China-teachers.com

Traveling advice over Spring Festival

kevin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:09:29 +0000

Most standard ESL teaching contracts in China offer between a week and a month of vacation time over the winter break (January/February depending on when spring festival falls). So what do you do during this break? Some will go home, some will teach an ESL winter camp, and some will go traveling.

Traveling on or around Spring Festival can be a nightmare in China! With 1.3 billion people all on vacation at the same time you can imagine the chaos that ensues. I have a few travel tips taken from my own experience as well as the experience of foreigners around me.
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Thinking of starting your own ESL programs in China?

kevin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:08:49 +0000

Starting a training center? Developing a new teaching method? The first thing to keep in mind is that you’re always operating under the heavy radar of the Chinese government. I’ve known a number of excellent teachers with new, great ideas for ESL training in China who “just couldn’t take it” and ended up heading to a different country or back home.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good your idea is or how innovative your new methods are. In the end, if the person next to you, with no experience, and no care for students drinks bai jiu with a school principal three nights a week then he will end up with a new contract or the necessary funding for his training center.
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Bargain for everything in China – especially your teaching contract

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:35:16 +0000

If you’ve been in China for any amount of time then you probably know well enough to bargain for just about everything. This certainly does not exclude a teaching contract.
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Winter ESL Camps in China

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:34:34 +0000

The semester is winding down and depending on where you’re teaching you might only have a month left. Some people are going home for the holidays but many either can’t afford it or simply don’t want to. If you’re in the latter group then are a few options available to you over your vacation. You can always travel, however, if travel doesn’t appeal to you and you don’t mind teaching over the break then you might want to seek out a winter ESL camp. It’s a great opportunity to make extra money, especially if you’re on a contract that doesn’t pay you over the vacation. If you’re thinking of finding a job at a winter language camp there are a few things you should consider.
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How do I stimulate my students’ imaginations?

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:34:08 +0000

This can be the most difficult question when dealing with Chinese students. For years they’ve been taught to simply memorize information and regurgitate that information on a test. There is very little room for independent thought or vivid imagination in the Chinese education system.
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Pop Culture Debate (advanced classroom activity, 30-40 minutes)

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:33:43 +0000

Sure to get even the most introverted students talking!

This activity is something you should only use if you already know your class quite well and have been teaching them for at least a few months. The debate works best if you have an idea of what specific kinds of pop culture your students are in to (e.g. specific TV shows, songs, & singing groups).
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Please leave a message after the beep (listening activity, 30-40 minutes)

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:33:14 +0000

In this activity students will listen to a number of common answering machine messages and answer questions based on those messages.

Before class you will need to prepare about 10 recorded voice messages. You can do this digitally on your computer if you have speakers to hook up to them, or with a radio and tape deck. Leave 10 messages that all have the same general structure but differ in the content.
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Solve the Problem (advanced classroom activity)

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:32:42 +0000

The basic idea o this activity is to give a number of interesting problems or dilemmas to the students and have them come up with creative solutions. This activity is for an advanced class where students feel relatively comfortable speaking out.
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Teaching your first TOEFL class?

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:32:10 +0000

Whether you took a job teaching TOEFL to a class of students or one of your students approached you about getting help preparing to take the TOEFL below is some advice for teachers who are new to the game.
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You may want to watch what you say this Christmas

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:31:46 +0000

In a recent Education Counsel meeting of Beijing schools the Chinese Government asked schools to stay away from Christmas celebrations. Previously, anything western seemed to be a novelty to Chinese schools and they couldn’t get enough of it. However, it seems now that Chinese public schools will be operating their Christmas holiday in the same way as many American public schools. Instead of hearing teachers in American schools say, “Merry Christmas” you will hear them say, “Happy Holidays.” Chinese public schools are now insisting that teachers do not use the term, “Sheng Dan Kuai Le.”
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