推拿 This is a phrase that many of us become very familiar with. It is pronounced "tuīná" and refers to a form of deep massage or "manipulative therapy." There are lots of places to go in Wenzhou that offer 推拿 but the one that I like best is directly between 2nd and 8th Communities in Xialvpu. If you walk across the street from 8th community and head into the side street that has a name but no one remembers it, look up and right and you will see a blue sign. If it is night, the sign may or may not be lit by yellow string lights. This is the massage parlor I prefer.
It is a little run down looking and quite frankly I would never have walked into it had I not been with a Chinese colleague the first time. It is a little intimidating. When you walk in, the entry room is long and narrow with a series of foot massage chairs along the right hand side and a counter at the back. Usually there are at least three people sitting in the chairs either sleeping or lounging. These are the "masseurs" (although most are female). Sitting at the desk is an older man who looks to be about 55 or 60. Sometimes he wears glasses, sometimes not. He is the one in charge of the books for this joint. There is no menu. Customers must know what they want.
After telling him I want a back massage 背部推拿 (bèibù tuīná)he points up the stairs. The stairs are rather steep and they split at the top into a "Y." To the left is room that I know to be full of more massage chairs, although exactly what they are used for is anyone's guess. To the right is my destination. This room is divided into several areas by cubicle walls. Each area has two or three massage beds in it. I choose one and take off my.....shoes (get your mind out of the gutter). If I am wearing a jacket I remove that also, but the rest stays on. Right behind me is my "masseur." Now for bèibù tuīná I've discovered that there are only a few people who actually do this at this particular place; I think this has to do with the fact that the person needs some experience to know how hard to push and when to stop. After I choose my bed I lay face down. The "masseur" then places a white sheet over me and begins to work her magic.
To begin, she starts at the head or neck and it can be painful your first time, especially if you are really tense. Next come the shoulders and upper arms followed by the upper back. By now, the "masseur" has resorted to using her elbows rather than her hands; the better to get those tough muscles that we use for vertical movement to relax. She then works her way slowly down the back until the gets to my tail bone. Then she does a quick massage of first one side and then the other before moving on to the back of the legs and feet. When all of this is done, she does the once-over head to toes. This is the end of the bèibù tuīná. It is not the end of my massage however.
If there is time, she tells me to turn over onto my back. Once I have managed to flip myself over using muscles that are way too relaxed to accomplish this gracefully, she begins to massage my neck and shoulders again, but from a different angle. Then she moves up to the head and scalp, grabs my head firmly and gives long tug. This is one of my favorite parts of the massage. I can feel all of my vertebra align themselves properly. She gently puts my head down. Next she massages my arms and hands right down to the finger tips. The final area she does is my legs. She pays particular attention to the quadriceps and IT bands that are always tight. Lastly, she lifts my legs and manipulates the hip joints; first one then the other. She also does this to my shoulders. Then I am done. For 15 yuan I have gotten a 45 minute massage that will last me until next week--or at least until I feel like going again.
If bèibù tuīná is too aggressive for you, here are some other forms of massage:
按摩 -- ànmó--literally "massage" just point to the area you want massaged. bèibù ànmó= "back massage"
头 -- tóu -- "head" or "top"
颈 -- jǐng -- "neck"
脚 -- jiǎo -- "foot"
NOTE: There are some things to remember about Chinese Massage parlors and spas.
Rule 1) Pink sign or lights=brothel
Rule 2) Blue lights or sign=legitimate massage parlor
Rule 3) Men will remove their pants at all massage parlors so if you don't want to see a middle-aged Chinese man in his skivvies, close your eyes.
Rule 4) You will often see patrons sleeping or hear their snoring. This is normal. It is OK to fall asleep, however I don't recommend staying there too long.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Creating Lesson Plans
Calling all teachers out there...How do you organize your lesson plans? If you are like me you put a title at the top of the page, below it goes the topic(s) and a brief description to remind yourself that you are really seriously going to cover this topic today. Below that you list the activities in order and a brief description thereof. Correct? What about time tables? how long do you spend on one subject or activity? What if you teach 4 classes from the same textbook that have very different ability levels? What is a lowly laowai English teacher to do?
First, I'm going to outline my problem and then I'll talk about the solution.
Problem: We are required to submit lesson plans for the entire semester to the powers that be. These powerful people have decided that all lesson plans should look exactly alike regardless of the course they are designed for or who is teaching the course. The theory behind this is that other teachers or administrator years from now will be able to duplicate the lesson plans of today right down to the very last minute provided they have the same text books. Therefore the lesson plans are laid out thusly;
First, I'm going to outline my problem and then I'll talk about the solution.
Problem: We are required to submit lesson plans for the entire semester to the powers that be. These powerful people have decided that all lesson plans should look exactly alike regardless of the course they are designed for or who is teaching the course. The theory behind this is that other teachers or administrator years from now will be able to duplicate the lesson plans of today right down to the very last minute provided they have the same text books. Therefore the lesson plans are laid out thusly;
Title of lecture and class
Topic (what is being covered)
Goal (why this is being covered)
First half of class:
Activity 1:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Activity 2:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Second half of class:
Activity 3:
Who is involved?
What are the rules?
How long will you spend on this activity?
Why are you doing this activity?
Support information for this activity (ie websites, resources, etc.)
Homework assignment:
What is it?
Why this HW and not some other (how is it related to the topic or topics)?
What is the goal of this HW?
My problem is that an outline like this far too rigid for my classes. I teach one class in which everyone is fully capable of studying abroad in any English speaking country. I have another class where about half of the students would be able to do this. A third class that should go back to their freshmen year and re-learn everything. and a fourth class that is actually better in Listening than the class above them, but significantly further behind in their speaking abilities. How or why should I have a lesson plan tat is this rigid for classes that require a lot of adjustment?
My solution:
I don't use the format the school requires and this has ruffled a few feathers. I use a lesson plan format that is much more fluid and contains only the information I need do deliver an effective lesson to all four classes regardless of ability levels. I simply see no point in submitting the "standard" lesson plan when it is not something I would ever be able to use. My lesson plans look something like speech outlines, but with far more detail. I include entire paragraphs of relevant information that I want to make sure I deliver to my classes. I don't use timelines because I would never be able to use them in class. An activity that takes 5 or 10 minutes for my best class would take 30 minutes for my lower-performing classes. Therefore, I simply outline what activities I CAN use to support the lesson, but I don't make it a mandatory thing for ALL of the activities to be accomplished. To make sure the lesson is effective, I make sure that the most pertinent and necessary activities are in the first part of the lesson plan and other activities that are simply nice to have find a home at the end.
This seems logical to me since a lesson plan is really only a means to keep the teacher on track. It is never supposed to be replicated by others teaching different courses with access to different materials. I guarantee that none of the teachers in the future will be able to duplicate my lessons simply because they will not have access to the same materials (such as iTunes podcasts). I would have no problem with making a lesson plan using the acceptable outline, but I would then have to make another lesson plan that I would actually use in class.
Here is an example lesson plan from the school:
Objective: 1. To practice VOA news
2. Show Students English Slangs: pronunciation and sense
3. Make students do slang conversation
| Attendance | |
| VOA News: Students will listen to a VOA news report twice. They must answers questions in this format: -Who -What happened/story about... -When did the news event occur... -Where did the news event occur... -Why did this news happen... If the students did not finish they will have to do this as homework, then turn it in.. | 15 Min. |
| Assign Student Teacher Exercise Dates | 5 Min. |
| Slang PPT.
| 25 Min. |
| Slang Conversation:
| 20 Min. |
| Finish the Valentines day Simpsons. | 15 Min. |
Here is one of my lesson plans:
Listening class 07 March lesson plan
Turn in and review Homework.
Finish Stereotypes and prejudices work.
Introduce Accents of the British Isles.
Students should be able to distinguish between the two dialects. Students should also be accustomed to hearing various accents and dialects of English as TEM 4 preparation and for SA.
What is the difference between the standard British and Western Neutral American dialects?
English is a West Germanic language. This means that it derives from the Anglo-Frisian dialects of Northwest Germany and Netherlands. One particular dialect came to dominate all of the other regional dialects that were present in the British Isles before 1000 CE…
Continue this discussion with the PPT.
Play examples of BrE and AmE accents and dialects for the class.
Dictation exercise
Have students write down what they hear. What are the different or strange words? Are there different pronunciations? Call on random students to read back what they have written.
Go to this website and play the clip. Summarize what the girl is talking about. Write down at least 5 words that are unfamiliar to you and write the definitions. Your summary must be at least 5 full sentences.
____________________________________________________
I like my lesson plan, although I do see where they think the problems are. I simply operate differently than they believe all classes should operate. I do what is effective for my classes, not what some of the other teachers say is effective for their classes.
___________________________________________________
Update:
I have now taken to writing two lesson plans for each class. One to turn in and one to use in class. It's a royal pain in the backside, but it's what I have to do...
Update:
I have now taken to writing two lesson plans for each class. One to turn in and one to use in class. It's a royal pain in the backside, but it's what I have to do...
Any thoughts or opinions?
The Great Firewall
Wow. I'm able to post today without a VPN. So I will take advantage of this spat Google is having with the Chinese government and give everyone some advice on how to beat the Great Firewall of China. There are a couple of options. You can use a proxy website or you can use a VPN or TOR. There are benefits and drawbacks to all of them.
Proxy websites:
Example: http://www.vtunnel.com
These are web pages that you navigate to in your browser. The actual definition of proxy server is that it is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests between the client and other servers. In other words, your computer sends a request to a server that is in another location and that server in turn makes a request of another server for the same information. The proxy server then connects the client with the relevant service. This is great for access to some of the 'banned' web sites in China (such as anything to do with Tienanmen) but the amount of information that can be sent this way is very limited. This means that videos are difficult to get. Also, it is not always anonymous so your actions can be tracked. Another downside to the web-based proxy is that the size of files you can download is often restricted to something like 4 MB. A third issue with this method of getting around the GFW is that Java or Java-scrips often don't work very well so forget about Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter (not to mention any gaming sites). For more information about proxys and proxy servers visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server
VPN
This is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. Information that travels via a VPN is not visible to the underlying network. This is accomplished with very strong encryption. VPNs are often billed as "network tunnels" to navigate through nasty firewalls. However, some VPNs work in China and others do not so do your research. There are free VPNs out there such as Hot Spot Shield, which can be downloaded at http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,71209-page,1/description.html . Hot Spot Shield works OK, but the amount of information you can request per month is very limited and if you go over the limit, you need to wait 4 weeks. There is also a lot of unnecessary crap that is included with Hot Spot Shield, such as adverts and a nasty habit of automatically forwarding your webpage to the Hot Spot homepage if the one you are downloading takes too long. This can be a pain in a$$ so I actually recommend downloading a VPN that you have to pay for. There are plenty to choose from. I like StrongVPN. It is a little slow when accessing local Chinese sites, but it will access your gaming sites and Facebook, etc. pretty quickly. ti can be downloaded at http://www.strongvpn.com/ . A note about buying a VPN, you want to choose an "Open" VPN not a PPTP for China. The standard version at StrongVPN will runabout $15.00 (US)/ month.
The drawbacks to VPNs are that to download them, you typically have to disable your anti-virus software. So be careful and do your research. There are a lot of scams out there. Also, the cost thing is another issue. However, this is the most reliable way to access banned sites in China. You can access Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, World of Warcraft, etc. on most of the purchasable VPNs. If you have specific questions about a particular VPN's services then you should ask the company. For example if you are a WoW fanatic and need your daily fix, you should ask about whether or not the VPN supports WoW.
TOR
TOR stands for The Onion Router. It is a software installation and open network that was originally invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory to hide their online activities while in foreign countries (like ye olde USSR). It as since gone public and is now run and supported by TOR Project. TOR is essentially a proxy server on steroids. It does much the same thing as web-based proxy does, but in much larger portions. It uses many layers of cryptography to send information between routers (hence the "onion" moniker). The benefits to TOR are that it is available free and can be used anywhere in the world to send as much or as little information as you need. However, there are several downsides. TOR does not and can not encrypt the traffic at the end-point or exit node.[1] Therefore, anyone with access to an exit node can get all of your information. This does not necessarily mean that they can get things like your e-mail address or personal information; they will only be able to see that if that is the information your are using TOR to send. That said, the more people who use TOR, the safer it becomes because more servers will be located within its massive hulk.[2]
There are some other drawbacks to this technology. Due to the nature of the beast, TOR is rather slow compared to smaller proxy severs. Yes you can send larger amounts of data through TOR than through either a VPN or regular proxy, but you have to wait for a really, really, really long time. This is because when you sent information through TOR, that information is like a little Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs. TOR has to clean up all those crumbs before it can send the information on to the next layer of routers. This process is repeated over and over until your information reaches its destination. Likewise for information returning to your computer. Also, in order to download TOR, you first need a VPN as the files are far too big to download over a standard proxy server. This kind of defeats the purpose don't you think?
It is for that reason that I recommend using a VPN. Whether you use a free one or not is up to you, just make sure you do your homework and avoid the scams. Hope this helps.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
[2] http://www.torproject.org/
Proxy websites:
Example: http://www.vtunnel.com
These are web pages that you navigate to in your browser. The actual definition of proxy server is that it is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests between the client and other servers. In other words, your computer sends a request to a server that is in another location and that server in turn makes a request of another server for the same information. The proxy server then connects the client with the relevant service. This is great for access to some of the 'banned' web sites in China (such as anything to do with Tienanmen) but the amount of information that can be sent this way is very limited. This means that videos are difficult to get. Also, it is not always anonymous so your actions can be tracked. Another downside to the web-based proxy is that the size of files you can download is often restricted to something like 4 MB. A third issue with this method of getting around the GFW is that Java or Java-scrips often don't work very well so forget about Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter (not to mention any gaming sites). For more information about proxys and proxy servers visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server
VPN
This is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. Information that travels via a VPN is not visible to the underlying network. This is accomplished with very strong encryption. VPNs are often billed as "network tunnels" to navigate through nasty firewalls. However, some VPNs work in China and others do not so do your research. There are free VPNs out there such as Hot Spot Shield, which can be downloaded at http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,71209-page,1/description.html . Hot Spot Shield works OK, but the amount of information you can request per month is very limited and if you go over the limit, you need to wait 4 weeks. There is also a lot of unnecessary crap that is included with Hot Spot Shield, such as adverts and a nasty habit of automatically forwarding your webpage to the Hot Spot homepage if the one you are downloading takes too long. This can be a pain in a$$ so I actually recommend downloading a VPN that you have to pay for. There are plenty to choose from. I like StrongVPN. It is a little slow when accessing local Chinese sites, but it will access your gaming sites and Facebook, etc. pretty quickly. ti can be downloaded at http://www.strongvpn.com/ . A note about buying a VPN, you want to choose an "Open" VPN not a PPTP for China. The standard version at StrongVPN will runabout $15.00 (US)/ month.
The drawbacks to VPNs are that to download them, you typically have to disable your anti-virus software. So be careful and do your research. There are a lot of scams out there. Also, the cost thing is another issue. However, this is the most reliable way to access banned sites in China. You can access Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, World of Warcraft, etc. on most of the purchasable VPNs. If you have specific questions about a particular VPN's services then you should ask the company. For example if you are a WoW fanatic and need your daily fix, you should ask about whether or not the VPN supports WoW.
TOR
TOR stands for The Onion Router. It is a software installation and open network that was originally invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory to hide their online activities while in foreign countries (like ye olde USSR). It as since gone public and is now run and supported by TOR Project. TOR is essentially a proxy server on steroids. It does much the same thing as web-based proxy does, but in much larger portions. It uses many layers of cryptography to send information between routers (hence the "onion" moniker). The benefits to TOR are that it is available free and can be used anywhere in the world to send as much or as little information as you need. However, there are several downsides. TOR does not and can not encrypt the traffic at the end-point or exit node.[1] Therefore, anyone with access to an exit node can get all of your information. This does not necessarily mean that they can get things like your e-mail address or personal information; they will only be able to see that if that is the information your are using TOR to send. That said, the more people who use TOR, the safer it becomes because more servers will be located within its massive hulk.[2]
There are some other drawbacks to this technology. Due to the nature of the beast, TOR is rather slow compared to smaller proxy severs. Yes you can send larger amounts of data through TOR than through either a VPN or regular proxy, but you have to wait for a really, really, really long time. This is because when you sent information through TOR, that information is like a little Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs. TOR has to clean up all those crumbs before it can send the information on to the next layer of routers. This process is repeated over and over until your information reaches its destination. Likewise for information returning to your computer. Also, in order to download TOR, you first need a VPN as the files are far too big to download over a standard proxy server. This kind of defeats the purpose don't you think?
It is for that reason that I recommend using a VPN. Whether you use a free one or not is up to you, just make sure you do your homework and avoid the scams. Hope this helps.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
[2] http://www.torproject.org/
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Google Uncensored
Many of us here in China have heard about Google-China's many battles in the last few months. Early this morning, Google decided to route all of its searches in mainland China through its Hong Kong based servers rather than servers located in the mainland. Why? Because as we all know, Google is very much against censorship and the servers in Hong Kong are not required to be censored. This move will essentially shift the responsibility of censoring the internet from Google to the Government.[1]
Many people both in China and abroad fall on both sides of this issue. For some, they think that Google is violating the laws of a sovereign country by refusing to censor its search engine. Some people even believe that the move will hurt business in China. Others feel that in this global environment, the Internet and all its facets should be open to anyone who wants access to it.[2] The Chinese government has its own set of complaints about Google. These include access to pornographic material and "unsuitable" webpages that encourage so-called subversive behavior on its search engine as well as copyright infringement.
Lets first address the last allegation of copyright infringement. This is a great example of the pot calling the kettle black. People in China have wondered at the reasons behind some companies refusing to sell their products in China. The answer is the complete lack of respect for international copyright laws or intellectual property rights. China is a place where anything goes as long as it makes money. You can buy DVD players here that have no restrictions about what formats they play. Likewise you can buy DVDs here in legitimate stores long before they are officially released by the studios that produce them. I highly doubt that the industries involved in this pay commissions or compensation to the studios for the right to distribute these DVDs. Now, I'm not condoning what Google did with respect to the Chinese authors, but let's be realistic here. For a country that does not protect intellectual property rights or international copyrights, it is funny that they are pressing this point.
As for violating the laws of a sovereign country, I ask what laws are you talking about? In China there are many different systems of government. Hong Kong maintains its own system based on British Common Law, while Macau and other regions have their own legal systems.[3] So what laws should Google abide by since they are a presence in all these regions? Should they be liable to any laws outside of their own country? This is a question that is probably better left to the legal big wigs of various organizations who know more about the matter than I do. What I can say is that the students I teach generally support Google's move and so do many of the educated elite of the world.
In fact, many people support this move if only because it will bring about greater understanding between the Chinese people and the outside world. It could also pressure the Chinese government to make some very important improvements with regard to Civil and Human Rights in this country. According to an ABC News article, Teng Biao, a Beijing law professor and human-rights lawyer stated, "I feel that people will greatly respect Google's action...China's censorship of the Internet search engine results is a violation of the most basic of human rights. By doing this, Google will bring more global attention to China's human rights situation."[4]
For my personal opinion, I think that it is about time! As a westerner teaching in China, I look forward to the day when the Chinese people will have access to the same information that I did when I was in grade school. As China becomes more of an economic and political force in the world, the Chinese government is going to have to come to terms with the fact that a key part of China's ability to rise will be information transparency.
My students have often asked me why the US and other Western governments seem not to trust the Chinese government and the answer has always been the lack of transparency. This move by Google is just one small step, but hopefully it will bring a greater awareness to the Chinese people about world events, politics, ideas, and most importantly perhaps how the rest of world sees China.
As of right now, there are very few resources to which my students can turn for information about their own country that is not the sanitized "correct" version approved by the government. This has been a major stumbling block not only for Chinese students, but for anyone living in China who seeks to better understand the world. If the Chinese government wants to be seen as a legitimate leader--and it seems that they do--then they must to come to terms with the concept that a key part of that leadership means transparency; including access to information online. Otherwise, other countries like the US and those in the Euro Zone will never be able to trust China. There will always be a stumbling block if the Chinese government insists on limiting access to information for its mainland residents.
Note: As of the time of this blog, the Chinese government is already blocking access to the Google Hong Kong search engine results. Currently, I have to use a proxy to access the article on Wikipedia about Hong Kong.
Sources:
[1] China Media Accuse Google of Violating Promises. Alexa Olsen. ABC News Article http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wirestory?id=10176097&page=1 .
[2] Google China Move Hurts Businesses, Academics. Lara Farr. CNN News Article. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/03/23/china.google.impact/ .
[3] Hong Kong. Wikipedia Article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
[4] China Media Accuse Google of Violating Promises.
Many people both in China and abroad fall on both sides of this issue. For some, they think that Google is violating the laws of a sovereign country by refusing to censor its search engine. Some people even believe that the move will hurt business in China. Others feel that in this global environment, the Internet and all its facets should be open to anyone who wants access to it.[2] The Chinese government has its own set of complaints about Google. These include access to pornographic material and "unsuitable" webpages that encourage so-called subversive behavior on its search engine as well as copyright infringement.
Lets first address the last allegation of copyright infringement. This is a great example of the pot calling the kettle black. People in China have wondered at the reasons behind some companies refusing to sell their products in China. The answer is the complete lack of respect for international copyright laws or intellectual property rights. China is a place where anything goes as long as it makes money. You can buy DVD players here that have no restrictions about what formats they play. Likewise you can buy DVDs here in legitimate stores long before they are officially released by the studios that produce them. I highly doubt that the industries involved in this pay commissions or compensation to the studios for the right to distribute these DVDs. Now, I'm not condoning what Google did with respect to the Chinese authors, but let's be realistic here. For a country that does not protect intellectual property rights or international copyrights, it is funny that they are pressing this point.
As for violating the laws of a sovereign country, I ask what laws are you talking about? In China there are many different systems of government. Hong Kong maintains its own system based on British Common Law, while Macau and other regions have their own legal systems.[3] So what laws should Google abide by since they are a presence in all these regions? Should they be liable to any laws outside of their own country? This is a question that is probably better left to the legal big wigs of various organizations who know more about the matter than I do. What I can say is that the students I teach generally support Google's move and so do many of the educated elite of the world.
In fact, many people support this move if only because it will bring about greater understanding between the Chinese people and the outside world. It could also pressure the Chinese government to make some very important improvements with regard to Civil and Human Rights in this country. According to an ABC News article, Teng Biao, a Beijing law professor and human-rights lawyer stated, "I feel that people will greatly respect Google's action...China's censorship of the Internet search engine results is a violation of the most basic of human rights. By doing this, Google will bring more global attention to China's human rights situation."[4]
For my personal opinion, I think that it is about time! As a westerner teaching in China, I look forward to the day when the Chinese people will have access to the same information that I did when I was in grade school. As China becomes more of an economic and political force in the world, the Chinese government is going to have to come to terms with the fact that a key part of China's ability to rise will be information transparency.
My students have often asked me why the US and other Western governments seem not to trust the Chinese government and the answer has always been the lack of transparency. This move by Google is just one small step, but hopefully it will bring a greater awareness to the Chinese people about world events, politics, ideas, and most importantly perhaps how the rest of world sees China.
As of right now, there are very few resources to which my students can turn for information about their own country that is not the sanitized "correct" version approved by the government. This has been a major stumbling block not only for Chinese students, but for anyone living in China who seeks to better understand the world. If the Chinese government wants to be seen as a legitimate leader--and it seems that they do--then they must to come to terms with the concept that a key part of that leadership means transparency; including access to information online. Otherwise, other countries like the US and those in the Euro Zone will never be able to trust China. There will always be a stumbling block if the Chinese government insists on limiting access to information for its mainland residents.
Note: As of the time of this blog, the Chinese government is already blocking access to the Google Hong Kong search engine results. Currently, I have to use a proxy to access the article on Wikipedia about Hong Kong.
Sources:
[1] China Media Accuse Google of Violating Promises. Alexa Olsen. ABC News Article http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wirestory?id=10176097&page=1 .
[2] Google China Move Hurts Businesses, Academics. Lara Farr. CNN News Article. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/03/23/china.google.impact/ .
[3] Hong Kong. Wikipedia Article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
[4] China Media Accuse Google of Violating Promises.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
TEM 4 exam
Test for English Majors Grade 4
This is the major exam that all Sophomore English majors are required to take at the beginning of April. It has sections that test the student's listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Although I can not speak for the reading and writing portions of the exam, I can give some hints about the listening and speaking parts. I find that my students typically struggle in three major areas. Two of them are listening and one is speaking. The first and perhaps the most problematic area for my students is the NEWS section.
This section of the exam involves the students listening to several VOA or BBC newscasts and answering questions that are either fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice. To help my students prepare for this portion of the exam, I have them listen to a podcast called "Deutche Welle: Asia Compact." This is available through iTunes under the podcast section or you can get it online from http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,266,00.html you just need to search for Asia Compact. I recommend getting it through iTunes because the Chinese government tends to block the Deutche Welle English homepage, although you can get to it through a proxy. I use this one because it involves speakers with many accents and they tend to speak slightly slower than CNN or BBC newscasters do, but faster than VOA newscasters. While they are listening to it, I have the students answer 2 or 3 questions about each news section. This ability to listen and write an answer at the same time comes into play in a much more focused way in the second problem area.
The second listening area that my students tend to struggle with is the dictation portion of the exam. For this there are myriad websites that can assist teachers who need to get their students to be able to listen and write at the same time. One that I particularly like is http://www.englishclub.com/webguide/Listening/Dictation/ as there are several options and difficulty levels. The TEM 4 exam will read a short essay of two or three paragraphs to the students four times. Once at almost normal speed, twice at really slow speed, and the final time at almost normal speed again. Another good website for dictations is http://www.dictationsonline.com/ . All you have to do is play the dictation in class. Most of the websites will read the exercise three times; once at normal speed, once slow (with punctuation) and a final time at normal speed. This makes the practice harder than the actual exam, which I think is a good thing.
The third problem area for my students tends to be in spoken grammar. This is because they do not practice English outside of class except occasionally in e-mails or text messages to their instructors. As a result, they have very poor spoken and written grammar. Since the one is directly related to the other, I force my students to use good grammar in their homework by taking away points for gross mistakes. This was a shock to many of my students at first, but now they are beginning to get the point. Another good thing to do is to have them recite speeches or short stories to the class. This way they hear themselves speaking and using good grammar and are more likely to correct themselves.
This is the major exam that all Sophomore English majors are required to take at the beginning of April. It has sections that test the student's listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Although I can not speak for the reading and writing portions of the exam, I can give some hints about the listening and speaking parts. I find that my students typically struggle in three major areas. Two of them are listening and one is speaking. The first and perhaps the most problematic area for my students is the NEWS section.
This section of the exam involves the students listening to several VOA or BBC newscasts and answering questions that are either fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice. To help my students prepare for this portion of the exam, I have them listen to a podcast called "Deutche Welle: Asia Compact." This is available through iTunes under the podcast section or you can get it online from http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,266,00.html you just need to search for Asia Compact. I recommend getting it through iTunes because the Chinese government tends to block the Deutche Welle English homepage, although you can get to it through a proxy. I use this one because it involves speakers with many accents and they tend to speak slightly slower than CNN or BBC newscasters do, but faster than VOA newscasters. While they are listening to it, I have the students answer 2 or 3 questions about each news section. This ability to listen and write an answer at the same time comes into play in a much more focused way in the second problem area.
The second listening area that my students tend to struggle with is the dictation portion of the exam. For this there are myriad websites that can assist teachers who need to get their students to be able to listen and write at the same time. One that I particularly like is http://www.englishclub.com/webguide/Listening/Dictation/ as there are several options and difficulty levels. The TEM 4 exam will read a short essay of two or three paragraphs to the students four times. Once at almost normal speed, twice at really slow speed, and the final time at almost normal speed again. Another good website for dictations is http://www.dictationsonline.com/ . All you have to do is play the dictation in class. Most of the websites will read the exercise three times; once at normal speed, once slow (with punctuation) and a final time at normal speed. This makes the practice harder than the actual exam, which I think is a good thing.
The third problem area for my students tends to be in spoken grammar. This is because they do not practice English outside of class except occasionally in e-mails or text messages to their instructors. As a result, they have very poor spoken and written grammar. Since the one is directly related to the other, I force my students to use good grammar in their homework by taking away points for gross mistakes. This was a shock to many of my students at first, but now they are beginning to get the point. Another good thing to do is to have them recite speeches or short stories to the class. This way they hear themselves speaking and using good grammar and are more likely to correct themselves.
New Semester
Ahhh....back to school. The new semester started on the first, but I haven't had the time sit down and write a blog. "Why?" You may ask. Well, the reason is that for the first four weeks or so of every semester, teachers at the school I teach at are busy making sure everything looks perfect to the supervisors who pretend to know more than you do about your subject area(s). If you are going to teach at a University in China, this is something you need to understand. Teachers are required to submit not only our semester course outline, but also all of our lesson plans for the first four weeks (in the case of my school) by the end of week one. I don't know about the rest of you teachers out there, but I usually tailor my lesson plans on a weekly basis based on how each class performs the week before.
This seems logical to me, especially since I teach four classes whose ability levels vary widely. Renji 1 and School of Foreign Language Studies Class 1 for example are at roughly the same level and any one of those sophomores could pass the TOEFL exam and study abroad; it's not them I worry about. Renji 2 however is a class that constantly surprises me in their ability to forget everything. Renji 3--the supposed lowest rank of classes--usually scores higher on their listening exams than Renji 2, but they have difficulty grasping simple concepts in Speaking. I typically find myself changing the lesson plans for Renji 2 in both listening and speaking because they require much more review than the other classes. I do the same for Renji 3 in the speaking class, but for them it is more basic and involves aspects from classes such as grammar, writing, and reading.
On the other hand, Renji 1 and Class 1 are so far ahead that even if I were to make a lesson plan that fell in the middle of the abilities of the four classes, it would be far too simple for Renji 1 and Class 1 and would in all likelihood be far too rigorous for Renji 2 or Renji 3 (although Renji 3 could probably handle the listening class). Yet we are allowed only two lesson plans per week (one for listening and one for speaking in my case) and if we don't stick to it, we receive "visits" from the administration to our classes. This is the dilemma we university teachers find ourselves in at the outset of every semester. The only good news is that they lose interest in us after the first four weeks, so for the rest of the semester we are generally free to do what is needed. I just really wish I could have those first four weeks to actually teach what the students need and not what the administration wants.
This seems logical to me, especially since I teach four classes whose ability levels vary widely. Renji 1 and School of Foreign Language Studies Class 1 for example are at roughly the same level and any one of those sophomores could pass the TOEFL exam and study abroad; it's not them I worry about. Renji 2 however is a class that constantly surprises me in their ability to forget everything. Renji 3--the supposed lowest rank of classes--usually scores higher on their listening exams than Renji 2, but they have difficulty grasping simple concepts in Speaking. I typically find myself changing the lesson plans for Renji 2 in both listening and speaking because they require much more review than the other classes. I do the same for Renji 3 in the speaking class, but for them it is more basic and involves aspects from classes such as grammar, writing, and reading.
On the other hand, Renji 1 and Class 1 are so far ahead that even if I were to make a lesson plan that fell in the middle of the abilities of the four classes, it would be far too simple for Renji 1 and Class 1 and would in all likelihood be far too rigorous for Renji 2 or Renji 3 (although Renji 3 could probably handle the listening class). Yet we are allowed only two lesson plans per week (one for listening and one for speaking in my case) and if we don't stick to it, we receive "visits" from the administration to our classes. This is the dilemma we university teachers find ourselves in at the outset of every semester. The only good news is that they lose interest in us after the first four weeks, so for the rest of the semester we are generally free to do what is needed. I just really wish I could have those first four weeks to actually teach what the students need and not what the administration wants.
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