International English Students- China

Thus far, I have had the opportunity to teach English as a Second Language to students from China, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and countries formally a part of the USSR. It has been very interesting learning all the things these have in common, and the many ways they are different.

Each group of students varies in many categories, including:

-Motivation
-Style of learning

-Vocabulary
-Grammar
-Pronunciation

China

In China, I taught ages 2 years to adult. I taught students and managers, teachers and scientists. The adults were either learning to help further their career, or so that they could move abroad. Since they were paying quite a bit for their lessons, usually the adults were attentive and involved. The children were there because their parents wanted them to be (to eventually further their career, or help them move abroad). I recall one mother brining in her 3-year-old for a lesson, saying the girl needed to learn because she was going to go to Harvard one day.


Chinese students are used to a very strict style of learning- Teacher lectures, students write. Thus, for students, our lessons had to be fun and interesting- more of a focus on entertainment, than English usually. We had to be more exciting than anything else, so that we could attempt to foster a desire in the children to learn. Sometimes we were successful, other times, not so much.

If you walked past any lesson at an EF school, you might be a little confused about what was going on. Students spinning in circles, racing over chairs, blindfolds, and water guns. Trust me, it was very easy to get wrapped up in a game and forget about the learning thing that was supposed to be going on. I cannot honestly tell you how much a 2-year-old was really learning in my class, but I do know for sure that they were more likely to want to keep learning than they would have been if they learned in their traditional way.

Vocabulary was the main thing we taught to children, while for adults it was grammar. Learning English grammar is difficult for Chinese people, because their grammar is much more simplified. No "I am, you are, He is.."- the verb is said in 1 way, always. The best thing for them was to have the grammar structure written on the board, so they could be sure they were saying it the right way, all the time.

The students (of all ages) pick up vocabulary easily, but being able to pronounce it is much more of an issue. Here's the thing- most Chinese words end with a vowel. Thus, when there is a consonant on the end of a word, they have difficulties trying to pronounce it. So to make sure they do, we would over emphasize the consonant. This is necessary, but also a bad thing to teach.  I say "doG', they respond with "dogah", "caT" becomes "catuh". The older students learn the difference after incessant repeating, but with the young students it's almost pointless to even try to get them to fix what they are saying.

If you have had any experience with Chinese students, leave a comment below! Did you notice similar things, or different?