Teaching ESL In China

https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/
I decided today to write about how to become a teacher in China.  A native English speaking teacher is in very high demand in China so the amount job offers thrown at you can become overwhelming. First step that I did was actually become a ESL teacher. I took a 120 hour TEFL course and got a certification as a TEFL instructor. I felt this was very important especially to get an idea on how to design lesson plans and curriculum. Once I got the certification I started shopping around where I would like to teach. I decided upon China it seemed very interesting to me. I started to research on the internet and I found Dave's ESL Cafe which posts many English teaching jobs from around the world. There is another really good website for teaching jobs and that is Seriousteachers.com between these two you will find a job. I think it is also important to speak to someone who has either taught in China before or is teaching there when you plan to go there. This is to give you a good idea what to expect before going there.

After you find a teaching job you are interested in make sure to go over all the details carefully. Location of housing in proximity to where you are teaching is very important. Go over the housing very carefully and request to see pictures of the apartment. I was very lucky in Handan my apartment was very comfortable. My location was also very good one of my school's was only a 12 minute walk. Whatever your needs you may have go over them with your school so that they may accomodate you. If they cannot then I do not recommend going to that school. There are so many schools in China looking for native English speakers that you should be able to get just ABOUT everything you need. I know it sounds too good but it is true. Next blog I will go over what to expect when you go to China. If you would like to be a link on my blog or if you would like information on teaching jobs in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

Chengmenshihuo Yangjichiyu or Gates of Fire Adverse Impacts to Fish

Chengmenshihuo Yangjichiyu in English is Gates of Fire Adverse Impacts to Fish. This is an ancient Chinese idiom. I found this idiom from my friend Helen but finding a good English translation was a little challenging but anyway here we go. The Chinese idioms and proverbs are always so thought provoking to me. Evidently this idiom dates back to the Ming dynasty or Song Dynasty and the English translation is not so known but I am going to give it go anyway. Here is here one translation. Calamity makes disaster. The gate near the moat is on fire then everyone runs to the moat and takes water out of the moat to put the fire out. The water runs out and all the fish die. My interpretation of this idiom is cause and effect. A fire broke out then the innocent fish died. Something bad happened then innocent suffered from the bad happening. I think this is a correct interpretation of this idiom. A modern day example of this idiom could be like this a house burned down next door to a house that was for sale. The house could not be sold because no one wanted live next door to a burned down house. This is definitely a thought provoking Chinese idiom. If you would like to be a favorite link or if you would like information on teaching English in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

Interesting Things In China

These are just few things I experienced while traveling some through China. 

I think the first video is a funeral procession and the other video is a day after  a typhoon hit in an area that I was visiting in China. If you want to be a link on my blog or you would like information on teaching jobs in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

Nice Things in Handan

https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73  
https://twitter.com/alohabadger
I was always so fortunate with the nice people that I knew in Handan. One day I was at a little store next to the training center just buying a few items. I was buying a bottle of beer and some chips when from behind someone's hand appeared and took my groceries. I thought "what is happening?" then I looked back and it was one of my student's mother's buying my beer and chips. She just scooped them up  and paid for them and gave them back to me smiled and walked away. I was amazed at this kindness but I guess for them it was just natural. One day on a day off that I had I got a phone call from one of my favorite students, Adam. He ask me "teacher can I come over and play?" I of course told him yes. He came over with his mother it was so great. Adam wanted to introduce me to his mother. We sat in my living room and talked about Adam's studies. I said Adam was a great student in which he was. I actually still talk with Adam on QQ every week. Then Adam's mom asked me "did you eat yet?" Can we take you out for dinner? I said yes you can!! I would really like that. They decided on a famous Beijing Duck restaurant in Handan. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant because this place was phenomenal. They made a reservation for a private room and it was very nice. The duck was so delicious I will never forget this meal. There are some wonderful restaurants in Handan. I was too lucky to have such thoughtful and kindly students.

Shopping in Handan, China

My first salary arrived and it was time for some shopping. I will never forget some of incredible bargains that I got in Handan. I usually shopped in WalMart since that was the only store that I was really familiar with and the closest to my apartment. There were imported items also at WalMart another reason to shop there. I liked shopping for eggs in China because it was so different than America. In China I picked my own eggs from these baskets that the store put out. The eggs were obviously fresh right from the farm since some of them still had feathers on them. WOW! The eggs also were a little larger than eggs in America. And what a deal  to me only 90 cents for 10 eggs. I also loved beer prices in China. I could get large 24oz bottles of beer for 50 cents. Now that is the biggest bargain of them all. A beer that I drank besides Tsingtao was Snow Beer a nice choice try it sometime. Bread in China was also interesting it was baked fresh in the store and it was only 50 cents a loaf. Coffee was always instant for me in China since regular ground coffee was so expensive since most of it is imported. There is some coffee grown on Hainan Island in China which is very good but it to so expensive. Hey Nescafe is not so bad once you get used to it. If you are a coffee lover though Hainan coffee is a must try it is delicious! Produce was always so inexpensive in China too most items were under 90 cents for a pound. I maybe a little biased but the best instant cup ramen in the world is in China. As you can tell I did not cook much while I was in China hahaha!

Chinese Kids Love Sports

Contact me here for information on English teaching jobs in China and about being a link on my blog contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com  
I always loved teaching the kids and watching their reaction when I would tell them how much I loved sports. I would tell them I loved to run, play basketball, baseball and football. I would say "raise your hand if you like sports."  After that more than 90 percent of the class would raise their hand.  Their smiles would be so big and their excitement just amazing. Then I would ask them "what sports do you like?" Their responses were always a great variety. I like badminton. I like soccer. I like jumping rope. I like ping pong. I was always intrigued by their enthusiasm about the sports they liked. I tried playing their favorite sports like badminton and ping pong and I would always lose to  the older students. Actually the little ones were funner to play with cause they would always tried so hard. Sports can bring everyone together.

That Little boy in Handan

https://twitter.com/alohabadger  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/
I really do not know what I would have done if that little boy had not of helped me that night. I was late anyway for my classes that night and I missed two of them. I was able to teach my last class but I think without his help I am sure I would have missed all my classes and that would have been a big deal to the school. I think about my time being a ESL instructor in China and how rewarding it was. I will always be very thankful for all my experiences I had as a foreign teacher there. I know sometimes it is not easy being a teacher in China I had to adjust to a lot of changes and the culture is so different. Many people go to China to teach but it does not seem to agree with them. They wind up leaving quickly because they cannot adjust to the lifestyle and the culture. I myself found the culture and the people there fascinating. I think it is so interesting that Chinese people are so interested in learning English and they want to know so much about Western culture. Here is a tidbit of information the Mandarin word for America is Meiguo which means Beautiful Kingdom or country. 
I thought that was so cool well there is a little Chinese lesson for you if you did 
not know already. Have a wonderful day. If you would like to be a link on my 
blog or you would like information on teaching English in China contact me 
at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

First Snowstorm in Handan

https://twitter.com/alohabadger  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/
I got up early this morning since I was going to #2 kindergarten which was a 50 minute bus ride and I had to be there by 9am. When I stepped out the door everything seemed just fine a little cooler than usual nothing that made me suspect there would be snow that day. I also did not have any television at this time.  That really would not have mattered being that I do not speak or understand Chinese how will I understand the weather forecast. So basically I was going into the day blind. The morning classes at the kindergarten went very well and I went home for my lunch break without any glitches. 

I caught the #20 bus back to the kindergarten and again the weather looked okay maybe a few clouds but nothing substantial. I went to my first class and in the middle of the class one student yells out in his best English "IT'S SNOWING!" My first thought was this could be a situation for me being that I still had 2 hours of teaching left. I finished teaching 2 hours later and the snow was not relenting and it was getting very deep on the ground. I get to the bus stop and begin my wait for the bus. Usually I waited about 10 minutes and the bus would come. Well not today of course because of the snow the bus was very late and I waited longer than an hour in the snow and without gloves STUPID ME! From here the fun begins. The bus of course is packed because it is so late and it is going very SLOW. I get on and I cannot even see outside to know which stop to get off at. This is a bad situation for me because I don't speak Chinese therefore I cannot ask what stop is next? or what stop is this? Luckily for me some little boy saw the frustration on my face and he asked me in ENGLISH "Can I help you?" I was so relieved this little boy was going to save me from a big problem. I told the little boy where I needed to get off at and he told me "I am getting off very close to there I can help you." Such a helpful little boy and with a smile of course. If you want to be a link on my blog or if you would like information on teaching jobs in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

LIttle Students of Handan and The Frog in The Well

https://twitter.com/alohabadger  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/  http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=79243603&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Long time ago there was a frog that lived in a well. He could swim all over the well eat the flies and bugs and just cry out till his heart was content. Sometimes he would stroll ankle deep through the mud around well it was just so beautiful. He was the KING of the well the RULER of all creatures in the well. He was so happy. One day he came upon a sea turtle from the Eastern Ocean. He told the sea turtle of his great life and that he should come by the well more often and have a good time. The sea turtle then tried to step inside the well but he could not he was too big and he did not fit inside the well. After this he started to describe the ocean to the frog. "It's more than a thousand miles across and more than ten thousand feet deep. There are many different fish and other creatures living in the ocean. Seven years there were droughts yet the water in the ocean remained constant. The ocean is so big that is why I love living in the ocean. Then the frog in the shallow well became silent and felt a little abashed. Interesting Chinese proverb.

I always loved teaching the kindergarten students the best. Their little faces and always being so excited to see me just made my day. There were a few that were afraid of me since they had never seen anyone like me before. Most though were just so excited. They told me before taking the kindergarten job that it could be hard work. To me it was never hard work mostly just play time. Below are some photos of the little children. If you want to be a link on my blog or you want information on teaching in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

Today is Singles Day in China 11/11

https://twitter.com/alohabadger  tanukichamptranslation.net
Today is Singles Day in China. This a unique celebration, festival or something like that it is very similar to Valentines Day in America.  Singles Day in China is a celebration or mourning of being unattached. I was there for Singles Day and it was quite interesting. I received many QQ messages that day haha! Very cute! They wanted me to leave a message for them on their QQ pages which is similar to a Facebook page. While Singles Day is relatively unknown outside of China it will probably become more prominent in the following years in China. A recent study done by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says that more than 24 million Chinese men could find themselves being without partners by 2020. WOW!! that is a lot of single guys. Chocolate giving is very popular on this day in China again very similar to Valentines Day. In Beijing there is a luxury baking school called The Fig Tree which holds a chocolate truffle making course for singles on Thursdays. That sounds like fun. In Beijing at the new amusement park Happy Valley they have special Singles Day events. A single man can bring a female partner for free. He pays the $25 admission fee and she joins him for free. Two for the price of one that is an excellent dating idea. In Shenzhen at their amusement park Splendid China they to host special Singles Day events. This is quite a celebration and it seems like fun if you are single.  Myself I want to go to Splendid China cause I love Shenzhen. Click the link here and learn more about Singles Day in China. http://xue.youdao.com/biarticle.a?articleId=-8985208118640845894&keyfrom=deskdict&date=2013-11-08 If you would like to be a link on the blog or if you would like information about teaching jobs in China contact me here tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com Oh and HEY LADIES!! hehe! Ah! the little girl is crying her eyes out though!

Christmas in Handan, China

https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73  https://twitter.com/alohabadgerhttp://tanukichamptranslation.net/
I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog I reached a viewing milestone the other day of 3500 page views! I knew that Christmas in Handan, China was going to be an interesting one and quite possible very rewarding. It was a week before Christmas and Jade the lead teacher at the training center approached with a question. "Can you be Santa Claus for the kids?" I said "of course." Yes it definitely was going to be a fun and interesting Christmas. The next day I went to a kindergarten where I was teaching at and they asked me "can you sing or dance at our Christmas festival?" and I said yes to that to. December 23rd the Christmas festivities started at the training center. I arrived shortly before my classes started and I was given a full Santa suit with fake beard and moustache included. I went to my first class and I was overwhelmed with reception I got from the children. I mean usually the reception was so good but this time the kids were just crazy to see Santa Claus. I had a giant bag of treats for them and I handed out a little bit to everyone. We played some games and some of the children sang.

I played Santa for three days and it was just too much fun. It was so great to have a three day break from teaching. I was truly amazed at some of the students performances whether they were singing or playing some Chinese folk instrument they were SO GOOD! In particular some girl played this string instrument amazingly good. It sounded professional to me. On Christmas day I went to the kindergarten to sing Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Here Comes Santa Claus. I walked to the kindergarten and as I walked there I noticed an unusual amount of people on the street going toward the kindergarten. As I got closer I realized what it was for it was for the kindergarten everyone was going there for the Christmas festival. I started to get a little nervous. I must have sang in front of 300 people that day. It was so funny they thought I was the best entertainment there. The staff at the kindergarten were so kind and they gave me a basket of apples as a gift for my performance. Later on I went to the training center for the last day of being Santa and they had a party for all the foreigner teachers there. They gave us a nice gift a ceramic coffee mug set. I was not in America but I definitely felt appreciated and very welcomed. If you would like to be link or if you would like information on teaching jobs in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Going To Beijing Solo Effort

I had two days off coming up in a week and I wanted to try something. I had Friday and Saturday off and did not have to teach until early Sunday afternoon. I wanted to go to Beijing by myself and do everything by myself buy the train tickets, make the hotel reservation and everything else that goes with it. When you don't speak Chinese this is a lot to undertake but I wanted to try. You also have to be a little creative in order to do this in China. First off I recruited a security guard at the community that I lived at in Handan to help me out. I had my friend write me a few notes one for the train tickets saying I want to go to Beijing Xi and the other for the taxicab saying I want to go to Handan East railway station. I had that all taken care of and I was almost set. I made my hotel reservation online and printed out directions to the hotel from the railway station off the website. 

I left Friday morning and felt confident and ready for my adventure. I flagged a taxi and showed him my note and I was on my way to the railway station. I took a G-train to Beijing which is the new magnetic railway line in China traveling at speeds up to 185 MPH. I got to Beijing in 2 hours from Handan. I arrived at Beijing and was ready to go step out of the station and I could not find a taxi and I had no idea where to look in this massive station. So I went to what appeared to be an information desk. I asked them about a taxi and showed them my note they looked at the note and started thumbing through this big book they had. All of a sudden one of the gentlemen nodded his head and gestured to me to follow him. I followed him for about what seemed to be at least a half a mile walk. We arrived at a bus stop. This gentleman worked for the city bus I did not want a bus but I couldn't help it now. He then asks someone to assist me with what stop to get off at and to help me get to my hotel. I thought this was amazing and many people wanted to help me. Finally some young woman was selected to help me. And she was so excited to help me. She spoke some English and she just loved having little conversations with me. Where are you from? What do you do in China? And a few other questions. The bus ride took so long though it was over an hour and I thought my hotel was close to the railway station. On the map it looked really close. It must have been the bumper to bumper traffic the whole way to my stop that was the cause for the excessively long trip. Beijing has some of the worst traffic in the whole world. After we get off the bus the woman walks me all the way to my hotel entrance and even assists me at the check-in. If you are interested in being a link on my blog or if you would like information on teaching jobs in China contact me here at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

 

 

 

Chinese Proverbs Ba Miao Zhu Zhang and Ke Zhou Qiu Jian

https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/  https://twitter.com/alohabadgerBa Miao Zhu Zhang or in English Trying too Hard. There once was a farmer and he really wanted his shoots to grow faster. One day he had an idea "I'll just pull them up a little and that will help them grow faster!" So he pulled all of his shoots up a little bit. He went home that day and told his wife and his son "I helped the shoots grow today!" The son was so excited he quickly went to the field to see for himself. When his son got to the field he saw that all the shoots were dead. 

Meaning of the story is you can damage something by applying too much pressure. 

Ke Zhou Qiu Jian or in English Notch a Boat to Retrieve a Sword. A long time ago there was a man from Chu who took a boat across the Yangtze River to attend to some business affairs. When he was in the middle of the river suddenly a big wave came and distracted him and he dropped his valuable sword he was carrying into the river. The boat man quickly stopped the boat to help the man find the sword. The man suddenly stopped the boat man and said "Don't worry about it." The boat man looked at him strangely. The man then took out a knife and put a notch in the boat. Then he urged the boat man to keep going quickly. The boat man hesitated but continued on.

When they reached the opposite shore the man got out of the boat on the side where he had put the notch and started searching in the shallow water. All the people there stared at him and asked what he was doing. He told them what happened to his sword and everyone just roared with laughter. "You lost your sword in the middle of the river how can you expect to find it here?" "But I made a very clear mark in the side of the boat." The man from Chu was very confused." The people laughed even louder. One man came forward and explained the boat kept moving forward while the sword stayed there at the bottom of the river. You made the mark in the boat but the boats location changed. How are you going to find your sword now? After he finished the crowd left. The man from Chu was left alone scratching his head. He still did not understand how marking the side of the boat did not help him find his precious sword. If you would like to be a favorite link on this page or if you would like information on English teaching jobs in China contact me here tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com

Chinese Proverb Shi Ma

 https://twitter.com/alohabadger  https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73 https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73

 I love a good Chinese proverb. This one I found to be so interesting I said WOW! a few times. A long time ago Sai Weng lived in the frontier land of China raising horses. One day Sai Weng lost a horse and a neighbor came to him and felt sorry for him. Sai Weng did not really care about losing the horse and said maybe this was not a bad thing. A few days later the horse returned and with another horse. Many neighbors came and congratulated Sai Weng for the horse returning and the new horse. Sai Weng thought that maybe this was not a good thing. His son really liked the horse a lot and he often rode the horse. One day his son was riding the horse and he fell off the horse and broke his leg. Again Sai Weng's neighbors came and everyone was so sorry for Sai Weng. Sai Weng said maybe this is not such a bad thing. Everyone thought this was strange. Soon after a war broke out and all of the young men from the region went to war. Because of his broken leg Sai Weng's son could not go to war. Most of the men died.  

This proverb is about bad fortune turning to good fortune and good fortune turning to bad fortune. Seems quite logical! If you would like to be a favorite link on this page or you would like information on teaching jobs or teaching programs in China contact me at tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com 

Teaching ESL in Handan, China

https://www.facebook.com/aaron.pierson.73  http://tanukichamptranslation.net/  http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=79243603&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Teaching ESL in China for me was such an incredibly rewarding experience. I mainly went to China to see exactly what China was really like. I have to admit before I left I was a little afraid of the unknown. My thinking was really influenced by the media but I always told myself you have to really see it for yourself. There were even times when I would talk myself out of going. When I accepted my job offer and I received my visa that is when it was really going to happen. Shortly after that I got my first correspondence from the school I was going to be teaching at. When I read the email I felt more relaxed where I was going. The person who emailed me was so friendly it was very comforting. I knew nothing of Handan, China but now I know something about Handan. Handan is one the oldest cities in the world and it is filled with much history and culture. The students that I taught in Handan were incredibly intelligent and had a serious desire to learn. I have been an ESL teacher for awhile with much experience and I had never seen so many children raising their hands. Of course sometimes stickers had to be given out in order to initiate participation but usually that was only for the real difficult lessons. I found if I could get the students to have fun and laugh and just relax they would learn. Being a clown sometimes and just being their friend was very helpful for them. English is an intimidating language for Chinese and just getting the students to relax and enjoy made it much easier for them.  I am so grateful for this experience and  the people that I met and all of my friends many of whom I am still friends with. One thing the little, little children were always the best. Here are some photos from some of my life in Handan, China. If you would like to be a favorite link or if you would like information on teaching jobs or teaching programs in China contact me here tanukichamptranslation@gmail.com