James Huang - Far far away from Scouseland

I’ve turned in my textbooks; cleared my desk; moved my photo to the “Former Teachers” wall. I hope that my students learnt some English and didn’t get bored by my jokes.

Teaching was an enjoyable experience because teachers are respected in China. Imparting knowledge to other is a satisfying experience for most people. Below are some thoughts about it all:

• Ban on Chinese - I banned Chinese in the classroom to the point of screaming at students to use English only. This is a fundamental law in teaching theory. However, some days I gave up because there seemed to be no other way to teach. Some students can’t seem to escape thinking in Chinese.
• Differences in Western and Chinese learning styles - My lessons are proactive and encourage students to talk as much as possible and ask questions. Traditionally, the Chinese students learn by passively listening to the teacher. Should a Western language be taught in a Western style?
• Chinese English Teachers - I’ve met students that have been learning English since before I was born but have not managed to go beyond the elementary levels. This reflects the lack of native teachers in Chinese primary schools and the emphasis on reading and writing, rather than communication.
• Whiteboard or blackboard? - You decide.
• Do good students overcome bad teachers, or do good teachers overcome bad students? - I’m saying that learning language is a partnership between student and teacher.
• English is definitely harder to learn than Chinese.

If any former students wish to make a complaint then please leave a comment below:

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I got requested to write a response to my culture lesson a month ago. I’m finally getting around to it. At the start of the class was an activity where students stood to the right of the class if they agreed with a statement and on the left if they did not. A fellow expat/teacher/blogger called Meg warned me that Chinese students were prone to the herding effect, which means they would all stand at one side of the class. Fortunately, this didn’t happen.

The lesson itself was a little difficult to teach because using a projector to show the slides stifled discussion. It would have been better to print hand-outs and break up the class into small groups.

To end the lesson, I asked the following questions:

• Was Susan (the British-born Chinese girl) British or Chinese?
• Where should a BBC live?

The general consensus was that she was mostly British, which is what I would agree with. One significant remnant of Chinese culture that I have inherited is an immense weight of obligation to my parents. All non-deadbeat parents sacrifice for their children, but Chinese parents go the extra mile, with children strapped to their backs and no shoes on their feet. This, plus other idiosyncrasies, means that BBCs produce their own culture.

I was slightly shocked to find one student strongly suggesting that BBCs should live in China. It wasn’t my fault that I was born outside the Motherland. I can’t even contemplate living outside Britain.

Now, I am really interested in knowing what the Mainlander’s attitude is towards Chinese born overseas.  If anyone else is interested then please send me a large cheque to sponsor my PHD.

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I am going to do a special lesson on culture for my students. I have no idea how it will go because my student’s exposure to foreign culture consists of their (eccentric) teacher and stereotypical American movies. You can look at my lesson plan here

. Before I get a mass of complaints, I realise that my lesson plan is missing some fundamentals:

1. Statement of aims
2. No target grammar being taught
3. No timings on the plan

Whilst browsing for some material for the lesson I found a youtube video about being British-born Chinese.

There is a lot that I sympathise with. The long evenings spent by myself whilst my parents worked; acting as a translator; the feeling of isolation; episodes of racism (though it hasn’t been a problem for me for years); the long hours studying. Even my parents like to play Mahjong!

Well, I’m not completely like Susan. My parents are from mainland China, I never had to work that much in the takeaway and I decided to run off to China after university, just to confuse myself even more. Actually, my experience in China has taught me that I am British at heart. However, the more important lesson for me was to rise about the paradigm of culture. It is too easy to say that all actions and attitudes are caused by culture. I’m trying to look beyond and see the person underneath. Realising this, culture does not seem to matter so much anymore.

Actually, it does matter because it gives me an easy lesson to teach.

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I’ve been quite down for the past week or so. Teaching is unenjoyable and learning Chinese seems like an insurmountable task. All the teachers have worked hard and are now stressed out. The situation is tense, so I’m glad that the spring term is ending today.

Inevitably, I blame being in China for my problems and the culture shock sets in again. I spend time on the Tianjin expatriates web site. So, I go to my usual hiding spot at Starbucks. I spot a foreigner there and I yearn to talk to them for just 10 minutes. So I prepare to put on my most British of British accents, but I realise that I look like every other Chinese person that wants to practice their English. So I stop myself. I end up dreaming of England’s green fields again.

Except that the Chinese culture is not to blame. There is an expectation that problems will go away when you are at home, that feeling is exacerbated when you are thousands of miles away. So, I try to put everything into perspective. I realise that England’s green fields are probably:

1. occupied with protesters against the new runway, which has not even got planning permission yet
2. flooded because of global warming
3. swarming with Polish workers clearing up the mess for a reasonable wage
4. falling in value because of the impending housing market crash
5. experiencing cloud cover with some light drizzle but clearing up in the afternoon

Now, I don’t feel so bad and I remember what a famous Polish philosopher (my flat mate) once said: “Your problems follow you wherever you go.”

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Does the title sound strange to you? This is not an IQ test, since there is nothing grammatically wrong with it. Actually, this is an example of a change in style English over the last few years. You might feel more comfortable if the sentence was corrected to:

James hasn’t got enough time on Fridays.

Or:

James doesn’t have enough time on Fridays.

The words in bold act as auxiliary (”helping”) verbs. They don’t change the meaning of the sentence but are probably necessary to use nowadays. However, no-one told the writers of the English textbooks that are used in China, so my students continue to make this style-mistake. And a market is created for native English teachers. Yay.

Actually the reason I wrote this sentence is that Fridays have become my busiest day this term. I begin with teachers’ meeting in the morning, followed by lesson planning in the afternoon then I teach my class in the evening. After more than 12 hours at the school, I still have to plan for tomorrow’s lesson and do my Chinese homework. Instead of getting on with it I chose to moan on my blog.

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