Hello ! If you are reading this you are in a special place or time in your life and you are thinking about or are ready and willing to make a change in your life.

Prehaps you have comitted yourself already and you are now on your way here to China or you are a fresh arrival.You may also be current ESL teacher just looking for some new perspectives.

Even though this book is designed for new ESL teachers it can help possibly anyone looking to help their students and improve themselves.

I have been very blessed since coming to China.i have developed many life long friendships and in many ways my own chinese family ! Also my own personal relationship with a chinese lady.
To my advantage i have really got to know and see the inside of the Chinese mind.Their actual way of thinking and their motivations to learn as students.

Teaching here in China is what "you" make of it ! You can read many many stories both good and bad,but the bottom line is you control the outcome.I came here to China to make a difference and i teach with a great deal of love and when necessary "tough love".

Because of this the students trust me and respond!.....If you bring your happy face and a bag of optimism you should be just fine with your new life here in China !

CHAPTER 1 - THE SCHOOLS

Before we get started on the "meat" of this book,I feel we should talk about the schools and the related issues.

China has a variety of colleges and institutions of higher learning, but for the most part you will be teaching at a 3 year or 4 year schools.

If you choose a job at a three year school it will most likely be a "Vocational Technical" school.

Most of the time you will be the only foreigner on campus as these are usually small schools with less than 10,000 students.

English majors at Vocational Technical colleges will almost always become teachers. And since it is a 3 year school most of the students will be teaching kindergarten and primary school children. Some may get lucky and find work in a middle school.

To teach at a high school level they will need to acquire a 4 year degree and pass TEM4 or CET6 english tests {in most cases} TEM "test English majors" CET "college English test"

To teach English in a university the must have a masters degree and pass TEM4 test.

My first year in china was at one of these schools and I had a great experience there..I found the students focused on their tasks most of the time and willing to learn.

Vocational Technical schools are for English majors, lower tier schools with students that scored lower in their college entrance exam "gao kao".

Vocational Technical schools are most often more affordable than 4 year teachers colleges.

The college entrance test "gao kao" has smilar function to SAT test......The higher the score the more doors that open to the student.

Of course where the student goes also has to do with the families financial situation.

During your time in China you will hear lots of discussions about "gao kao" and mostly its all bad press.

The "gao kao" exam is a gruling 2 day test, 25% of the test is English !

Chinese high school students study all the time, 12 hours or more a day for 3 years in hopes of achieving a good score....."Gao Kao" virtually determines their future !

The most common 4 year schools are "teacher colleges" / "normal universities" there can be both 3 and 4 year English majors at these schools.

As with the Vocational school English majors 3 year students will almost always be teachers.While 4 year English majors have hopes of greater things such as translators, interpreters, Teachers at higher education schools or working in a business using their English.

Many of the 4 year English majors will go for the fifth year and a Masters degree so they can teach in a university and make a much better living.

Also at the larger 4 year institutions there will be more foreign teachers. English teachers for the various English majors "freshmen and sophomore" most of the time....Business English, Oral English to the International Business students as well as accounting students.

Some schools also have other English courses like Public Speaking, Music Appreciation and Drama.

Usually just after you arrive at your school the foreign affair people set you up with "teacher helpers" they will be students with English skills to take you to the market and bank etc.

My experience with these "student helpers" hasn't always been good, so i prefer to make my own friends. But when i need to get a message to the foreign affair people i don't hesitate to tell the teacher helper as they usually waste little time to go tell !

Remember whatever they hear they will go tell !

Make sure the school honors your contract .Sometimes the contract in Chinese varies differently from the English version, and tell them since you cannot read Chinese you can only accept what you see in English.

Whatever is written 3 bedrooms, internet, kitchen equipment,TV etc. its their job to take care of you and sometimes they must be reminded of their duties.

If a school wants to pay you in CASH ONLY, you must understand they are trying to avoid paying taxes on you ! Right now in China anything around 5,000 rmb is subject to taxation.

The better schools will tell you to open a account at whatever bank they use and your money will be deposited there usually before the end of the month.

The condition of the classrooms can vary widely, but the typical Chinese classroom will have a chalkboard, and old style desks and chairs and often no heaters or air conditioners.

Only body heat and ceiling fans ! It does get very hot and it does get very cold here in China.

A few years ago it was so cold as I was doing my December "semester" exams I went and told my English department dean we would be testing in my home and during the course of that week I tested 11 classes "about 500 students" from the comfort of my home !

If you have computers and internet access feel very fortunate !... QUICK NOTE !

Yes you should learn Chinese {at least some} for many reasons. Learning Chinese and their phonetic system, vowels and basic grammar "especially sentence structure" will actually help make you a better English teacher !

When you start to learn how and why they do and say the things they do you will be able to more quickly analyze their problems and correct them.

Also you and your students will bond faster when you have the common goal of learning a language with each other.

If you don't learn some of the language you will miss out on much, such as talking with the kids in between classes or knowing what they might be saying behind you back ! ha ha !

On the street just making the effort to speak in Chinese will turn many "Chinese stares" into smiles !

Later in the book i will show you examples of how to use your Chinese in your students actual learning of English !

CHAPTER 2 - KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR STUDENTS

Usually in China the typical English major has a foreign teacher as a freshman and as a sophomore. Some schools only provide their freshmen with a foreign teacher, and some schools never get a foreign teacher depending on location or how long they wait to start looking for a new teacher.

As i mentioned its usually only the freshmen and sophomores that get foreign teachers, so we will put our focus on these students .

THE FRESHMEN

The incoming freshmen have just come in from the most rigorous time of their life "high school !" High school life for the Chinese is basically "pure hell".

Just imagine studying 12 hours a day virtually everyday for 3 years and at the end you take the most hated and controversial test in the world ! This is the college entrance exam "gao kao" it lasts for 2 days ! 25% of the infamous "gao kao" is English!

The grades the students make on this test literally decides their future. The higher the score, the better college they can attend.

So much controversy surrounds "gao kao" it's worthy of a book itself.

Parents and students go through extremes so the student can achieve the best possible score. Extra study after hours, tutors, cheating {widespread} all possibilities are explored.

The freshmen classes start the week following their brief military training of two weeks called "jun xun".

Freshmen are most eager to start their new phase of life as college students. Eager and apprehensive about their new life away from home "for most of them" and their courses and teachers. Not to mention being young adults now and all the things that go along with this aspect of life.

Depending on your location it's very possible you will be the first foreigner" laowai" they have ever spoken to or perhaps ever seen !

Outside of a few outgoing students don't be surprised if they come off as extremely shy. Sometimes it takes much effort to get the shy students "kick started". This shyness comes from many places.

1.......The first factor is the overwhelming need to "save face" at all times. The saving face part of them I have always felt hinders their progress in spoken English.. They must be convinced that without making mistakes and not trying they will never be able to obtain fluency.

2 ...Next is their fear of "you" a real native English speaker and not sounding anything like their Chinese English teacher and also you most likely cannot explain anything to them in Chinese to help them.

3 Fear of the class "all stars": most classes will have 3 or 4 students that are much better than everyone else, I call these students "Alls tars"...Some "All stars" rule the class and can cause great trepidation for the others in the class.

Watch your class carefully for who rules the roost !

All in all it will be up to you to bring them out of their shell and get them speaking.

All English major classes will be about 90% girls. Some classes may have no boys and some may have 5 or 6 or more.

The boys most often sit together in the back of class just like they would in grade school.

Often 1 or 2 of the boys might be quite good while the others really struggle.....All in all the freshmen can be a lot of fun to teach. 90% of them are sweet good natured students ready to learn.

Take things slow at first until you have individually assessed their capabilities.

THE SOPHOMORES

The Sophomore English majors are always a challenge on many levels, but they are my favorites to teach.

With sophomores you will most likely be their second foreign teacher and you should talk to the students about their thoughts about their previous teacher. Did they like or dislike the teacher? And why? What was good or bad about the teacher? Ask them about some of the activities and lessons that they did with the previous teacher.

A little knowledge goes a long way and what they tell you may aid you in planning your lesson for them.

Remember the sophomores have had a full college year of English classes and its a good idea to ask them about their freshmen classes that they took and ask about their current schedule and classes. Did they have grammar classes, listening classes, etc?

The students are your best source of information as the faculty usually tells you nothing.

I tend to look at the sophomores as a special assignment!

Remember in most universities this will be their last year with a foreign teacher. You must quickly discover and exploit their strengths and weaknesses. You will most likely be the last line of defense of our English Language ! Their next two years they will only have Chinese English teachers. You will need to tell them these things and remind that they will soon be a working member of society and it is now that we address these issues as adults and not as boys and girls.

The sophomores will be better able to express their thoughts than the freshmen and many sophomores can be very articulate, but you will often discover many more problems such as often horrible grammar and pronunciation. We will discuss this in the next chapter.

As people the sophomores are young adults 20, 21 or 22 years old, it's usually the sophomore that you will make some friends for life.

Often when you need some kind of help because of language problems, such as at the bank or doctors office it will be your sophomores that are best able to assist you.

My sophomores especially are very close to me and they are almost always eager to go shop or go out and eat or we often cook big dinners in my home.

The bond and trust that you develop with the students will spread throughout the class and they will "buy in" to your teaching more quickly, although sophomores are sometimes slow to accept new ideas.

I am contacted everyday by former students either by the phone, text message or QQ messenger. Often times it's students that i had as sophomores. Its these very students that come to visit and play with me long after i have left their school. The bond can be powerful and rewarding !

Most sophomores are in constant preparation for the standardized tests CET4 "4,000 word vocabulary" and CET6 "6,000 word vocabulary" CET "College English Test" and TEM 4 "6,000 word vocabulary" TEM "Test for English Majors".

These tests way heavy on them, especially those students wanting to be teachers... So from time to time your students my question you a lot on grammar aspects of the tests.

In the next chapter we will talk about student problems in and out of the classroom of which there are many !.

SPECIAL: NOTE

When you get here to China you should acquire QQ international messenger...QQ is the lifeblood of China and your students...You can stay in contact with them and give your students messages for class or even assignments... News travels very fast on QQ !!

CHAPTER 3 - STUDENT PROBLEMS IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM

Chinese students are no different from anyone else when it comes to behavior and problems both in and out of the classroom. Many issues start at at home for the Chinese college student. The pressure to succeed is huge.

For often the student may be the first or among the first in their immediate family to attend a college, so because of this and the financial burden on riding on their shoulder, and as soon as possible the parents want their child to graduate and go to work so the child can send money back to the family.

The families often want a return on their investment with the bigger rural families in the farming provinces this is especially common. The older sibling graduates, then gets a job and sends money back home to pay for or partially pay for the next oldest sibling's college tuition. It's a family business!

These pressures from home affect the students greatly and many students don't handle this very well. One result of this is "cheating". Chinese students can and will cheat when opportunity arises.

Of course they know it's wrong but many students will cheat to some degree often. If you don't believe me, try this in class: give them a written assignment or a little test that requires them to write, maybe even tell them they may receive a grade, then excuse yourself for a few minutes bathroom important call etc.

After you leave, find a way to spy on them for a few minutes, about 5 seconds after you leave the weak students will bombard the better students for answer or help, many time just outright copy word per word what the smarter student has written down. Then later when the students are reciting or giving you feedback, every one's answers will be same !

*SPECIAL NOTE*

While we are on the subject of "spying" on the students: You should be aware of certain classroom dynamics going on around you in class.

Pretty much every class has a pecking order and its leaders are not always the monitor. Watch in between classes who talks to who and watch who isn't talking at all or who is alone.
While its totally natural for every class to have leaders, just don't let a few students try to control your class. They will lie and try to protect each other in many ways. I will give you an example ! Last year in a class in the central Anhui province I had a class that was basically controlled by a boy and his girlfriend. This was a large class of 57 students, too many for an oral English class.

As usual I would do a roll call to see who was in attendance. This one particular day, I caught a boy answering for himself and a friend, I confronted the monitor about this and the monitor said the boy was sick so I blew it off that day. The nest week, the boy was absent again so I told the monitor to call the student and tell him to come to class. That night I got a QQ message saying that the monitor was best friends with my problem student and he and the other boys were protecting him; and that the boy spent my classes playing computer games in his dorm.

I confronted the monitor and told him I would fail him and his friend if this problem continued. The boy never missed another class!

If you are doing some exercises where everyone has to speak watch carefully for students switching seats between classes trying to avoid speaking.

TEACHER, FATHER, FRIEND AND PSYCHOLOGIST

There is a saying in China" teacher for a day, father forever". To many of the students, especially the girls, this is very very true. As a foreign teacher you are often seen as a neutral source the students can vent to.

Very often usually "the girls" will find a way to ask your advice on something. They may do this through QQ messenger where they will try to stay anonymous. Or they may ask if you are alone. Basically this means they want to talk or study something without anyone else knowing. It's all about saving face!

Usually these chats are trivial to us but serious to them. Then sometimes their topics are very serious.

Remember they see you as a neutral source to talk to and most often you are the only adult in their life that will even attempt to listen to them. They rarely go to a Chinese teacher. These more serious chats are usually related to financial problems such as parents struggling to pay tuition.

For English majors it's pretty easy to make some extra money tutoring or perhaps working in a small language school. This, I tell them, will give them some work experience and ease the financial burden on their parents.

I have had students confront me many times wanting to quit school so they can work help out their family.

On two occasions I have listened to talk of suicide, and many times I have been asked about sex and pregnancy. I have come to the conclusion that China under informs their students in such matters. Maybe this explains 1.5 billion people !

So sometimes your job title may include "teacher, father, friend, and psychologist"

I find it heart wrenching sometimes and I have shed more than a few tears with my students.

You may or may not ever have such experiences but be aware that there is a lot going on with your students.

I am happy anytime I can help a student. The power to change lives in China is very real. So enjoy your students honestly as people and you be rewarded!

CHAPTER 4....GETTING STARTED ....STUDENT ASSESSMENT

During your first few "getting to know the students" classes you will need to start evaluating what you have to work with. Probably the best way is just use you student "roll call" sheet and let the students introduce themselves and some questions back and forth while you carefully listen to their grammar, pronunciation, accent and general fluency. Also listen closely for the many common Chinese speech problems, such as vowel problems, especially "A" and the use of "R" and the invisible "r". Many Chinese say "Pepurl" instead of "People" or culture they may say "carlcher". They insert a invisible "R"

Many usually have problems with V-W and L -N words. Especially be aware of the dreaded "UH" disease with words ending in G, K, T and D: They will say PIG-UH, DOG-UH, FEED-UH etc.

I will usually listen to them and give them a score along with my remarks 80=B, 90=A and so on.

During these evaluations you quickly discover the better students and maybe you will have a "all.star" or 2 in the fold.

You will also need to do some sort of listening game with the students to determine how much they are hearing of what you say. You may be shocked how little of what they actually hear. The listening activity I choose is simple dictation. Take and make 3 sentences ranging from 13 to 22 words. Read to them slowly 3 times each. After you have read to them have them count and see how many words that they have for each sentence. Remind them you are not looking for spelling correctness.

I have done this to well over 1,000 students and the results are almost always the same. The average "Freshmen" after hearing you read the sentence 3 times will get only about 70% of what you say. And the average "sophomore" will remember only about 80% !

So this should make you wonder what they really hear after the first time you have said something to them.

You must repeatedly remind them that listening is the key to good speaking, and that they should be listening to "real English" everyday !

So by now you must wonder what kind of English they teach here in China?

With students that have been studying English for at least 7, 8, 9 or 10 years, you would think they would have some sort of fluency.

They are also as grammatically poor as their listening is !

I have watched them many, many times struggle with the basics "past, present and future" and "1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person".

So as a teacher you will face many hurdles along the way, but the Chinese student does want to learn and improve. They are very much aware of the problems they face.

I blame almost entirely their problems on their teachers. Usually the teachers that start them on English can barely speak themselves. Many of them being new college grads with poor pronunciation.

So you combine a poor start with the Chinese teaching system of hurry hurry study and pass a test, you can understand how these problems escalate. There is little need of teaching advanced grammar to a person that cannot tell you what a vowel is or does.

ALL STARS

During the time that you are evaluating your new students, you will discover that a few of them are a little more fluent than the others. Maybe not a lot better but noticeably more articulate, better grammar, better pronunciation, etc.

Believe me, the class knows most of the time who the best English student is also. Because when it comes to a little cheating, copying or translating things, its these better students they come running to.

Often I will "spotlight" these students early on and ask them in class about their previous teachers and ask them how they study so that the others might pick up on something valuable. As I mentioned earlier these students are just a little better than the others. Most of the time the good students like these simply work and study harder than the others.

It can be a blessing or it can be very trying to have a "real" ALL STAR or 2 in your classes or sometimes all in the same class. This has happened to me !

When I refer that a student is a ALL STAR I am saying that the particular student totally outshines the others in class. And often times, they may have a higher oral proficiency than their Chinese English teachers !

ALL STARS can present you with many issues. Some good and some not so good. Usually ALL STARS come in 2 different personality types.

TYPE 1 ALL STAR

The type 1 ALL STAR would be your typical good Chinese student that has studied hard and payed attention to things and through good study habits, the right combination of listening and speaking along with other factors such as language schools, extra tutoring or perhaps has even worked with a native speaker, has arosen above his or her peers and has become a exceptional student.

This kind of student can be a valuable aid in your class. Helping his or her classmates as needed in class. I often use ALL STARS to egg on their classmates in class debates or group discussions. Be careful not to make the ALL STAR a teachers pet or show undue favoritism toward them.

TYPE 2 ALL STAR

The "type two" ALL STAR probably started out as a TYPE 1 but has been the object of much more attention and pampering thus developing some attitude and has created some distance from their class mates. Very often disliked by his or her class mates, sometimes openly!

The "Type 2" ALL STAR can be a little disruptive in class complaining etc about activities and assignments. I have found that by keeping "ALL STARS" active in class you will reduce their boredom, and allow to have a good class environment.

FLUENCY - PRONUNCIATION

Very early on usually in the first or second class we discuss "FLUENCY". To many Chinese students, they think fluent and speaking fast is the same thing. I tell them "NOT". I say fluency is being understood. I tell them you are learning English to teach or communicate with foreign English speakers, and if we cant understand what you are saying then you are not fluent! I tell my students the goal of our class is "TO BE UNDERSTOOD"!

I also tell the students that if you want to work in an international business of some kind you may be talking English often on the telephone and that poor speech is amplified on the telephone, so pronunciation is very very important.

There are a wide variety or pronunciation issues you will face as a English teacher. Some are easily correctable and others are not so easy unless the student is dedicated and willing to make a change.

Many Chinese pronunciation issues simply come from their Mandarin phonetics and this is correctable but you must have a working knowledge of these sounds. So I strongly encourage you to study Chinese and be aware of why some of their speech sounds like it does.

For example the "R" sound in English sounds like "Zhruh" in Chinese so when they say "rock" it may sound like" Zhrock". So start learning Mandarin today!

The next thing that can affect their speech is their local dialect or local "HUA". Remember very often Chinese have difficulty understanding each other when people meet from different locations and they are speaking their local hua.

Some examples of this I have ran into would be "I want to work for a big compaly someday" instead of company. L and N issues abound in China.

Another example "I like mowies" instead of movies. V and W problems very common also.

Also poor speaking Chinese/English teachers are a thorn in our sides, sometimes making the student wonder WHO is correct? Or why do we native speakers sound so different?

THE UH DISEASE motion with my hand the falling 4th tone... The students quickly relate to this and know what you are doing {pig`, dog` feet`}

Once you start teaching here one of the very first speech issues you will encounter will be the "UH DISEASE" You will hear many many students that do this as well as teachers at all levels and it makes for horrible and embarrassing spoken English.

Examples... dog-uh, pig-uh, feet-uh, need-uh, etc...Most of this problem I feel comes from early learning of the English consonants with what I call the hard sounds G, T, K, D and P especially. This and some of their own Mandarin sounds characteristics.

I will tell the students the words are not spelled doga, piga, feeta, etc so "Why are you saying this" ."Don't stick the consonant sounds too hard and that you must pronounce as the native speaker says the words"

One thing that makes the students do this is being too fast with the word, making the vowel very short and thus they emphasize the consonant. I repeatedly tell my students to slow down "Speed Kills". "You must let the vowel do its magic". So I might at first tell them to slow down and say Piiiiiiiiiiiiiig, drawing out the vowel. Doooooooog for example.

After working with them on drawing the vowel out they are still saying Pig-uh, Dog-uh... I will then use some Chinese thinking on them !

The very best way I have found to "Cure" the UH-Disease is to show them something that they can relate to. In the Chinese Mandarin language they have 4 tones that define the meaning of the words.
1....Is a very even tone.
2 Is a tone that rises.
3 The third tone is a fall and rise tone.
4 This last tone is a fairly sharp fall and the end of the word.

When you see Chinese "PINYIN" you will see the tones to make you say the words correctly. Since many students as I mentioned earlier are guilty of going a little too fast, I choose to use this 4th tone as my example pig. In a Chinese text book the falling tone mark will be directly over the last letter of the word, signifying the end... I let them hear me say the words as a speaker and some practice they quickly "cure" themselves or at least reduce what the have been doing.

When I first came to China I would go around with my English Dean and visit schools, kindergartens and language schools and I would hear the teachers with UH DISEASE and as Soon they showed a picture of a dog and said DOG-UH the students would say DOG-UH..!

The teachers were literally ruining the child's English at the beginning of the child's first English studies.. I am very tough on my students that do this as many will be teachers and I don't want them teaching the little children bad habits!

VOWEL PROBLEMS

As we all know all English speech starts with the correct use of vowels. When I ask my students "What is a vowel?" they all usually yell out "A, E, I, O, U" and i say "NO" I asked What IS a vowel? They usually cannot tell me. Unbelievable? Yes but true !

The first most basic problem of Chinese English learners is that they are not taught how to really open their mouths and use the vowel correctly and make the true sounds of English.

The Chinese learner usually doesn't get to watch and observe Native Speakers to see how much we actually fully use our mouths when we speak. So they are at a disadvantage from the start and thus starts the beginning of many speech problems.

Their incorrect us of vowel basics and their "Warp Speed" method of studying vocabulary makes for very short vowels. And their shortened vowels amplify accent and sometimes makes their speech so bad it can be very hard to understand.

Without a lot of work, many students at the college level will never improve much. The one thing that helps them the most is I keep impressing upon them the need to slow down.

The Chinese student - like many language learners - are under the belief that speed equals fluency. Of course I say "NO"! "Speed just means you can speak fast". I always tell them our goal is "To be understood" That equals fluency !

Speed kills in language learning and the need for speed seems to be everywhere in the Chinese methodology of teaching and learning!

As their teacher I just keep reminding the students to be strong with words and pronounce fully at a respectable volume.

There are a few English vowel sounds that Chinese students repeatedly have some difficulty with, often because they need to be taught how to open their mouths and speak up. Speaking out or speaking up goes against the "Chinese Way" of learning and some students go through great pains to not speak in class. When i see this I make them speak !

LONG VOWEL " A"

The long vowel A seems to give many students a great amount of difficulty, mostly because they were never taught to open their mouths enough to say correctly !

Usually students with this problem make the long vowel A /ei/ into short vowel /ae/. So words like snake, great and bake sound like snack, grat and back !

There are a few ways to teach students how to say long vowel A correctly. One way is to describe long vowel A as a musical note and that long vowel A is a high note and at the end of the note you will hear a slight change to E as in Heyyyyyeee or waaaaaaaayeeee.... A {/ei/} is the high note! sayyyyyeee... /ae/ is the low note... saaaaaaat...

The thing to do is remind them that a big part of their problem is psychological and that they say long vowel A many times everyday in their own language. So then i will show them some English and Chinese comparisons such as "GREAT"-------> "FEICHANG" {faychang} adverb for extremely.."SNAKE"--------> "BEIJING" {bayjing} capitol city .."CAKE"------->"MEIYOU" {MAYYO} not have... "LAKE"-------> "SHUI" {SCHWAY} water. I will have the student repeat both the English and Chinese words with me.

Usually after I show them that /ei/ and /ui/ in Chinese pinyin is the same sound as /ei/ A in English they will soon start correcting themselves.

The other vowel sound EW sound from vowel U aka NEW, SPEW, CHEW also give many students a hard time. THE DIPTHONG /AU/... The dipthong /au/ the OW sound gives many Chinese students problems. Again much of the problem goes back to teaching and the Chinese student is not accustomed to opening their mouth widely, therefore they have difficulty saying the sound fully.

You can have a little fun with this sound. Maybe give yourself a big pinch on the arm or slap your face and go owwwww ! Ouch ! and get the class to say it with you.

Also remind them this is very much an everyday sound in mandarin Chinese ! ..EXAMPLE......"NOW"------> "YAO" to want or need......."DOWNTOWN" {SHAO} somewhat/a little......"SOUND"--------> "LAOWAI" [LAOWHY] = foreigner

The word "YAO" is usually said with great emphasis and the students should catch on quickly !

V AND W SOUNDS

Many many many Chinese students have V and W issues and when they do it's usually very correctable, but sometimes you will have a student that you will need to spend several hour long sessions with. V is not in the Chinese language, so that explains some of their difficulty. W on the other hand has a strong presence in the Chinese language.

The most common problem is V and W reversal. The student might say "MOVIE" as "MOOWE" or "EVERYBODY" as "EWEEBODY". I just explain to them over and over that V is just a voiced "F" sound and that EVERYTIME they see a "V" it makes the same sound and that they must concentrate making upper teeth and lower lip contact.

"W" SOUND

To this very day i have never understood why so many Chinese students mess up on the sound of "W" ..."W" is widely used every day in Mandarin Chinese.

The Chinese "W" sound and the English "W" are exactly the same except for their "WU" sound which is more "ooooowoh" as in their 5 "wu"..Which explains why I sometime hear "oooomen" for "women" !

But time and time again you will hear the students replace "W" with a "V" such as WILL./VILL or WAY/VAY, WHEN/VHEN, etc.

Give the student Chinese examples and English examples and keep repeating this until they catch on that the sounds ARE the same. Do this...WILL-------- WEI NI HAO "way knee how" this is how they typically answer the phone.....WHEN --- WOMEN "wohmen" is WE and WOW-------- WEISHENME "wayshunmuh" WHY. Like I said, keep repeating this until they see it's all the same !

L and N SOUNDS

For many Chinese speakers the sounds of "L" and "N" can be confusing. To us they are very much totally different sounds but nevertheless it can be most confusing here in China.

Many of the students with "L" and "N" issues can be attributed to their local or regional dialect or "HUA" of their home town or county. Also for many of them it's a mental issue because they make these sounds many times a day in their spoken Mandarin.

Again I tell them that the English "L" and "N" sound is exactly the same as their Chinese "L" and "N".

I remember very well the first time I encountered a student with a severe L&N problem. It was a little freshmen girl from Anqing in far southwest Anhui province. Her local speech totally hampered her ability to distinguish and say the sounds of V, W, L and N.

This was a beautiful little girl with a great desire to learn and speak English and she was not an English major, but she now teaches English and Chinese.

I remember it took weeks to get her saying everything correctly. During our very first talk she told me she wanted to work for a big "compaly" someday, instead of "company"..She was replacing the "N" sound with "L".

I tried her out with other "L" words and "N" words. She certainly had big problems and not to mention a severe V and W handicap !

Very soon I discovered that in the part of China she came from, there was a merger of 3 dialects overrunning each other in this region of Anhui province. And at least half of my students that came from this general vicinity had exactly the very same problem !

I quickly became quite good at helping the students overcome these problems and had them mastering the sounds, but it take some work.

Again reminding them that they make these same sounds everyday in Chinese but they must learn to distinguish the two sounds in English.

L SOUND

LOVE-------------------LAOWAI "laowhy" foreigner....LOOK---LIANG "popular word for two". WE cured this with music and changing the words La La La La to LOVE LOVE LOVE etc. Once the student sees the connection its pretty easy to correct.

N SOUND

Correcting the "N" sound was a little harder, we worked with saying English "N" words and Chinese "N" words, but one of the things I did that worked really well was very simple.

First I would say "COMPANY" neee then i would say "COMPA NI NE" and have the student follow me and say it with me "Ni Ne" neenuh means" and you or how about you"? COMPA NI NE...Soon no more problems !

One thing I also do now is have the students come to my home for small pronunciation classes or meet somewhere where we can hook up a laptop computer. I have the students bring their text book or vocabulary books along with them.

I will bring my voice recorder and with each student I will record our sessions of speaking his or her new vocabulary. I will let the student speak first {always make student speak first} then I will follow along with them. Native speaking voice and native pronunciation and go through the list.

I then will save the file to my computer so I may in turn put the recording on the students USB flashdrive or MP5 etc. Now the students can practice listening and pronunciation with his or her teacher and native English speaker.

Its also a good idea to say your words in small sentences so the student will hear the word in use and the student will ingest a little or your grammar as well !

CHAPTER 5 - CHINESE STUDY HABITS

While the Chinese education system may be great at cramming for and passing tests, the system in my opinion is harmful for teaching spoken language! The Chinese teaching methods are basically for reading and writing. I tell my students that we do not speak like we write. It is what it is !

Chinese students are constantly being hurried and this alone sets them up to forget what they have been learning. SPEED KILLS !

If you walk around the campus or go to the English building classrooms very early in the mornings you can usually find students studying vocabulary.

At first it can be a little over whelming when you walk into a big room and its full of students reciting English. You can see how important learning English really is here in China.

Then you start listening closely to a few students hammering out a list of vocabulary words and wonder if they are making a attempt at a spoken words per minute record ! And then you hear pronunciations that you didn't think were even possible...... Welcome to China !

In my classes I repeatedly remind my students or some simple rules/methods to study and get REAL results !

IMPROVING STUDENT STUDY HABITS

1. Remind your students {often} that SPEED KILLS and that they "must" slow down and let the vowel do its magic. Speed shortens the vowels and amplifies accent. Remind the students that the goal is {Be Understood}.

2. Tell Them the need to study their vocabulary in phrases and not just the individual words. This will force them to slow down and ingest a little grammar also.

3. For oral English tell your students not to worry about grammar rules. Thinking about grammar will clog up their "free thinking" spoken English. Always encourage them to try and speak what's on their mind with the words that they do know.

4. Listen listen listen everyday to native speakers and only when they think they have full comprehension should they start saying the words. Practicing pronunciation and listening is the key to good speech later !

We listen as a child extensively and only then do we start to speak. Start with EASY to listen to child's movies or audio books etc.

5.Tell your students to study "REAL" English materials such as newspapers, magazines, audio books, movie scripts or anything' with "real" dialogue etc.

Tell them not to use their textbooks or textbook CDs as these don't represent the way we really speak. Most all textbooks in China are translated material with pre-fabricated conversations and recordings.

6 Probably the very best way I know to improve grammar is playing with very short stories. Only a few sentences. Teach your students to do this. It only takes a few minutes to show them the technique.

EXAMPLE-------PRESENT TENSE FIRST PERSON

Today when I arrived at the local market I saw a dog with 3 legs selling bananas to a blind cat. I thought how happy the cat must be after overhearing the dog tell the cat that it's really just fish !

Now let the students write the same story with a different point of view, such as "past tense 2nd person" and "future tense 3rd person".

They can pass these stories around to each other and play grammar for fun and see who can come up with the funniest stories.

If you want to have fun with the class, write similar but larger stories on the chalkboard. Or do this: You go write on the board a sentence first like "Once long ago in a land far away" Then one by one have each student add a sentence until the board is full and then have everyone play teacher and critique the grammar !

Very often the students correct one another as the story is being written.

While lessons, topics and exercises can vary widely, remember anything that evokes emotion is best. A good controversy over testing or school themes, not to mention love, dating, health, etc

Class debates are very good also and they bring excitement and competition !!

CHAPTER 6....TESTING ORAL ENGLISH

As a Oral English teacher the school will most likely only expect or ask you to test at the end of each semester. The "midterm" test just before the winter holiday and a final test before the schools years end.

How we decide to test is usually totally up to us. They most likely will want us to turn in some kind of paper for each student with a grade on it.

One thing I do like to do during the year is give the students a basic pronunciation test with words containing the long vowels, the V&W words, words ending ER, G, K, D and T etc. The basic sounds and ones they have trouble with.

I am trying to listen for the best possible pronunciation of the basic English sounds. I want the student to be aware of their speech and give them opportunity to correct bad habits and problems that i point out to them.

I especially listen for the "UH" disease as I think it is maybe the worst but correctable thing they do collectively. You don't want a teacher with the "UH" disease. Just imagine a classroom full of kindergarten or primary school students repeating PIG-UH, DOG-UH, SEED-UH, FEED-UH etc after the teacher: This can cause great harm to the students and their use of English !

As for the mid-term and final tests you will need to design a test that the student can write on and we can turn into the school with a grade on it.

Typically a sheet of paper with the students Chinese name and English name, date, student number "very important" and what class they are from.

My test usually have a choice of three topics to choose from and I have the students choose from one of these. I then instruct the student to just write a nice little 2 minute speech on the test paper so that we have something to show the school.

But I DO NOT let the student recite their speech as this is not free thinking oral English. So instead I make them tell me about their topic in a conversational manner.

I will tell the students a few weeks ahead of time what the topics are so they can choose one and i will give them a clean blank test paper to write on and give to me test day.

Please understand the student will prepare a speech no matter what you tell them, it's a force they cannot control ! And remind them "the test" is not to be recited and I will know if they try.

On the day of the test I will usually find a nearby empty classroom to bring the students to one by one. Depending on your class sizes it may take more than one day to test the students.

If you are able to test 25 students in two 50 minute period classes you have done very well. So expect to test on more than one day.

Tell your class to keep busy as you test, let them watch a movie or study for their other tests.

When your student comes in for the test have them turn in their paper so they cannot attempt to read anything. Ask them to tell you in their own words about the topic. They try to recite their memorized speech so that's why you will have some various questions to ask after they have told you about their chosen topic.

These extra questions I ask usually determine the score I give them.

Your scores are your personal evaluation of their English capabilities. I listen for fluency, and how confidently they deliver their thoughts across to you.

I tend to grade on the old system that anything 60 or above is a passing grade. A score of 80 is a B, 85 to 89 is a B+, 90 to 94 is a A etc. Just grade your papers and turn them in to the school where they will put your scores on the computer. EASY EASY !

CHAPTER 7.....ENGLISH CORNER AND FINAL THOUGHTS

Once you are a teacher here you should want to become as much as a part of the school as possible. Take part in any English activity you can. Usually once or twice a week virtually all colleges have a "ENGLISH CORNER" held in a large hall, court yard, or classroom.

What is English Corner? Ha ha...good question. Sometimes it's organized games and various English activites. Sometimes it is a debate, but most of the time its a large free talk gathering and you and your colleagues are the point of interest.

You will see your students of course and you will get to meet everyone that has a interest in English and they can be English majors, International business students, music major, art majors, etc. All just wanting to listen or play English with you.

Embrace this and have fun, as it will give you a chance to meet many new friends and it will give you chance to hear other students abilities as well as everyone's various opinions because the discussions can run deep and vary widely. Its all good fun !

Teaching English in China is not for everyone but for those of you that need a little adventure or a change of life, I would encourage you to teach here!

I have made friends for life and have helped give so many a chance at a better life. I feel blessed everyday and the students from my past and present are always contacting me and sharing their thoughts and telling me now about their jobs as teachers or as workers in a international business somewhere.

While you are here if you teach with love and a open mind you will in turn receive the same back. Give it a try !....................thank you