paul fox
- 2016-04-15
Yep, it was a sloppy use of pronouns in a sentence written at speed and without too much thought, thus creating a certain ambiguity.
The intended subject of the sentence was the STUDENT and not 'daddy', hence the ambiguity, but since the word 'ambiguity' means 'of uncertainty' (with 'ambi' = 'two'), I stand by my comment that you should have checked with me first before berating me in the way you did.
We 'teach' in the classroom and pay far more attention to our sentence structures than we do on a forum such as this, especially when conversing with NES, so whilst I admit my 'grave error', I don't think that expecting a certain amount of 'tolerance' is unreasonable.
I saw a sign the other day, it read :- 'Ask your teacher if you have any questions'
Do you want to pull this ambiguity apart too?
Let's just accept that I should have taken more care with my sentence structure and you should have taken more care with your interpretation, or at least checked before throwing insults.
There's too much 'bitch-fighting' on this forum, at least IMHO
paul fox
- 2016-04-15
Absolutely 100% correct!
It's precisely those wealthy backgrounds that give rise to the 'lazy attitude' that I am trying, (not so successfully), to point out.
I have 16 and 17 year old students who openly 'flash' their credit cards with a limit of RMB1million - which of course is daddy's money
Daddy wants to send them overseas to study, and foolishly believes they will succeed (in many cases)
The student cares not, simply because he (or she) knows he/she can return to China and work in the family company after a year or 2 of total failure.
I have one such student right now who will go to America this coming July, despite the fact that the ONLY English phrase/sentence she knows is 'I love you'
Jeez, I hope she can learn other 'skills' lol
Former FT in the PRC
- 2016-04-15
I work at the (currently undisputed) number 1 - rated International school in this province, and have just signed a new contract until 2018.
Therefore, I guess I am saying (publicly) that I am not the 'muppet' that 'Amused' did his best to imply I was.
Amused is in fact a muppet. For some reason he feels the need to slag off FTs teaching in China while at the same time becoming infuriated if any FT berates his/her disinterested Chinese students online.
The basic reason some of your students are so disinterested in their English classes is that they are from wealthy backgrounds. It's not because you are not a good teacher. The only way to avoid contact with more than a few such unmotivated and lazy students is to switch your job to a state school whose enrolment is not heavily influenced by the affordability of the students who wish to attend it.
Former FT in the PRC
- 2016-04-15
Thank you for pointing out my error in omitting the final 'e' in loathe by cutting and pasting from http://grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/loath_loathe.htm.
Maybe he was uninforemed,
huge respect from students who wanna learn if he's a trier!
for
what ir's worth. Money ain't everything!
Glasshouses ain't applicable in this instance. My mistake was a typo. Yours was in the category of 'easily confused' as selected by that grammar website.
Just for the record, I should've typed 'uninformed'. Sorry about that!
amused
- 2016-04-15
I think you misread my comment. I did not complain about their parents ability to understand
English.I simply said that their parents are sending their kids to study in a western country in a
language they, (the students), don't understand.
You wrote: "But that's OK because daddy can tell all his friends how rich he is by sending his kid halfway round the world to study in a language that he cannot understand a word of."
The subject of the sentence is "daddy". "His friends" and "his kid" and "language that he cannot understand" contain referential pronouns. Are you saying now that the third pronoun refers to "his kid"?
I could not imagine that a teacher would write that one of his students does not understand one word of English.
I apologize for 'misreading' your sloppy use of pronouns while you complain about your students' complete lack of spoken English ability.
paul fox
- 2016-04-14
I think you misread my comment. I did not complain about their parents ability to understand English.
I simply said that their parents are sending their kids to study in a western country in a language they, (the students), don't understand.
My advice to you would be - perhaps you should consider asking for clarification on anything you saw as being 'ambiguous' before making derogatory and insulting comments that contain information about which you clearly know nothing.
Paul Greene
- 2016-04-14
Maybe you should tone down your arrogance. Yes, I speak Chinese, not hard after years living in Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin. Chinese is not so difficult to learn, regardless of the nationalist propaganda you will hear every day from certain brainwashed students, eg: "Chinese is the most difficult language to learn". Rubbish! There are many languages more difficult. And no, Chinese students are not smart. They have terrible critical analysis skills. BTW, you did not explain why you are in China, never mind, the smart posters on here know the answer to that question!
amused
- 2016-04-14
You complained about their parents' language ability. People you have never met.
My contentions remain: their parents speak English precisely the way you speak Chinese.
Your students read and write English much superior to the manner in which you are able to read and write Chinese, or Pinyin for that matter.
And your email address communicates quite clearly your views about Chinese education and students.
You are a fine example of FT mono-linguistic arrogance.
Your students deserve better.
San Migs
- 2016-04-14
Yes, money is not everything, but you cannot convince at least one poster in his 50s who is an avid reader of the economist of that fact.
paul fox
- 2016-04-14
Former FT in the PRC
Thanks also for the back-up. 'Amused' [edited]
I won't repeat what I wrote back to Cunning Linguist (you can see for yourself), but whilst many people who write here are happy to deprecate training centres, the obvious difference (IMHO) is that quite often the students who attend training centres go there with their own volition. In other words, they WANT to be taught rather than feel that they are 'forced' to be taught.
I have worked PT in a couple of training centres and have found far less 'lazy' students there than I have found at my school.
amused
- 2016-04-14
Thank you for pointing out my error in omitting the final 'e' in loathe by cutting and pasting from http://grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/loath_loathe.htm.
Maybe he was uninforemed,
huge respect from students who wanna learn if he's a trier!
for
what ir's worth. Money ain't everything!
amused
- 2016-04-14
Generally speaking, the English level of Chinese university students is crap.
Every Chinese university student that I have every taught can read and write English in a manner vastly superior to your ability to read and write Chinese.
In your parlance: generally speaking, the Chinese level of all FTs in China is crap.
Although my spoken Chinese language ability is intermediate level, I too cannot read or write Chinese.
I do not, however, need to compensate for my own poor Chinese by denigrating my students or their parents.
Paul Greene
- 2016-04-14
What about you? What are you doing in China? [edited] For your information, many foreigners in China can speak Chinese these days and they learn it much faster than Chinese learn English. Generally speaking, the English level of Chinese university students is crap. [edited]
Former FT in the PRC
- 2016-04-14
Is your financial condition so desperate and/or your qualifications so limited that you must fly to China to poorly perform a job that you loath?
Loath or Loathe?
Loath is an adjective meaning "unwilling." It ends with a hard th and rhymes with growth or both.
Loathe is a verb meaning "to hate intensely." It ends with a soft th like the sound in smooth or breathe.
Examples: He was loath to admit that he was included in the deal.
(He was unwilling)
Alex loathes spiders.
(Hates them intensely)
You are jumping to conclusions about Paul Fox! Maybe he was uninforemed, so he taught at a private school/language mill in China! Maybe he should re-direct his teaching efforts on behalf of Chinese employers in the public sector. He will probably get lower pay, but huge respect from students who wanna learn if he's a trier! That's my experience, for what ir's worth. Money ain't everything! I came to China initially to help public college trainee teachers, not the offspring of the idle rich, and I haven't waivered from my initial aim!
paul fox
- 2016-04-14
Whoa boy......!
Firstly - What makes you the authority on my Chinese ability? You know NOTHING other than what you read here and my Chinese ability has never been mentioned
Secondly - I am not complaining about China - I am simply stating a FACT that SOME students are lazy b*stards who think that because they are spoilt little rich kids, they can do what they want and rely on daddy's money!
Finally, it is widely considered by my management and peers that I perform my job in a professional manner and as for 'loathing' the job, well you are about as 'spot-on' with that remark as you were with the one about my Chinese ability
peng you, ni shi feichang yu mei de !
amused
- 2016-04-14
By that, I mean what us 'teechers' call 'good students' and 'bad students' - or more to the
point, 'lazy, good-for-nothing layabouts who don't want to learn anything because they
would rather play computer games or fiddle with their mobile phone, squandering daddy's
money just so they can go to Canada or America for a year or two, fail miserably only to
come back to China and work in daddy's company'But that's OK because daddy can tell all his friends how rich he is by sending his kid
halfway round the world to study in a language that he cannot understand a word
of.................but....T.I.C I guess (for those that don't know, it's an acronym for
This Is China)
Us [sic] teachers include some foreign teachers that respect their students, even those students that haven't been successfully socialized to sit quietly and listen to foreign 'teechers' complain about China.
I suspect that your students' parents speak English with approximately the same fluency that you speak Chinese. The students you treat with such disdain read and write English much better than you are able to read and write Chinese.
Is your financial condition so desperate and/or your qualifications so limited that you must fly to China to poorly perform a job that you loath?
paul fox
- 2016-04-13
I'm too old to remember the questions, but I do remember the 11+
It was a compulsory exam and whether you passed or failed determined the school that you went on to as your 'secondary' school.
I grew up in Coventry and there were a few different types of schools, including 2 x 'Grammar Schools'
The grammar schools had an 'entrance exam' and if a student passed the 11+ as well as the entrance exam, they got a scholarship (or 'free place') at the school.
If they failed the 11+ but passed the entrance exam, they could still attend that school, but daddy had to pay!
Failing the entrance exam meant you could not attend. I was fortunate enough to pass both, so I went there as a 'free' student.
That was a loooooooong time ago, but I can still remember similarities between my class and the ones I now teach in China.
By that, I mean what us 'teechers' call 'good students' and 'bad students' - or more to the point, 'lazy, good-for-nothing layabouts who don't want to learn anything because they would rather play computer games or fiddle with their mobile phone, squandering daddy's money just so they can go to Canada or America for a year or two, fail miserably only to come back to China and work in daddy's company'
But that's OK because daddy can tell all his friends how rich he is by sending his kid halfway round the world to study in a language that he cannot understand a word of.................but....T.I.C I guess (for those that don't know, it's an acronym for This Is China)
One of my old classmates went on to be an international pilot for British Airways, another went on to be a bus driver.
Some things never change, lol