the calories come from the other dishes at the table. It is usually set up “family style,” in which there are several bowls of food (veggies and meats) in the middle and you just pick out what you like (a little at a time), add it to your rice and eat both or just the meat/veggie item. Am I making any sense? Dumplings though are the exception to this rule. You can just eat one bowl of dumplings and nothing else.
Bread is rarely served here. I have had some toast for breakfast (I think twice) and that’s okay. The bread that typically is served here is not really good. Let’s just say that bread is not China’s specialty—they are much better at other dishes. Dairy is also not apart of the Chinese diet. This is mainly because most Chinese (and Asians for that matter) have problems with lactose. I do drink warm milk in the morning, but I noticed one day that it said low-lactose. There is ice cream here and it is rather tasty. I also enjoyed a green bean popsicle. It was surprisingly good, but with a strange aftertaste. Beans are often used in China to flavor things. I had a really good breakfast item (typically served at the Lunar New Year celebration) called tang yuan (tang meaning soup). It is served in hot water and it is a bunch of little dough balls. When my host mom first gave it to me I expected to bite into something like matzo ball soup (that’s what it looked like). But oh was I wrong. It was a delicious ball of goodness. Apparently it can be filled with various things (almost always sweet), but my teacher thinks my host mom filled it with green bean paste and sugar (thus the green bean side story from the popsicle story). Anyways it was really good and I get excited whenever she makes it. One of my favorite dishes by far. Oh and I forgot to say that yogurt is found here, but in a liquid style, and cheese is quite rare. I’ve yet to see cheese (although another PST claims to have seen something that resembled cheese in the market). I know, 2 years without cheese… I must be crazy.
The reason most Chinese are really skinny? Most of their calories consist of rice, fruit, and vegetables. They do have meat, but it is no where near the quantity of meat consumed in the states.
Interesting food that I have eaten:
• Chicken’s feet (I can now say that I have been clawed in the face by the food I was eating. True story. It was mostly skin. There was very little meat. Some Chinese LOVE chicken feet, and others not so much. It is considered a delicacy)
• pig’s feet (chewy skin and fat basically)
• Rabbit’s head (have yet to enjoy this delicacy, but have seen pictures. It looks exactly like a rabbit’s head without the skin)
• Bamboo (rubbery and tasteless)
• Bitter melon (we might have this in the States. It is super bitter, but apparently high in vitamins…so I chocked it down with something tasty)
• Cow’s stomach (not too bad. Kind of spiky and rubbery)
• The neck of some animal (hard and chewy)
• Strange slimy thin fish in which I had to spit out the head
• Fish in general all have the tiny bones in it that you must be careful to spit out
• Chicken often has the bone still in it, too
• Lots of tofu—some good, some not to my taste (but plenty of other people thoroughly enjoy)
That’s all I have so far, but I will be sure to add to the list as it is sure to grow. I also want to mention that in terms of spitting out bones and other things…you just leave them on the table. It was a bit difficult to get used to at first, but now I easily leave my food particles on the table.
Fruits and vegetables must be carefully washed in soap and then either boiled or peeled. The water in China is not clean and is not okay to drink or even put in your mouth. I don’t even use the tap water to brush my teeth. Consuming the water could result in either Giardia or other fun parasites to eat away at your insides. You can probably figure out the symptoms of parasites on your own without me going into detail.
Alcohol:
The Chinese are not into drinking that much, but at banquets and during business transactions the Chinese can drink a lot. There are three main types of alcohol here in China: beer, wine, and baijiu. The beer in China comes in a larger bottle than that in the States and the wine is about the same. The feared baijiu is the Chinese equivalent to vodka, but at 60-80% alcohol content can get you drunk much faster.
Women do not often drink, and if they do it is very little. Also if you turn down a drink once, you should turn it down every time thereafter or you will be insulting the person from whom you first refused a drink.
That’s all I will mention about alcohol.
Potty training:
I know this seems like a weird thing to mention, but it is easily noticed. What do I mean by that? First, all children under one year old have slits down the middle of their pants so that their little butts are showing off to the world. Two, these children are held over trash cans, public drains, bushes, grass, etc.), the parents do a particular whistle and the babies know to go. Children in China are often potty trained by the end of year one. I have since gotten used to seeing babies held on the sidewalk while they poop. It seems to be effective though and cheaper than diapers. Moms and dads in the States…tired of changing diapers?
Toilets:
Most of the toilets in China are squat toilets. I will try to put up a picture. It pretty much just consists of a whole in the tile or the ground. Basically you just squat and go. At first I found this concept very difficult, but now I think it is more sanitary than western toilets. Western toilets you sit where other people have sat. With the squat, though you are closer to the action, you aren’t actually touching anything. Just a thought. Not saying we should switch, though. Toilet paper seems to be BYOTP. Bring your own toilet paper because I have never seen toilet paper in a public restroom. Also soap seems to be a rare occurrence in public restrooms. Don’t know. I try to carry both with me.
Cleanliness:
You will never see a Chinese person sit on the ground. For a Chinese person they find it completely appalling that Americans sit on the ground. The ground is dirty, so why would you sit on it? I often see people squat down near the ground, but never will their backsides touch. Other items of cleanliness is that spitting is very okay here in China. People are always spitting on the ground. I haven’t gotten used to this one yet. Oh also it is not okay to walk around the house without shoes on. The floor is not clean, so we shouldn’t put our feet on the floor. That is why in China you take your outside shoes off at the door and put on slippers. The slippers keep your feet and the floor cleaner.
Exercise:
First of all, only elder people participate in Tai-Chi. They probably think it is very strange to see young and healthy Americans doing tai-chi which is meant for the older people. But every morning I see pockets of older Chinese doing tai-chi together or walking. The younger men play basketball or soccer. The majority of exercisers, though, appear to be the elderly. Guys do go to the gym and use weights. Women do not use weights. Women that go to the gym do yoga or aerobics. I do not see many people running, even on the track. Oh and dancing is also a common form of exercise.
That’s all the culturally information I am going to give right now, so it’s not overwhelming…and I’m tired. But before I go, I will answer some pressing questions people have:
1. I do not eat fortune cookies, nor have I ever seen a fortune cookie in China
2. Randomly on Thursday night at 10pm, fireworks went off in the community I live in. I still do not know why, except that there wasn’t a holiday. So it seems fireworks are readily available and not odd to use.
And that is all for the questions. If you have questions about China, comment on the blog or email me at katied3461@hotmail.com and I will put the answers on the blog.
I hope you enjoyed the post and learned a little more about Chinese culture and people. I didn’t know anything about China before coming here, so this experience is truly wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime. The Chinese people are wonderful people, and I hope I can shorten the gap of culturally knowledge between China and the US (or at least for those that read the blog and the people I meet here).
Zaijian (goodbye)
I thought I would highlight some of the culturally differences that I have noticed and learned about thus far since coming to China almost three weeks ago (I think…sort of lost track of time).
Food:
The food is different in different parts of China (I am sure), so I am focusing on the foods that I have eaten or have heard others have here in Sichuan Province. Rice is the staple food in China (bread is the staple in America if you weren’t sure).
Rice is served at almost every meal. For breakfast one can have a sort of rice porridge, which consists of rice and a thick soupy liquid. It’s okay. It doesn’t have much flavor, so one usually adds a thick, spicy, red paste to it to make it taste better. For lunch and dinner rice is typically served in a bowl and one adds the other dishes to the bowl. Typically someone may only go through one or two bowls of rice. The majority of the calories come from the other dishes at the table. It is usually set up “family style,” in which there are several bowls of food (veggies and meats) in the middle and you just pick out what you like (a little at a time), add it to your rice and eat both or just the meat/veggie item. Am I making any sense? Dumplings though are the exception to this rule. You can just eat one bowl of dumplings and nothing else.
Bread is rarely served here. I have had some toast for breakfast (I think twice) and that’s okay. The bread that typically is served here is not really good. Let’s just say that bread is not China’s specialty—they are much better at other dishes. Dairy is also not apart of the Chinese diet. This is mainly because most Chinese (and Asians for that matter) have problems with lactose. I do drink warm milk in the morning, but I noticed one day that it said low-lactose. There is ice cream here and it is rather tasty. I also enjoyed a green bean popsicle. It was surprisingly good, but with a strange aftertaste. Beans are often used in China to flavor things. I had a really good breakfast item (typically served at the Lunar New Year celebration) called tang yuan (tang meaning soup). It is served in hot water and it is a bunch of little dough balls. When my host mom first gave it to me I expected to bite into something like matzo ball soup (that’s what it looked like). But oh was I wrong. It was a delicious ball of goodness. Apparently it can be filled with various things (almost always sweet), but my teacher thinks my host mom filled it with green bean paste and sugar (thus the green bean side story from the popsicle story). Anyways it was really good and I get excited whenever she makes it. One of my favorite dishes by far. Oh and I forgot to say that yogurt is found here, but in a liquid style, and cheese is quite rare. I’ve yet to see cheese (although another PST claims to have seen something that resembled cheese in the market). I know, 2 years without cheese… I must be crazy.
The reason most Chinese are really skinny? Most of their calories consist of rice, fruit, and vegetables. They do have meat, but it is no where near the quantity of meat consumed in the states.
Interesting food that I have eaten:
• Chicken’s feet (I can now say that I have been clawed in the face by the food I was eating. True story. It was mostly skin. There was very little meat. Some Chinese LOVE chicken feet, and others not so much. It is considered a delicacy)
• pig’s feet (chewy skin and fat basically)
• Rabbit’s head (have yet to enjoy this delicacy, but have seen pictures. It looks exactly like a rabbit’s head without the skin)
• Bamboo (rubbery and tasteless)
• Bitter melon (we might have this in the States. It is super bitter, but apparently high in vitamins…so I chocked it down with something tasty)
• Cow’s stomach (not too bad. Kind of spiky and rubbery)
• The neck of some animal (hard and chewy)
• Strange slimy thin fish in which I had to spit out the head
• Fish in general all have the tiny bones in it that you must be careful to spit out
• Chicken often has the bone still in it, too
• Lots of tofu—some good, some not to my taste (but plenty of other people thoroughly enjoy)
That’s all I have so far, but I will be sure to add to the list as it is sure to grow. I also want to mention that in terms of spitting out bones and other things…you just leave them on the table. It was a bit difficult to get used to at first, but now I easily leave my food particles on the table.
Fruits and vegetables must be carefully washed in soap and then either boiled or peeled. The water in China is not clean and is not okay to drink or even put in your mouth. I don’t even use the tap water to brush my teeth. Consuming the water could result in either Giardia or other fun parasites to eat away at your insides. You can probably figure out the symptoms of parasites on your own without me going into detail.
Alcohol:
The Chinese are not into drinking that much, but at banquets and during business transactions the Chinese can drink a lot. There are three main types of alcohol here in China: beer, wine, and baijiu. The beer in China comes in a larger bottle than that in the States and the wine is about the same. The feared baijiu is the Chinese equivalent to vodka, but at 60-80% alcohol content can get you drunk much faster.
Women do not often drink, and if they do it is very little. Also if you turn down a drink once, you should turn it down every time thereafter or you will be insulting the person from whom you first refused a drink.
That’s all I will mention about alcohol.
Potty training:
I know this seems like a weird thing to mention, but it is easily noticed. What do I mean by that? First, all children under one year old have slits down the middle of their pants so that their little butts are showing off to the world. Two, these children are held over trash cans, public drains, bushes, grass, etc.), the parents do a particular whistle and the babies know to go. Children in China are often potty trained by the end of year one. I have since gotten used to seeing babies held on the sidewalk while they poop. It seems to be effective though and cheaper than diapers. Moms and dads in the States…tired of changing diapers?
Toilets:
Most of the toilets in China are squat toilets. I will try to put up a picture. It pretty much just consists of a whole in the tile or the ground. Basically you just squat and go. At first I found this concept very difficult, but now I think it is more sanitary than western toilets. Western toilets you sit where other people have sat. With the squat, though you are closer to the action, you aren’t actually touching anything. Just a thought. Not saying we should switch, though. Toilet paper seems to be BYOTP. Bring your own toilet paper because I have never seen toilet paper in a public restroom. Also soap seems to be a rare occurrence in public restrooms. Don’t know. I try to carry both with me.
Cleanliness:
You will never see a Chinese person sit on the ground. For a Chinese person they find it completely appalling that Americans sit on the ground. The ground is dirty, so why would you sit on it? I often see people squat down near the ground, but never will their backsides touch. Other items of cleanliness is that spitting is very okay here in China. People are always spitting on the ground. I haven’t gotten used to this one yet. Oh also it is not okay to walk around the house without shoes on. The floor is not clean, so we shouldn’t put our feet on the floor. That is why in China you take your outside shoes off at the door and put on slippers. The slippers keep your feet and the floor cleaner.
Exercise:
First of all, only elder people participate in Tai-Chi. They probably think it is very strange to see young and healthy Americans doing tai-chi which is meant for the older people. But every morning I see pockets of older Chinese doing tai-chi together or walking. The younger men play basketball or soccer. The majority of exercisers, though, appear to be the elderly. Guys do go to the gym and use weights. Women do not use weights. Women that go to the gym do yoga or aerobics. I do not see many people running, even on the track. Oh and dancing is also a common form of exercise.
That’s all the culturally information I am going to give right now, so it’s not overwhelming…and I’m tired. But before I go, I will answer some pressing questions people have:
1. I do not eat fortune cookies, nor have I ever seen a fortune cookie in China
2. Randomly on Thursday night at 10pm, fireworks went off in the community I live in. I still do not know why, except that there wasn’t a holiday. So it seems fireworks are readily available and not odd to use.
And that is all for the questions. If you have questions about China, comment on the blog or email me at katied3461@hotmail.com and I will put the answers on the blog.
I hope you enjoyed the post and learned a little more about Chinese culture and people. I didn’t know anything about China before coming here, so this experience is truly wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime. The Chinese people are wonderful people, and I hope I can shorten the gap of culturally knowledge between China and the US (or at least for those that read the blog and the people I meet here).
Zaijian (goodbye)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Catching up in Chengdu
Nihao!
So sorry that I haven’t written on my blog since coming to China. I have been having some technical challenges along the way. First my blog could not be accessed, then my computer broke. My host dad was able to get it fixed though which is wonderful. It turned out that a chip inside was fried and needed to be replaced, and the battery that I got before I came was too big and causing problems.
But all is good now, and I will try to catch everyone up on what has been happening since my arrival in China over a week ago. I first arrived in Chengdu and went to Jianzhong Hotel with the rest of the 89 trainees. We had sessions together every day (on health, safety, logistical things, etc.) and small group language sessions. I bunked with a woman named Beth (the same one from the Washington D.C hotel) and it was great. Our personalities are similar, so we have gotten closer since coming. We are both at the same training site, too. But I will get back to that topic.
During our time at the hotel the trainees had the opportunity to get to know each other and the city. Chengdu is a busy city with lots of cars, people, shops, and pollution. It is a city with population 1.4 million. We have been learning how to order food and shop at fruit and vegetable vendor stands. Our abilities at Chinese are improving rapidly, but we are still far behind being able to communicate effectively with others. I study constantly, always looking at note cards and our textbook. It is a frustrating experience some times to not be able to communicate with my host parents, but also a good learning experience. When I am speaking with my non-English speaking host parents I am able to pick up on more Chinese. My host brother is fluent in English, which is both good and bad. It is good because I have been able to get to know both him and the parents better, but bad because he often translates between the two of us which limits my learning experience.
My host family is a wonderful group of people. I have my own room (which I am pretty sure belonged to my host brother before I came, and they let me have my own bathroom. They all share the bathroom in the parent’s room. Their son is going to be coming to the States the day after I leave their home to finish high school and go to college. He will be living in a small town in Washington State and staying with an American host family until he finishes high school next year. He is 16, likes Japanese animation, movies, the guitar, badminton, and video games. Minus the badminton he will fit in nicely in the States. I know Chris Kehoe would like him.
Oh and Richard would fit in well here because the men where shorts similar to the shorts that he wears.
My host mom is a P.E teacher at the university and focuses on dance (particularly traditional dance). My host father is a reporter.
I will try to upload pictures of my adventures. It has been a slow process of emailing them to my parents, but maybe it will be easier on the blog.
What I have done with my host family:
--Thursday it was the parents’ wedding anniversary. The family, one of the mother’s friends, and I went out to eat to Hot Pot. Hot Pot is a Sichuan specific restaurant. We sit at a table with a bowl in the middle. You pick out what you want and they come and it cooks in front of you and you pick out what you want. Sort of like a fondue place, but different. The food is supposed to be really spicy, but I thought it was about medium heat on the Indian spicy food scale. Oh and I am pretty sure the family and their friend were making fun of my Chinese several times during the night, but not in a mean way, but in a funny way. No hard feelings on my part, I know my Mandarin sounds ridiculous
--Friday night I went out to eat with my host brother and mother to a 5 star hotel for dinner. It was buffet style with mostly Chinese food, but also some western style food. The mom’s best friend ate with us and she was a manager at the hotel, so we ate for free. It was a really nice hotel (by American standards too)
--Saturday morning my host family took me about an hour outside of where we stay to the edge of the city where there is a 100 year old preserved city. Along the way we passed rice fields and poorer sections of China. It was a nice drive. The city was interesting, too. It was one of the major tourist attractions in Chengdu
--my host mom said she would teach me how to cook some Chinese food. I hope she does. Even if she doesn’t teach me much, I might be able to ask some of my students in the future to teach me, too.
--I have since done my laundry twice. This consists of a small washing machine that can wash about 5 or 6 shirts. We wash our undergarments separately by hand because it is considered unclean to wash them with the other clothes. Then we hang the clothes to dry on the balcony.
--I have eaten all sorts of good food. I don’t think I have a favorite yet. The weirdest thing that I have eaten thus far would be pig’s feet and bamboo. The pig’s feet consisted mainly of skin and fat. It was rather chewy. My host brother said it is supposed to be good for the skin. The bamboo was rubbery and had no flavor to it whatsoever.
--my host family does a good job of trying to help me with my Chinese. I remember the words but my speaking and listening skills are so poor. When they use the words I don’t realize the words they are actually using are words that I know, and when I pronounce them they do not understand me and proceed to make me repeat over and over again. It is the intonations that I am having the most difficulty with. Although I was pleased that I understood almost the entire conversation when I went with my host dad and brother to the Market.
For training, the language classes are going very quickly and I have to study the next days lessons the night before in order to keep up. All the trainees in my language class have had Chinese lessons before. Some times I feel very inadequate at Chinese.
I think I forgot to say that I am at Sichuan Normal University Main Campus. It is a nice campus with plenty of flowers and trees. It is also a little less pollution than downtown which is nice for my breathing. It is still a rare occurrence to see the sky or the sun.
A week from Monday we will start model school. Model school is two weeks of teaching oral English to a group of college or high school aged students. We do not know how many or the level they are at. We will teach them M-F for 90 minutes. We are in pairs for teaching (although my group is the one with three). We will plan the lessons together, but implement them alone (alternating between days). We will be independently evaluated by three people for our teaching ability. I think if our teaching is horrendous, we may not be sworn-in as volunteers.
Other than that, not too much. The following is my schedule for the rest of my Peace Corps Training.
July 5 move to training sites, begin homestay (I am at Sichuan Normal University Main campus)
July 19-30: model school
August 5: site announcements (I will find out where I will be for the next two years)
August 9-14: site visits (at this time I will be staying with a different home family at my site)
August 20: host family appreciation night
August 21: language proficiency interview (I must achieve an intermediate-low level) and final training evaluation
August 24: move from host families back to a hotel
August 26: supervisors/counterparts conference with trainees (I don’t know what this is yet)
August 27: swearing-in ceremony (when I will officially be a volunteer)
August 28: depart for sites
Signing off. I hope everyone is doing well in the Sunshine State.
So sorry that I haven’t written on my blog since coming to China. I have been having some technical challenges along the way. First my blog could not be accessed, then my computer broke. My host dad was able to get it fixed though which is wonderful. It turned out that a chip inside was fried and needed to be replaced, and the battery that I got before I came was too big and causing problems.
But all is good now, and I will try to catch everyone up on what has been happening since my arrival in China over a week ago. I first arrived in Chengdu and went to Jianzhong Hotel with the rest of the 89 trainees. We had sessions together every day (on health, safety, logistical things, etc.) and small group language sessions. I bunked with a woman named Beth (the same one from the Washington D.C hotel) and it was great. Our personalities are similar, so we have gotten closer since coming. We are both at the same training site, too. But I will get back to that topic.
During our time at the hotel the trainees had the opportunity to get to know each other and the city. Chengdu is a busy city with lots of cars, people, shops, and pollution. It is a city with population 1.4 million. We have been learning how to order food and shop at fruit and vegetable vendor stands. Our abilities at Chinese are improving rapidly, but we are still far behind being able to communicate effectively with others. I study constantly, always looking at note cards and our textbook. It is a frustrating experience some times to not be able to communicate with my host parents, but also a good learning experience. When I am speaking with my non-English speaking host parents I am able to pick up on more Chinese. My host brother is fluent in English, which is both good and bad. It is good because I have been able to get to know both him and the parents better, but bad because he often translates between the two of us which limits my learning experience.
My host family is a wonderful group of people. I have my own room (which I am pretty sure belonged to my host brother before I came, and they let me have my own bathroom. They all share the bathroom in the parent’s room. Their son is going to be coming to the States the day after I leave their home to finish high school and go to college. He will be living in a small town in Washington State and staying with an American host family until he finishes high school next year. He is 16, likes Japanese animation, movies, the guitar, badminton, and video games. Minus the badminton he will fit in nicely in the States. I know Chris Kehoe would like him.
Oh and Richard would fit in well here because the men where shorts similar to the shorts that he wears.
My host mom is a P.E teacher at the university and focuses on dance (particularly traditional dance). My host father is a reporter.
I will try to upload pictures of my adventures. It has been a slow process of emailing them to my parents, but maybe it will be easier on the blog.
What I have done with my host family:
--Thursday it was the parents’ wedding anniversary. The family, one of the mother’s friends, and I went out to eat to Hot Pot. Hot Pot is a Sichuan specific restaurant. We sit at a table with a bowl in the middle. You pick out what you want and they come and it cooks in front of you and you pick out what you want. Sort of like a fondue place, but different. The food is supposed to be really spicy, but I thought it was about medium heat on the Indian spicy food scale. Oh and I am pretty sure the family and their friend were making fun of my Chinese several times during the night, but not in a mean way, but in a funny way. No hard feelings on my part, I know my Mandarin sounds ridiculous
--Friday night I went out to eat with my host brother and mother to a 5 star hotel for dinner. It was buffet style with mostly Chinese food, but also some western style food. The mom’s best friend ate with us and she was a manager at the hotel, so we ate for free. It was a really nice hotel (by American standards too)
--Saturday morning my host family took me about an hour outside of where we stay to the edge of the city where there is a 100 year old preserved city. Along the way we passed rice fields and poorer sections of China. It was a nice drive. The city was interesting, too. It was one of the major tourist attractions in Chengdu
--my host mom said she would teach me how to cook some Chinese food. I hope she does. Even if she doesn’t teach me much, I might be able to ask some of my students in the future to teach me, too.
--I have since done my laundry twice. This consists of a small washing machine that can wash about 5 or 6 shirts. We wash our undergarments separately by hand because it is considered unclean to wash them with the other clothes. Then we hang the clothes to dry on the balcony.
--I have eaten all sorts of good food. I don’t think I have a favorite yet. The weirdest thing that I have eaten thus far would be pig’s feet and bamboo. The pig’s feet consisted mainly of skin and fat. It was rather chewy. My host brother said it is supposed to be good for the skin. The bamboo was rubbery and had no flavor to it whatsoever.
--my host family does a good job of trying to help me with my Chinese. I remember the words but my speaking and listening skills are so poor. When they use the words I don’t realize the words they are actually using are words that I know, and when I pronounce them they do not understand me and proceed to make me repeat over and over again. It is the intonations that I am having the most difficulty with. Although I was pleased that I understood almost the entire conversation when I went with my host dad and brother to the Market.
For training, the language classes are going very quickly and I have to study the next days lessons the night before in order to keep up. All the trainees in my language class have had Chinese lessons before. Some times I feel very inadequate at Chinese.
I think I forgot to say that I am at Sichuan Normal University Main Campus. It is a nice campus with plenty of flowers and trees. It is also a little less pollution than downtown which is nice for my breathing. It is still a rare occurrence to see the sky or the sun.
A week from Monday we will start model school. Model school is two weeks of teaching oral English to a group of college or high school aged students. We do not know how many or the level they are at. We will teach them M-F for 90 minutes. We are in pairs for teaching (although my group is the one with three). We will plan the lessons together, but implement them alone (alternating between days). We will be independently evaluated by three people for our teaching ability. I think if our teaching is horrendous, we may not be sworn-in as volunteers.
Other than that, not too much. The following is my schedule for the rest of my Peace Corps Training.
July 5 move to training sites, begin homestay (I am at Sichuan Normal University Main campus)
July 19-30: model school
August 5: site announcements (I will find out where I will be for the next two years)
August 9-14: site visits (at this time I will be staying with a different home family at my site)
August 20: host family appreciation night
August 21: language proficiency interview (I must achieve an intermediate-low level) and final training evaluation
August 24: move from host families back to a hotel
August 26: supervisors/counterparts conference with trainees (I don’t know what this is yet)
August 27: swearing-in ceremony (when I will officially be a volunteer)
August 28: depart for sites
Signing off. I hope everyone is doing well in the Sunshine State.
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