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Differing Views on Teaching in China |
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Last month we ran a story on Teaching in China, as we hear from many teachers wanting information about teaching in China. Our story and information generated a huge response, positive and negative. Below is an edited version on one readers experiences teaching in China, who goes some cautionary advice about choosing a school. Don't come to China: For many of you who are looking for an easy way to make money teaching English abroad, there are some things that you should understand about China that will definitely make you think twice before coming here. Students: Here is the Chinese education system in a nutshell. It is terrible! Of the 10,000 students that I have taught, only about 20% actually like English and want to learn. Another 30% only care about English so that they can "memorize" enough information to pass the college entrance exam. Some students and even schools don't take the foreign teacher class seriously and look at it as playtime. In China, the students stay in one classroom and the teachers come and go. This often ends up with discipline issues since they often believe that it is their class and their rules, not the teacher's. Many of the students who are forced to learn English end up falling behind because of the way the education system is set up. Students are often taught by a Chinese English teachers who can't even hold a conversation in English with a foreigner. When Chinese English teachers tell you that the book they are teaching from is even difficult for them, you know the system has failed. Most English exams have no oral component so as long as the students can memorize a few thousand words and a few grammar points then the teacher has done their job even though the student can't speak a simple sentence without making a mistake. Full Article >>> |
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  Amy Dow Has extensive experience in not only teaching English but teaching abroad. She's earned her TEFL certificate from Winfield College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. she has her masters in teaching from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. She literally taught English all over the world including England, Spain, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, China, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Pakistan, India, Romania. |
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| ESL Humor | ||||||||||||||
One cow goes, "Mooooo!" The other cow goes, "Baaaaa!" The first cow turns round and says, "What are you doing?" The second cow says, "Practicing my foreign languages." |
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Looking for an Adventure? Japan is waiting! I lived in Japan for 3 years and it was the experience of a lifetime! My friend Craig Desorcy, who has much more experience than me, living in Japan for 10 years, has written a manual of everything you need to know to teach in Japan! Find out more >>>
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| ESL Discussions & Debates - FREE Activity! | ||||||||||||||
Little White Lies: Why Do We Tell Them?
A new study shows that we are more likely to lie to people we know than to total strangers. We tell little white lies to make ourselves look better. In the study, people were to act out situations such as buying cars, gym memberships and other items. One person bought a car for $2,000 less or a gym membership for $200 less than a co-worker. When one person compared how much they paid with how much another person paid, they thought they were a bad shopper. They lied to cover their story and look like a better shopper. The study suggests we don’t like feeling another person is smarter, and we lie more easily when we realize we overpaid. The study showed that people were willing to lie to friends, even over an amount as small as $200. People were more willing to lie to protect other people’s good impressions of them. People frequently lie when they pay too much for the same item as their friend bought. The problem is this. Once you lie, you have to remember what that lie is and who you have told the lie to. The chance that you will get caught lying is quite high. Every time you see the person you lied to, you have to remember what lie you told. The professor conducting the study says that when you are busy recalling everything you have told a lie about, your energy goes down. She says, in the long run, it's not worth lying because your relationships suffer. In the end, nobody wants to see themselves as a liar.
Vocabulary List Gym - A gymnasium Lies-telling something not true Recalling-remembering Shopping-buying things Strangers-people you do not know Study-read to learn Threatened-in danger
Idioms Little white lies - telling something almost true, a ‘Small lie.’ Fib - lie Cover their story -invent a reason that the story is true In the long run -at the end of everything someone did 1. A new study shows that we are more likely to lie to people we know than to total _________________. We tell little _________________ lies to make ourselves look better. 2. In the study, people were to _________________ out a situation such as buying cars, _________________ memberships and other items. One person bought a car for $2,000 less or a gym _________________ for $200 less than a co-worker. 3. When one _________________ compared how much they paid with how much another person paid, they thought they were a bad shopper. They lied to _________________ their story and look like a better shopper. 4. The study _________________ we don’t like feeling another person is smarter, and we lie more _________________ when we realize we overpaid. 5. The study showed that people were _________________ to lie to friends, even over an amount as small as $200. 8. The problem is this. Once you lie, you have to _________________ what that lie is and who you have told the lie to. 9. The chance that you will _________________ _________________ lying is quite high. Every time you see the person you lied to, you have to remember what lie you told. 10. The professor conducting the study says that when you are busy recalling everything you have told a lie about, your _________________ goes down. She says In the long run, it's not worth lying because your _________________ suffer. It's draining and you'll ruin your self-worth if you see yourself as a liar.
Fill in the Blanks Answers:
Warm up Discussions In your pair or group, decide which of the topics below is the most interesting. Chat about the topics you liked, and knew about, then chat about the ones you didn’t like or know about. Change topics and partners often. 1. Telling Lies to protect your image: In pairs or groups, tell why you would tell a small lie to someone to make you look good to them. Write down how people benefit from these types of lies, and how these lies can be a problem. Share your answers with your partner or other group. Switch partners. 2. You are a shopper. You have gone shopping for a car, and later found out your neighbor paid $2000 less than you did for the same car. Talk to the other car buyers about having your purchases. What lies did you tell the other buyers? Does anyone get hurt telling these lies? What are the benefits and problems in the telling of lies? Ask questions that other car buyers would ask. 3. Talk about different times that you have had told a little white lie in your life. How did feel? What would be different had you not told the lie?
This is the first half of one ESL debate. |
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| How Long Is An ESL Working Week? | ||||||||||||||
by Brenda Townsend Hall As so often this comes back to cultural norms. Many teachers come from a background in which it is normal for the working week to run from Monday to Friday leaving Saturday and Sunday free. It can thus be difficult to adjust to working, say, six days before a day off arrives. Also if the two-day weekend is not on offer, the teachers' chunk of free time is diluted and they find they can't, for example, take an extended trip. The same cultural expectations underpin teaching hours. The western model is for maximum to be around 24 or 25 contact hours but those hours are well prepared and ensure a dynamic performance from teachers. In some situations elsewhere, teachers are asked to teach 30 or more hours and find it hard to keep up. But if long hours in the classroom are required, it is probably expected that the teaching is more passive, with students doing some quiet work in the classroom that perhaps normally they would do for homework.
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 Seven years in the making, this 776 page guide is the most comprehensive guide to ESL schools and contacts from around the world. There is no other source that is as comprehensive as our guide available anywhere – on or off line.Listings of ESL schools around the world and provides you all of the information you need including:
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Welcome to our new ESL JOBS section which has proved to be very popular with our subscribers. Below are jobs posted on July 31/06. For updates every day, please visit our website for daily updates.
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