Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Summer is Here! (time to get busy...)

The semester is over!

My real teaching finished a couple weeks ago, my finals finished last Friday, and (drum-roll) as of late last night, all of my grading is finished! That was a great big pain, lots of little boxes to check and numbers to write in. Lots of students get rearranged on the first day of class, but of course, the grading booklets that are printed up weeks in advance do not reflect that, so there is also a good deal of crossing off students from one class grade chart and then trying to make neat columns in the margins of other charts (though all I can really do is write their student ID number, I would be hopeless at trying to fill in their names in Chinese)

Anyway, the semester finished up well enough. Most of the students have improved very well I think. Mostly, they seem improved in their confidence. Last year many of them had never talked to a foreigner before and none had really practiced their English speaking besides the class chanting and memorized key phrases drilled during high school. Now, they seem much more comfortable in their ability to speak on their own, though, in general, that is not always something that their other classes or the education system or China in general seems to promote.

Many points about the schooling system here, as far as I can see it, baffle me. Take English majors at my school, for example. It seems that their first and second year are the most difficult. They have speaking and listening classes, 'extensive reading' and pronunciation and grammar. Freshman also take physical education classes, though most of my students are so small and thin that I am rather afraid for their health (they don't eat potatoes because they are afraid they will gain weight). They have a few exams of different levels, some that are optional and some that they must take. They are expected to be in speech competitions, debate competitions, and all ridiculous manner of Saturday and Sunday actvitites.

Then their third year, everything seems to lighten up. At least that what it looks like to me. Less weekend activities, though it is still China, so they have to check in on Sunday. Not many extracurriculars, though maybe some help out with English club activities. They have classes on teaching practices and other job skills. I think they spend a lot of time in the library, there is at least one more test that they are expected to take.

The fourth year, as far as I understand, most students get internships, most as teachers at schools in the area or in their hometowns. Some go do some tour guide internships, or other such things with business English. They do these internships for maybe one semester and then come back for a few classes on literature or culture or more teaching or business skills. And that is it.

This would be fine I suppose if not for one main thing. They are English majors but after their second year they have not a single other class requiring them to speak it, and though they may have to teach it later, they dont learn any further communicative English at school. Its not that they just dont usually take it, it just isnt offered. They only take what is given to them to take, everyone for the most part takes the same thing, and they dont even have any more speaking classes!

Anyway, now I am just rambling. So the school year ended. My movie club was pretty poorly attended and my frisbee club was a bust. Next year I have big plans for improvements.

So, exciting events to come:

I have a Chinese language camp starting on Monday. Its basically a PC paid for two week half day college course. Im doing this at a university in Kunming, in Yunnan province, just south from where I am now. That should be fun, though I am nervous about my own Chinese level, I still think I am pretty bad.

After that, I am helping in training, doing a session on alcohol in China and how to keep from being forced to get insanely drunk at banquets, as Chinese generally expect (and force) us foreigners to do.

Then there is the great PC China Summer Project. This interesting activity that gets a great deal of hype, though as far as I understand, it is just a two week camp thing, where volunteers in many different sites around china, get together to teach groups of primary, middle and high school teachers about best-practices for teaching English.

After that is an "Eco-Camp" that I am helping to run. It will last 4 days and have maybe 20 or 25 students from around western China and we will talk about water and air pollution, trash and environmental leadership. It should be fun, though I have my concerns over how it might turn out.

After THAT, I am going to meiguo!! America! for my older brother's wedding. Then I start school and the whole thing starts off again.

I really will update more about all this stuff later. I will try to write more entertaining updates too. I think I am too tired or frustrated today to do a good job...

Busy busy...