The English Connection
I first went to China in 1988 and went from place to place saying, “Hi, I’d like to teach English.” I found a job teaching English in a tourism school in Hangzhou. I was their first foreign teacher. In return for my teaching, I got free room and board, and occasional trips to scenic spots in Zhejiang Province.
“What kind of meat do you like?” I asked casually as I picked up my chopsticks.
“Dog,” said a cute young student. With a sudden jolt, I remembered that I was in China where dog is a dish instead of a much-adored pet. I couldn’t suppress a little shiver and suggested she not tell that to her future tour groups of westerners.
In the classroom today, I noticed how red the kids’ hands were. I wear my gloves in class, but they don’t seem to wear gloves. Some of the students wear really beautifully hand-knitted sweaters made by their mothers. Their clothes are neat and clean. Instead of heavy jackets, they wear several layers of tops and pants over long underwear. But I’m glad I brought my down jacket.
Today was precious. “Touch your forehead. Hold up your pinky. Stomp your feet. Shrug your shoulders. Wave to me. Wink at me.” The kids adored it. They are not used to such active, participatory classes. But that’s the difference that we foreign teachers can bring to them.
From my short time in China, I’ve noticed that a sense of humor is sorely lacking. I want to put lots of humor in my class. So, we sat in a circle and I told them the story of Goldilocks. I’m so sorry I couldn’t take pictures of their faces — good-looking 20-year-old faces enraptured with a simple children’s story. I tried to burn into my memory the looks and excitement on their faces. For those minutes, we were all together in that time and place. I felt very happy to be there among them, and it made my decision to teach here even more right. We ended the class with my teaching them, “Home, Home on the Range.”
A teacher asked me to check over his English preface to a teaching booklet he has prepared. He had the peculiar statement in it that the book was immature and had many undesirable things about it. When I said that seemed strange to me, he said it was the Chinese custom of modesty. In the U.S., we would think he was fishing for compliments. I then spoke to some students about how different our culture is where we coddle everyone, and always try to build up self-confidence, not tear it down. We emphasize the positive and try to make the person feel good. And we are not very modest. It is hard for me to respond when they are always saying how bad their English is, how dirty the room is that they’ve just cleaned, etc. I think Chinese modesty will take some getting used to.
The school is taking me on a weekend trip to Thousand Islands Lake with one of the classes. Smith and his friend came to my room to talk to me. He’s not really a student in my classes, and his English level is very low, but his determination to speak to me is high. He said where we were going was his hometown. I like when he points to his nose when he says, “me” or “I.” I’ve seen others do that too. Smith had actually written out a story for me about Thousand Islands Lake and its scenic spots. So thoughtful of him.
Tags: Teaching English in China; Zhejiang Tourism School in 1, Travel
