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During the past academic year I have been
teaching English at Shandong University. Shandong University
is located in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province in
the east of the Shandong peninsula. Situated just south of the
Yellow River, and surrounded by mountains, it was surely a beautiful
city before rapid industrialization took place. It is still
possible to find some enclaves of natural beauty, and the city
as it stands today is not without a certain charm.
I taught first-year graduate students conversational English.
In one week I taught eight classes of different students. The
students came from various departments, including History, Literature,
Philosophy, Marxism-Leninism, International Politics, Biology,
Engineering, etc. I was especially happy to have some chance
to talk philosophy and or politics in class, as these are subjects
that I am passionate about.
I was given a textbook and some tapes by the head of the English
department, but I quickly found out that they weren't all that
helpful (being written and edited in China). Moreover, the students
displayed a general apathy and/or displeasure to learning English
out of such a textbook. So I had the opportunity to plan out
each class with a broad freedom. Debates, discussions, play-acting,
dictations, readings, etc. were some of the activities that
we engaged in during class. Being a pseudo-optional class, there
was no in-class test or attendance grade--just a final exam
for all English related classes, the students who did show up
to class generally had an authentic interest in learning the
language. It was clear that most students made a marked improvement
after a year of class.
In addition to the genuinely rewarding experience of teaching,
I was able to make use of the university environment. The first
semester I audited an upper-level Chinese course with other
foreign students, and by the second semester, because of this
class and the fact of being immersed in the Chinese language,
I was able to audit some classes in both literature and philosophy.
My Chinese, both spoken and reading, improved drastically in
the time I was at Shandong University. Many friends, and students,
were more than happy to help me in tutoring. Several friends
helped me read novels and poetry, which was the most enjoyable,
and perhaps most efficient, way of learning.
Living on a university campus also afforded me with many other
opportunities. I had the chance to attend many lectures, both
Chinese and other. I was also able to audit a class on contemporary
French philosophy with a visiting professor, who had studied
under Michel Foucault and Giles Delleuze. And there were several
student groups, like Taijiquan (Shadow Boxing) which I participated
in. Also, I was able to attend several student art exhibits
and various performances.
The opportunities for cross-cultural learning and exchange were
great. I plan to teach the following semester there again, and
afterwards head to Beijing to participate in the IUP program
at Qinghua University. IUP is an intensive Chinese language
program run by a consortium of U.S. schools. For anyone graduating
or soon to graduate from college I would highly suggest teaching
at a university in China (I am not so sure that one would have
as good an experience teaching at one of the many private schools
now opening up, and in fact have heard other foreign teachers
complain about these very schools). It is a great chance to
learn about another culture and to deepen knowledge about one's
own.
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