As a bona fide news junkie, one of my favorite magazines is Foreign Policy. Each dead-tree issue has a section called "Think Again" in which a writer analyzes a series of assertions about a particular subject, say, the Israel/Palestine situation, and offers a slightly contrarian take on what many consider to be conventional wisdom.
Let's apply this method to a topic slightly more pertinent to the readers of this b…
Entering my second semester of teaching ESL in southern China, I've been rejuvenated by a weeklong trip to Hong Kong over winter break and put in high spirits thanks to the early arrival of spring. Life these past few months without heating proved to be nothing short of brutal. Nowadays, rapeseed blooms in the fields across the river, painting the land in patches of yellow, and the scent of impending rain suffuse…
I know of a man in Kunming who, after teaching English here for a period of about seven years, assumed a managerial position at a friend's company. The job didn't go well, as the new manager regularly turned up late, failed to fulfill contractual obligations, and did a poor job managing his staff. Eventually, he returned to his native country to pursue a graduate degree at the age of 33. In retrospect, his friend and…
I first became aware of the enormous language gap in China three weeks into my first year, when I taught English at a public high school in northern Jiangsu. One afternoon, feeling slightly homesick, I hopped into a taxi with a simple mission: to go to McDonalds. Being completely unable to speak Chinese at that point, I was fairly confident that the word "McDonalds" would be international enough for my driver to un…
Teaching ESL at a university in China is a good gig: low hours, long holidays, weekends and more than enough money to survive on.
If you've chosen this route you'll find that most universities (and agents on their behalf) are very happy to offer basic terms, conditions and vague information to hurry you through signing a contract and securing you for a year.
There's still a high level of incompetency in the hir…
Recall the old expression: teachers are to act in loco parentis. This means, if my high school Latin still serves me, that during school hours the teachers are responsible for assuming the role of parents in the lives of their students. Yet as anyone knows, this doesn't really work. As teenagers, the last things we needed were extra parents. What we needed, and wanted, were independent adult figures to help us guide…
The scene should be familiar to all who have lived in China for awhile: You're out at a cafe or bar with a group of friends, having a beer and a few laughs (or is that a few beers and a laugh?). A Chinese man, or woman, approaches your table and asks to speak. He (or she) will explain that they're desperate to learn English and would like one of you to be his tutor. Sometimes, they'll just want to sit and listen but …
Chinese skills that develop so quickly it’s like they’re on steroids. Reading essays that provide a glimpse into this strange country. Blossoming friendships with students named Gorge, Pudding, and Glenn Chestnut.
Oh, the glamorous life I led in my head before I actually started teaching.
If you’re like me or several of my friends, and your newfound teaching gig in China is the first time you’ve stepped in f…
Anyone that's taught for more than 10 minutes in China's public school system will attest to how craptastic the supplied text books are.
Chinese-produced pablum that bears the name of prominent Western universities in hopes that no one will notice that the content is blander than a bowl of zhou.
A recent Southern Weekend article reveals the dirty underside of the Chinese text book market and the seedy monopolie…
Some of you may have heard about the ambitious, big-in-heart, project my friend Tom has been devoting every waking hour to - The Library Project.
When I wrote about it at its inception last November, I admit, I didn't have half the vision towards it that Tom so obviously does.
I thought it would be a small local charity in north-eastern China, and a really nice thing to do. But Tom saw things differently, and c…
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