English class
Last week, the kids and I had the opportunity to sit in on Myles' friends' English class. It is a typical after-school enrichment program attended by millions of Chinese school kids in every city in China. Each class is an hour-long, and the mission of this particular school is to have a conversational and useful grasp of the English language. This is a supplement to the students' normal daily English classes, but not merely a reinforcement of those lessons. The focus in the younger grades, at least, at this particular program is speaking English.
Because of the way English is normally taught and tested in Chinese schools, many English language students cannot effectively interact with an actual English speaker, but can read and write. My favorite experience with this was in Shenzhen, with a very young-looking, poorly equipped repairman. He had been sent to fix my brand-new but inoperable dryer. He made some repairing-sounding noises occasionally, and then tried to take a smoke break in my apartment. After an hour and a half, he packed up his small box of tools and told me that someone else would have to come and look at my dryer the next day. He then said something I did not understand. When he realized I wasn't following his meaning, he took out a pen and wrote very clearly in English, "Don't talk bad about me to the boss." He could not say it, but he could write it.
When our friends invited us to visit their kids' class,we received a tour of the classrooms, and the director sat down with me for a few minutes to talk to me about the school. Myles was permitted to sit in on a class, too, and happily answered questions to received the rewards of star stickers. Yes, I am so proud that he was able to answer questions about the weather correctly in English.
Most of the kids' mothers remained in the classroom. I did not witness any Tiger Mother behavior, but I did get a sense of how important learning English is to these parents. Many of the women spent the hour furiously recording notes on the teacher's lesson. Another took a video of the class. Only occasionally did I catch one mouthing words to a child who was struggling to answer the teacher's question.
Even though there are many Americans that come to China to teach English, this was my first exposure to this industry. I was surprised how little it resembled what I thought I would find (Tiger English School) and was actually a pleasant experience for the kids. I know this may not be representative of these kids' regular schools or other extra-curricular learning centers, but what I saw was not at all what I expected.
Because of the way English is normally taught and tested in Chinese schools, many English language students cannot effectively interact with an actual English speaker, but can read and write. My favorite experience with this was in Shenzhen, with a very young-looking, poorly equipped repairman. He had been sent to fix my brand-new but inoperable dryer. He made some repairing-sounding noises occasionally, and then tried to take a smoke break in my apartment. After an hour and a half, he packed up his small box of tools and told me that someone else would have to come and look at my dryer the next day. He then said something I did not understand. When he realized I wasn't following his meaning, he took out a pen and wrote very clearly in English, "Don't talk bad about me to the boss." He could not say it, but he could write it.
When our friends invited us to visit their kids' class,we received a tour of the classrooms, and the director sat down with me for a few minutes to talk to me about the school. Myles was permitted to sit in on a class, too, and happily answered questions to received the rewards of star stickers. Yes, I am so proud that he was able to answer questions about the weather correctly in English.
Most of the kids' mothers remained in the classroom. I did not witness any Tiger Mother behavior, but I did get a sense of how important learning English is to these parents. Many of the women spent the hour furiously recording notes on the teacher's lesson. Another took a video of the class. Only occasionally did I catch one mouthing words to a child who was struggling to answer the teacher's question.
Even though there are many Americans that come to China to teach English, this was my first exposure to this industry. I was surprised how little it resembled what I thought I would find (Tiger English School) and was actually a pleasant experience for the kids. I know this may not be representative of these kids' regular schools or other extra-curricular learning centers, but what I saw was not at all what I expected.
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