Teaching

7-30-14

The lessons are the same, but there is always something new with teaching.  The other day I asked one of my students where she was going to go to school, and she said she wanted to go to one of the Universities in Songjiang.  Then she explained that there was a god of knowledge in Songjiang, and that is why there are so many universities here.  She said that the god helps people learn.  She said foreigners ask why there are so many universities in Songjiang, and that is the reason.

The culture here is such a mixture of East and West, old and new here.  The surface is developing modern, but the beliefs underneath the surface are superstitious, old, and religious.  Many children are raised by their grandparents, because both parents work and are very busy.  The children often live half the week at the grandparent’s house, so much of the older culture is still passed on to the children.  Most of the students are Buddhist.   Somewhat surprisingly, yesterday I had a student whose grandparents were Christian, and she was asking me about the truth of the Bible.  She described her feeling of peace and tranquility when going to church.

A Bank in the Financial District of Shanghai.

And there is always the same type of grammar errors, because all my students are native Chinese speakers.  The vocabulary is often British English because their text books are British, so I usually teach them the American words, but sometimes I just give in and use the UK idioms.  It’s not that the students don’t learn, it is that there is a new wave of students and I teach the same UK v. US terms over and over.  Our center has over a thousand students and new students start out every day.  Sometimes I think, “If I teach this student this term he isn’t going to be understood by the rest of the English speaking population of China, so maybe I should just let him use the local dialect of English.”  But I usually go ahead and teach the US alternative, the students prefer US English, and I can’t get used to saying “at the weekend” instead of “on.”

Coffee at Starbucks, Songjiang

The family structures here are often unique also.  While the “One Child Policy” has made many one child families, there are many variations on that.  Much of the population here has migrated from the country.  Many families in the country had multiple children and just didn’t register them.  For those children to get ID cards as adults, they have to pay a high fee.  Some families paid the fine for having second children, and there are some families who have government connections that just didn’t have to pay fines.  Some families sent their children to relative’s homes that had fewer children, to avoid the fines and have them be raised by aunts and uncles.  In my classes I have had some adults who don’t like the one child policy because they grew up alone without brothers and sisters to play with, and a few who do like the policy because they grew up with brothers and sisters that don’t want to share in taking care of the parents. Some children were sent away as young teens to schools to get a “good education” so they would be successful, and others that chose to go themselves.  Some stayed at home in the country, but still flourished with the booming economy.  Each person's story is unique. 

Shopping for sunglasses with students

I am privileged to be here at this time in history, and to know these people and serve them.

God Bless,