One of my least favorite situations to be in here is when people tell me they don’t like America because it is so dangerous. They watch movies and TV shows, and are convinced that all we do is go around and kill people all day. I’m not making this up, I had a student two nights ago tell me that she did not want to go to America because of that. Thanks to that, and rap music and music videos, (and I am not being racist whatsoever, I am just stating the facts) most Chinese people do not like black people. We recently had a teacher arrive from South Africa, and many Chinese staff members expressed concern when they heard the word Africa. Again, I am not condoning this in anyway, just relaying how it is here. We did, for a short period, have a black teacher from London. As far as I know, she never had any trouble with the Chinese people based on her skin color. The Chinese can be very quick to judge, but they are tolerant enough that they would still let a black teacher teach their children. Now, not all of the Chinese people have these beliefs. One student I had today expressed her feelings about the matter quite well. She knows that the movies are just movies, and that there are dangerous places everywhere in the world. To quote her, “Where there are people, there are problems”. She still felt a bit of concern about the places and situations depicted in some movies, but knows that there are as many good places in the US as there are bad. It is interesting to think, though, how much of an impact a movie can have on a person’s future education and career. And it doesn’t help that they don’t get much positive news from the West, just as they don’t really get any bad news about China.
So I’ve said it many times before- most of Hohhot doesn’t speak English. There are still people in the city that have never seen a foreigner before. After 11 months here, I still experience people stopping dead in their tracks and going “Whoa’. But to say that they don’t speak any English would not be true. According to a Chinese friend, there are certain words that all Chinese people know in English. Namely, ‘hello’ and ‘bye bye”. Interestingly enough, the Chinese rarely say the Chinese word for goodbye; maybe they think that “bye bye” is Chinese? Almost everyday we walk down the street and some teenagers shout “Hello!” and run away giggling. Yea, it’s a blast. Usually we respond in Chinese, or ignore them.
The other words all Chinese people know? Weird versions of the ABC song and the Birthday Song, and several swear words. They probably don’t know what they mean, but thanks to us, they use em.
The other words all Chinese people know? Weird versions of the ABC song and the Birthday Song, and several swear words. They probably don’t know what they mean, but thanks to us, they use em.
So a few days ago was my birthday (and thanks so much for all of the amazing birthday wishes I received). There was something extra sweet about being so far away but still getting lots of messages. To be honest, other than receiving some random presents (not complaining, I love my kitty socks), it didn’t really seem much like a birthday. I had to work, of course, though my classes were pretty chill.. and when I say chill I mean me throwing a football down a hallway and enjoying watching the kids scramble to get it. The Chinese don’t place a lot of emphasis on birthdays. Whenever you ask a student what they will do for their birthday, they always say, “eat cake”. They don’t get presents or even have parties. That’s right, Mom and Dad, had you brought us up in China you wouldn’t have had to shell out the megabucks for Chuck E Cheese. Though, if you had brought us up in China I most likely wouldn’t exist..I like to think a little celebration once a year is worth it to have me in your life!
Random Chinese birthday facts:
In China, when you are born, you are one year old. Which means all of you out there, clinging to age 49, thanking the stars that you aren’t 50, sorry! In China, you are 50! (It is actually more complicated than that, it goes by the lunar calendar and such; sometimes you are a year older than we think you are and sometimes you aren’t.) This makes things very complicated at school sometimes. The minimum age of students we are supposed to teach is 3. So in come these babies that don’t even understand the minutest amount of Chinese, and the sales staff says “They are almost 3!”. Nope, not at all. That baby is one and a half.
The Chinese sing the Birthday Song differently. Despite the fact that about 85% of Hohhot does not speak English, I have yet to come across someone that does not know the Birthday Song in English*. However, they song;
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you”.
*-See post: English Words Every Chinese Person Knows
Random Chinese birthday facts:
In China, when you are born, you are one year old. Which means all of you out there, clinging to age 49, thanking the stars that you aren’t 50, sorry! In China, you are 50! (It is actually more complicated than that, it goes by the lunar calendar and such; sometimes you are a year older than we think you are and sometimes you aren’t.) This makes things very complicated at school sometimes. The minimum age of students we are supposed to teach is 3. So in come these babies that don’t even understand the minutest amount of Chinese, and the sales staff says “They are almost 3!”. Nope, not at all. That baby is one and a half.
The Chinese sing the Birthday Song differently. Despite the fact that about 85% of Hohhot does not speak English, I have yet to come across someone that does not know the Birthday Song in English*. However, they song;
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you”.
*-See post: English Words Every Chinese Person Knows
Lesson Plan for the Teens
This is a lesson plan on materials (plastic, metal, etc) for a class of 12-14 year olds. These lessons are 2 hours long. Pretty much everyone hates teaching them, because they are so long. However, it kind of works out because since the students will do activities for a longer period of time than the little kids will. With the babies, you can only play a game for 5 minutes, and then they lose focus.
1. Check attendance and homework (noticing a pattern yet?)
2. Introduce vocabulary- gather students around the computer and bring up pictures of the words, students write the Chinese translation in their book. The teenagers don’t really care about flashcards, and I like to make sure they get the correct translation (I don’t have a Chinese teacher in the classroom with me). This sometimes takes 20 minutes, because something we see online invariably sidetracks us.
3. Give the students a sentence structure, and have them plug their own words in- A ___ is made of ___.
4. Scavenger hunt- students go around the school and find different materials, write the down then share with the class.
5. Invention- students have to create something new using the materials listed in the book (just draw a picture and describe it, I wish we had the resources to attempt to make things).
6. Complete a page (or 2) of bookwork.
7. Paper airplane tournament- students make a paper airplane. They say a sentence or answer a question, and get to try to throw their airplane into the trash can. If the get it in, the go to the next round, where the throwing line is farther back, and so on.
8. Listening (out of book).
9. Discussion- Quality of materials, where you should buy certain things, etc.
10. Worksheet on a grammar structure
11. Football throwing game- kids throw ball back and forth to each other, first to drop is out and answers questions.
12. Review sheet (like the ones the kids do, but I don’t comment on their behavior unless they are really bad.)
This is a lesson plan on materials (plastic, metal, etc) for a class of 12-14 year olds. These lessons are 2 hours long. Pretty much everyone hates teaching them, because they are so long. However, it kind of works out because since the students will do activities for a longer period of time than the little kids will. With the babies, you can only play a game for 5 minutes, and then they lose focus.
1. Check attendance and homework (noticing a pattern yet?)
2. Introduce vocabulary- gather students around the computer and bring up pictures of the words, students write the Chinese translation in their book. The teenagers don’t really care about flashcards, and I like to make sure they get the correct translation (I don’t have a Chinese teacher in the classroom with me). This sometimes takes 20 minutes, because something we see online invariably sidetracks us.
3. Give the students a sentence structure, and have them plug their own words in- A ___ is made of ___.
4. Scavenger hunt- students go around the school and find different materials, write the down then share with the class.
5. Invention- students have to create something new using the materials listed in the book (just draw a picture and describe it, I wish we had the resources to attempt to make things).
6. Complete a page (or 2) of bookwork.
7. Paper airplane tournament- students make a paper airplane. They say a sentence or answer a question, and get to try to throw their airplane into the trash can. If the get it in, the go to the next round, where the throwing line is farther back, and so on.
8. Listening (out of book).
9. Discussion- Quality of materials, where you should buy certain things, etc.
10. Worksheet on a grammar structure
11. Football throwing game- kids throw ball back and forth to each other, first to drop is out and answers questions.
12. Review sheet (like the ones the kids do, but I don’t comment on their behavior unless they are really bad.)
This is a lesson plan on food for a class of 7-9 year olds. The classes are an hour and 20 minutes long.
1. Check homework and attendance.
2. Introduce vocabulary words- have them shout and use in sentences; I like, I don’t like.
3. Race- One student from each team crab walks to the board, and says what the flashcard is. First one to finish gets the point.
4. Throw ball around, having the student who throws the ball asking “What do you like to eat?” and the student who catches it responds.
5. Throw all the flashcards onto the floor. Turn off the lights, and the students have 5 seconds to get a flashcard and sit back down. (This game only works at night, otherwise they can see). The student must say “I have a…” and whatever their flashcard is. If they didn’t pick up a card, or if they say the wrong word, tickle them or bounce the ball on their head.
6. Complete a page of bookwork.
7. Hangman with a sentence.
8. Put the class in two teams, and give each student a number (and someone else on the other team has the same number). Put them in two lines, with some distance in between. Put the flashcards in the middle. Yell out a number and a food, for example 3, banana, and the students have the number 3 have to race to get the banana.
9. Complete review sheet- students write down all the words and sentences they learned that day, as well as their homework, then I leave a comment about their behavior for the class.
1. Check homework and attendance.
2. Introduce vocabulary words- have them shout and use in sentences; I like, I don’t like.
3. Race- One student from each team crab walks to the board, and says what the flashcard is. First one to finish gets the point.
4. Throw ball around, having the student who throws the ball asking “What do you like to eat?” and the student who catches it responds.
5. Throw all the flashcards onto the floor. Turn off the lights, and the students have 5 seconds to get a flashcard and sit back down. (This game only works at night, otherwise they can see). The student must say “I have a…” and whatever their flashcard is. If they didn’t pick up a card, or if they say the wrong word, tickle them or bounce the ball on their head.
6. Complete a page of bookwork.
7. Hangman with a sentence.
8. Put the class in two teams, and give each student a number (and someone else on the other team has the same number). Put them in two lines, with some distance in between. Put the flashcards in the middle. Yell out a number and a food, for example 3, banana, and the students have the number 3 have to race to get the banana.
9. Complete review sheet- students write down all the words and sentences they learned that day, as well as their homework, then I leave a comment about their behavior for the class.
Thought is might be interesting to explain how we teach to the different levels. Here is a basic lesson plan for one of my classes of 4-6 year olds (I’m assuming no EF competitors are going to take this and sell it..). This is an hour class, teaching animals.
1) Check attendance, homework, and sing the Hello Song:
“EF Small Star kids, hello everyone! We are here to learn and play, hello everyone!”
2) Show flashcards of animals, and elicit responses
3) Shouting match- show students card, team to say the word the loudest, quietest, happiest, saddest, weirdest, etc gets a point.
4) Freeze dance- play music, students dance around to music, when the music stops they shout the animal name and then pretend to be an animal.
5) Telephone- Whisper animal in one students ear, they whisper it to the next student, so on.. Last student picks the corresponding flashcard.
6) Limbo- hold a string across the room, students go under it. If they touch the string they have to say an animal.
7) Pass out HW, give good students smiley faces on their papers. Sing Goodbye song:
“Goodbye friends, goodbye friends, we’ll have fun another day. I’ll see you soon and we can play again, but for now I’m going home”.
1) Check attendance, homework, and sing the Hello Song:
“EF Small Star kids, hello everyone! We are here to learn and play, hello everyone!”
2) Show flashcards of animals, and elicit responses
3) Shouting match- show students card, team to say the word the loudest, quietest, happiest, saddest, weirdest, etc gets a point.
4) Freeze dance- play music, students dance around to music, when the music stops they shout the animal name and then pretend to be an animal.
5) Telephone- Whisper animal in one students ear, they whisper it to the next student, so on.. Last student picks the corresponding flashcard.
6) Limbo- hold a string across the room, students go under it. If they touch the string they have to say an animal.
7) Pass out HW, give good students smiley faces on their papers. Sing Goodbye song:
“Goodbye friends, goodbye friends, we’ll have fun another day. I’ll see you soon and we can play again, but for now I’m going home”.
I realized that most of my posts are about the differences between the Chinese and us, or about things that happen at school. Here is some things we do outside school.
During the non-busy times (Spring and Fall) we have two days off a week. This usually means that one day is spent in bed, nursing the effects of the local bar. The other day, though, we try to get out of the house and do things. If we want to go shopping, we have two main options. Wanda is a new shopping mall, complete with some western stores (albeit lesser known in America), an arcade, and a nice cinema that supplies us with our western movie fix when needed. The mall is also home to a great supermarket, so when we leave we are always laden with bags, even if we didn’t buy any clothes. The clothes are more expensive there, but better quality and more in the western fashion. Our other option is to go to Manda (the rhyming is completely coincidental) which is a huge market of all things clothes, accessories, and whatever your heart desires. Bargaining is expected, so I only go there when I have lots of energy. The problem with the clothes, though, is that they are in Chinese fashion, and some of them are reallllly strange. Women my age and older can regularly be seen walking around with shirts with bunnies or kitties on them, short shorts and 3 layers of leggings, and thigh high boots. I’ve chatted with some Chinese friends about this, but I don’t think I will ever truly understand. They like frilly and girly things because it makes them feel younger. Chinese women do not show their chests like we do. Shirts usually have high necks, and more commonly loose. However, they love to show their legs. They usually aren’t entirely bare, wearing leggings or tights, but they wear some booty shorts that would make a nun cry. I’ve seen women that are at least in their 50’s wear super short skirts, tights, and 4 inch heels-when it was snowing out! But I digress from my topic. Manda caters to these styles, so I rarely go there if I am looking for clothes, though I have found some amazing shoes and jewelry for dirt-cheap.
Another popular day-off trip spot is the DVD store. I’m sure I have written about it before, but this place is just heaven in Hohhot. Whenever a new teacher comes, one of the first places we take them is the DVD store, and we just watch ‘em go crazy. It is not rare for one of us to walk out with 10 DVDs or more. Additionally, they have an employee that speaks English, so if there is a movie we want that they don’t have, they can try to order it for us.
The Culture Market is another hot spot. I don’t know why it is called that, but it’s a great place to buy odds and ends. That’s where the boys stock up on their video games, and I have purchased random things from Christmas wrapping paper to flower seeds.
Recently, I spent a day off climbing a mountain. Hohhot is surrounded partly by a mountain range, which is accessible by a 45-minute bike ride out of the city. This journey takes you through some of the older areas of the city, which is quite the adventure in itself. To get up the mountain, we first must hide our bikes in a cemetery at the foot of one of the smaller mountains. This sounds morbid, yes, but cemeteries are quite different than here (I will do a separate post about them). We then begin the trek up to the top of the range. Now, two weeks ago was the first time I actually attempted to climb a mountain, so to me it was quite a feat. The trail we followed weaved over and around huge boulders, and right on the edge of steep drop-offs. The view from the top, though, was entirely worth all the aches and pains from the hike up. There’s nothing like sitting on top of a mountain and eating a mini cheesecake!
Other places we visit include some local parks, and of course a few restaurants that know what we are going to order the minute we walk in because we go there so much. Soon I will be venturing out to visit the museum and temples of the city, and will post information on those when I do. I am a little ashamed because I haven’t visited the main tourist attractions yet, and I have been here for 9 months, but hey, better late than never!
During the non-busy times (Spring and Fall) we have two days off a week. This usually means that one day is spent in bed, nursing the effects of the local bar. The other day, though, we try to get out of the house and do things. If we want to go shopping, we have two main options. Wanda is a new shopping mall, complete with some western stores (albeit lesser known in America), an arcade, and a nice cinema that supplies us with our western movie fix when needed. The mall is also home to a great supermarket, so when we leave we are always laden with bags, even if we didn’t buy any clothes. The clothes are more expensive there, but better quality and more in the western fashion. Our other option is to go to Manda (the rhyming is completely coincidental) which is a huge market of all things clothes, accessories, and whatever your heart desires. Bargaining is expected, so I only go there when I have lots of energy. The problem with the clothes, though, is that they are in Chinese fashion, and some of them are reallllly strange. Women my age and older can regularly be seen walking around with shirts with bunnies or kitties on them, short shorts and 3 layers of leggings, and thigh high boots. I’ve chatted with some Chinese friends about this, but I don’t think I will ever truly understand. They like frilly and girly things because it makes them feel younger. Chinese women do not show their chests like we do. Shirts usually have high necks, and more commonly loose. However, they love to show their legs. They usually aren’t entirely bare, wearing leggings or tights, but they wear some booty shorts that would make a nun cry. I’ve seen women that are at least in their 50’s wear super short skirts, tights, and 4 inch heels-when it was snowing out! But I digress from my topic. Manda caters to these styles, so I rarely go there if I am looking for clothes, though I have found some amazing shoes and jewelry for dirt-cheap.
Another popular day-off trip spot is the DVD store. I’m sure I have written about it before, but this place is just heaven in Hohhot. Whenever a new teacher comes, one of the first places we take them is the DVD store, and we just watch ‘em go crazy. It is not rare for one of us to walk out with 10 DVDs or more. Additionally, they have an employee that speaks English, so if there is a movie we want that they don’t have, they can try to order it for us.
The Culture Market is another hot spot. I don’t know why it is called that, but it’s a great place to buy odds and ends. That’s where the boys stock up on their video games, and I have purchased random things from Christmas wrapping paper to flower seeds.
Recently, I spent a day off climbing a mountain. Hohhot is surrounded partly by a mountain range, which is accessible by a 45-minute bike ride out of the city. This journey takes you through some of the older areas of the city, which is quite the adventure in itself. To get up the mountain, we first must hide our bikes in a cemetery at the foot of one of the smaller mountains. This sounds morbid, yes, but cemeteries are quite different than here (I will do a separate post about them). We then begin the trek up to the top of the range. Now, two weeks ago was the first time I actually attempted to climb a mountain, so to me it was quite a feat. The trail we followed weaved over and around huge boulders, and right on the edge of steep drop-offs. The view from the top, though, was entirely worth all the aches and pains from the hike up. There’s nothing like sitting on top of a mountain and eating a mini cheesecake!
Other places we visit include some local parks, and of course a few restaurants that know what we are going to order the minute we walk in because we go there so much. Soon I will be venturing out to visit the museum and temples of the city, and will post information on those when I do. I am a little ashamed because I haven’t visited the main tourist attractions yet, and I have been here for 9 months, but hey, better late than never!
