Watch the movie Iron and Silk on the SYSU intranet.
China is always changing but China never changes.
Front Stage culture changes rapidly. Back Stage cultures changes at a snail’s pace.
Identify the changes in TEFL since Mark Salzman taught in China and identify those things that have not changed.
Post your comments.
It is a good movie base on the truth which let me think a lot. It is said that China is always changing but China never changes. I think it is right from a certain perspective. China has 30-year’s reform and open up. In this 30-year, China has a fast developing in many field such as economy, education, culture, since and technology. But there are still some field that China never changes. The exam-oriented education is one of them. China never trys to creat English speaking enviroment and it cause Chinese students hard to speak English fluently.
By watching this movie,I found that there are some cultural differences between Eastern and Western . I think this movie is one of the best films I’d ever seen ,because it hits my heart and makes me exciting.This is a film about a young man who finds himself visiting China just after China was opened to the west.Besides, this movie also shows that what china is through a foreigner’s eyes.
In my veiw, first, china still has a long and hard way to undergo. China are developing very fast, but something deep inside ,both good things and bad ones, remains unchanged. We should change the unfit one ,and remain the approciate! This is my reaction of this film.
Second, I also learned something about how to learn English. There is not so much use only to recite those books, We need to get into an English life, listen more, speak more and learn more English.
I think that there is no change in the following aspects about EFLS below.
Today, In English class ,the foreign teacher and Chinese students can’t communicate closely or deeply distance, that is because ,in China, the relationship between student and teacher consists of a sense of hierarchy. And student must call their teacher with “ teacher” and teacher’s “last name ”
Today, most of Chinese students in English class still wouldn’t like to show themselves initiatively. And they aren’t used to showing themselves and avoid telling about themselves through all kinds of ways like just telling about others. It is just like the first class mark teach in china. Mark introduced himself and asked students to introduce themselves. However ,every student just introduced the person around him or her.
Today, Chinese still believe that the things newspaper say is just the truth. Chinese wouldn’t like to find the truth just trust the newspaper unconditionally.
As we know,different culture have different tradition,no matter in politics or teaching.Though we have many problems in TEL,as it’s described in the movie,but we are also trying to find a way to solve it.And we are showing more and more respect to the student,and providing much more comfortable environment.But as we know,something is still unchanged,we are still paying more intention in test,but not learning.Learning should be a interest,not a task.
Mark Salzman (born December 3, 1959 in Greenwich, Connecticut) is an American writer. Salzman is best known for his 1986 memoir Iron & Silk, which describes his experiences living in China as an English teacher in the early 1980s.
————–attribute to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Salzman
In this movie, there are two scenes hitting me most. One is that Mark was taught to learn the meaning of the dialogue when talking to a Chinese, i.e. when a people say yes, it maybe means no, when a people say no, it maybe means partly yes. I don’t know is it shows the modesty of Chinese or the hypocrite of it. This custom still exists now. The other is that the love attitude which has greatly changed today. In the movie, a lady fell in love with a foreigner was considered as the alien in china. A lady in those years fell in love with the man always through introduction of the parents or relative. I think this movie catches the culture shock towards an westerner in china while records the change between the 20 years.
It is a pity that teacher Mark failed to challenge Chinese traditional culture and had no other choices but leave China.It seems that he should be happy about things around him. Students respects him very much;Teacher Pan shows and teaches him Kong Fu;Teacher Mei give him the motherly love; A girl was falling in love with him. But in the end, all these thing are lost. What happened? Maybe it is because the different cultures. China says that he has changed a lot since the reform and open policy. But the Chinese traditional value will never change.It is the perfect good of our race.Teacher Mark make many mistakes as to Chinese.He try to kiss the girl in public occasion;He learns from two teachers at the same time which is forbiden in China at that time.
Finally this movie make us to think how to solve the cultural conflicts between nations.
Iron and Silk, a great movie, talking about China in the early 1980s at the beginning of reform and opening-up, Mark Salzman, who graduated from Yale specializing in Chinese literature, finally have the opportunity to set foot on this piece of ancient mysterious land, for his long-cherished wish. However, this country is licking its wounds which last a long period quietly. What it needs is the course of time lingering and snag-like recovery. It is obtrusive that a foreigner rampaged in China. So, while teaching the people who suffer from the Cultural Revolution, Mark was deep-educated by this deeply indebted country. How to eat bitter, how to be safe when the policy was changed, how to respect the different culture and how to love a traditional implicit girl, all Mark had learned from his journey. Iron, is the kongfu taught by the master, and also is the conviction of waking up after the country cried. Silk is the depth and soft as the regret and helpless and also the beauty.
It’s an interesting movie about the culture shock between America and China in the early 1980s when China had just reformed and opened its gate to foreigner. Since then, China has been changing for more than twenty years, and I can see many things which have vanished for now such as the clothes people dressed in, while the other has not been changed yet. Some of them are tradition we need to keep and treasure, such as the friendship towards foreigners, the respect towards traditional culture and the desire to learn more. However, there is something that really need to reform in the future. For example, the way the school was managed, the way oral English was teaching, the pressure received by the tradition and the hostility showed by some people toward something outside China before are mainly the same as that in this movie, especially outside city. China is developing, and I believe Chinese are getting more and more open and democratic to face and solve our problem.
Seen the film I do not know why, I was a bit sad.In fact, sad whom I really don’t know. For the China’s policy at that time, or for the actor’s exit. In such an era,a foreigner learnt of his interest in Chinese martial arts and learnt more ways of Chinese hospitality with the help of a large number of Chinese friends . He was lucky, but also unfortunate. Iron on behalf of strong, silk is representative of soft, tai chi’s dealt with gently, while martial arts emphasized strong,those are a sentiment of life.
I like the film very much. I think Mark’s experience in China is very wonderful. He not only has many Chinese friends, but also has learnt some Wushu. Even though there are some conflicts because of different culture and different ideology, but it can’t stop the friendship between Mark and his Chinese friends. Now there are more and more cultural exchanges between the two countries, we will develop the friendship more.
And I feel very confident after I watch the movie. The English teachers, no matter old or young, man or woman, are learning English hard. Their English is not like a native American speaks, but they can also communicate with the foreigners. I can almost understand what they said and what Mark said. I think this is the main purpose of learning English.
In fact ,I really don’t know what is the title mean of this movie after I had watched it.But I was deeply moved!
Firstly,the young man mark is very brave to come to china to find something new to study,I wonder where the courage come from thirty years before?I can’t do this by myself so far.May be this situation have been changed a lot.
Secondly,I think our chinese culture is so profound that we can proud of .And the most important thing is Inheritance and Development,our chinese must guard our own culture.This can never be changed.
Mark is friendly as much as chinese pepole in this movie.I think it’s a key element to make friend with our chinese pepole.I hope foreigners can learn about this.And this have been in our vein could never been changed.
‘China is always changing but China never changes.’
It’s such a shock for me to read this sentence and not to have realized that before, as a Chinese living in China for so many years. Since I was born I can see changes occurring every day, every year. We have a totally different material life today, with economy’s fast growing, but still stick to the traditions that when a guest comes the host should offer tea and food whether the guest wants or not. Study and work conditions are so convenient today while our parents and teachers tell us to learn to ‘eat bitter’ still.
So maybe that’s good for China to keep its essentials, when the blooming material life would easily blur our eyes.
The scenes in this movie seem both familiar and strange to me. They are familiar as a reflection of yesterday’s China, but distant because I don’t live in that period. I love this movie, yes, not like but love. In fact, I love such kind of topic, probably as a result of I am a nostalgic man. I felt warm from those familiarities as well as proud seeing and experiencing the modernization process of China.
Talking about the changes of China, I do think there are many priceless treasures lying in traditional Chinese culture which at least we Chinese should stay with and I am very proud of this. Maybe my idea sounds quite nationalism, but this is what I really want to say.
I love kong-fu, I’m always proud of sharing the same hometown with Bruce Lee, and Huang Feihong too, if you know who I’m talking about. My hometown is also called the hometown of Kong-Fu, so I usually see some foreigners studing Kong-Fu in the park or in local TV news there. She’s an oldest city in China, so the changes within these years are more obvious, hardwares about living condition is better, but people no longer trust eachother while they used to. Because of those thieves and swindlers, we are always guarded against people around us.
however, the most sad part is many people I saw, always seen to be polite and cordial when facing foreign friends, are always mean to other Chinese. I thought that was just because of the old Chinese attitude “always show the good things of China to the world only”, but recently I started thinking that it maybe also because they atart feeling that you guys are more honest and credible than local people around them, and that feeling is damn true.
Everything changes through time. For China, there have been a lot of changes in the past 30 years of opening and reforming policies. We have more and more sky-scrapers, cars and money. But do you notice that we have less and less poets, masters, and ideal for oneself? We have been focusing on the material things only, and forgetting our traditional culture and ethics. It is sad for me and most of ordinary people like me. The real stories of “Hide-and-Seek”, “70-yards/h”, and so many of these things, make us angry but it seems that there’s nothing we can do about them. On the way of developing, we should never leave things behind. Yes iron is useful, but the softness of silk is also a beauty. Isn’t it?
These things are not changed:
Students are all Chinese. (Of course.)
People always think the best English teacher will always be a L1 English speaker.
The forigen English teachers and the students both thing the others are strange and sometimes are ridiculous.
And these things are changed:
The clothes be worn on the students are changed.
The textbooks are changed.
There will be a multimedia classroom, not only a single blackboard.
The number of students increased rapidly.
At that times, students study harder.
when I went into watching this movie ，It took about 10 minutes before I was interested in it. Because It is a true story about an American named Mark Salzman who went to China to teach english and learn wushu. The film shows a lot of insight into Chinese culture and what China was like in the 1980′s,it is rarely seen in other foreign films. China has had an incredible change over the past 20 years,the film give foreigners an opportunity to understand China.
At first,I can’t understand the top of page question China is always changing but never change.I have never doubted that China has changed greatly since reform open up.Kung-Fu is a very popular in China.It is one part of Chinese Culture.It springs over the world and influence many foreigns.Kung-Fu is never changed.Another doesn’t change is education system.We accept education in order to pass text to some extent.
From the moive,Salzman comes to realize that the government wants foreigners to believe that the country is open to new ideas,but at the same time it is determined to force the people to reject change.Most of us are influenced by foreign cultures and accept it.Finally,I understand the sentence”China is always changing but never change”.
Firstly,I think the movie seted a good example for us to communicate foreigners with sample English words and sentences.We always believe that our English is too poor to talk with a foreigner.But only ourselves are lack of confidence and courage.We are shy to speak English in public and scared to make mistakes ,such as the pronounce and syntax, in front of other people.
Secondly,Many things have changed in China in the past 30 years.But traditional culture changed little.China traditional culture have been inherited for thousands years,and it has become some thing like gene which dwells in Chinese people’s body.The movie tells us a story in the early 1980s.It reflect the culture culture shock between China and American.The culture shock is not a problem but attitude,that is, we should first respect each other’s culture.
This is a great classic movie. After seeing, I think a lot. These days in which Mark came to China teaching English and living in China clearly show us different customs between Chinese and the USA. It is also rooted in cultural differences. Culture is the root of a country. Moreover, China has a history of five thousand years civilization, forming our own unique Chinese culture, such as, martial arts, tai chi and Chinese calligraphy and so on. These all have been deeply rooted in China. Therefore, they are less susceptible to any influence, not to mention change.
This is a comedy, and very true to the historical background of the times, the policy prohibits sometimes sad. I like his character, effort, curiosity, courage. He used a small stick when practicing kung-fu and then hit himself，scene is very funny.
This is a very good movie. After watching it, and gave me a big shock, China changes a lot, but as if they changed little. As is known to all, China’s economy in rapid development, people’s material life level enhances unceasingly. But some people are still retained the old way of thinking, and cultural quality should be improved. I think this is the primary stage of socialism inevitable phenomenon. I believe that in the near future, the overall quality of our citizens will be a great improvement.
This movie makes me think a lot. First, the culture is different between the eastern and the western. So, if you want have a good time when you together with a foreigner, you must familiar with their habits and customs. Second, the traditional culture of China is great, as a Chinese people, we have responsible to make our culture to flourish.
It really interested me because it shows a lot of insight into Chinese culture and what China was like in the 1980′s. “Hangzhou is the most beautiful and elegant city in the world.” Marco Polo once said. I have seen what China was like and what the west lake was like 20 years ago. West lake has had such an incredible change over the past 20 years.Cultural conflict may be presented in other forms today.
From this moive,we can see that nowadays china has changed much, but some of its culture would not change forever. We can accept many many things now that we thought they were wrong in the past,we can do some things that we regarded that we would never done before, we changed but we also stick to some things that we hard to change. we changed but not every parts.
JACK ZSTU 2
April 19th,2011 at7:48pm
For me,it is not only just a movie but a documentary .We may see the true history ,especially,in the beginning of the reform and opening-door, many Chinese people have a bad attitude to foreigners.However,teacher mark can adjust to the environment,he also get a good relationship with others around him,it is very difficult to do this .Unbelievable,I really admire him because of learning lots of.
Yes,China is changing but Chinese never change. The ecomonic develops quickly and China has join in WTO. Whereas some Chinese traditonal thought do not change. Although Chinese accept more western cultures than before, they still live like past, and their mind are closed. For instance they would not talk about sex or any topic which they consider as shame things. I think Chinese should change follow the economic developing.
I think Chinese people’s mind was more open than any periods.However,China has a long history,people often thinking and doing something in traditional ways.This is bad for our country’s progress,and submerge people’s created thinking.We should maintain our good culture,and get rid of the horrible things.
Many things we want to change, but something can’t or even shouldn’t change. Such as our ecnomic system, our living standard and old thinking model, these must be upgraded. However, our traditional culture and customs are not necessary to change. A country should have its own characteristics, these are sole of the country.
Maybe there are somethings interesting.But,truely it makes me feel sad.Have you read nolvels or articles which are named as Scar literature.The scar literature are the memoryes of a man-made disaster called a “culture revolution”.This movement caused adverse trauma and changed many young people’s future.My parents and many people at the same ages may should go to universities and have better future,many lovers should get marry,but they were gotten rid of chances. Most of them maybe still feel horrible Mentioning the disaster.When I was a child,I read many such novels,for example Nian Lun.They made me feel unhappy and for a long time I almost did not want to see movies or TV series about that times.Now after watching this movie .I understand the policy of Reform -open furtherly and its necessity.
This movie is a comedy which is filled with many funny moments. I think the funniest moment is when teacher Mark was going back to America, because of taking much National treasure, he had to play martial arts at the train station, but his trousers back was broken.
“Front Stage culture changes rapidly. Back Stage cultures changes at a snail’s pace.” I do agree on the point.It really need a long time for China to change, 30 years is not really enough for a country to change its way to think and do someting, especially for China,which has rich tranditional culture.
Everything has two-sides,the change is also too. A long time ago, ancestors had come up with we should learn the essence and discard the dregs from the foreign. The Open and Revolution has been more about thirty years, the change is also huge. But there is something not change. Such as culture, the conservation and the thought.
These is a famous saying goes in the movie, in Ameria, love is on someone’s business; but in china, love was on everyone’s business. Now i can firmly claim that idea was changed in most chinese people’s mind at a certain extent, perhaps it related to the development of china
A foreigner came to China: a different culture,different society,different human race,different education background,different blood.But he is brave and persevering,he loves Chinese culture and Wushu. He never gave up in difficult. Finally they understand each other. We have the same feeling,we have the same emotion,we may teach each other , we may learn each other, we can love each other. Open my mind ,open my heart;Open your mind, open your heart.Listen to my heart,listen to your heart;From bottom of my heart,from bottom of your heart. We cannot see the iron and silk,what we see sure be the most beautiful world!
Stay still maybe the easiest way to live but is not the wise way. World is changing in every minute, so if we want to be a man advanced with the times we must change ourselves to adapt with the environments. There are something will never change, such as our native festivals, live styles and native cultures and so on. These things show our national identity and should never be lost.
I was born in 1987.At that time, China had implemented the opening and reform policy for several years. Now, more than twenty years has passed ,China has changed a lot ,from a very poor country to the forth largest economy. Without exaggeration, people’s living quality has improved a lot .We are developing fast and join the world. But we also remained much the same as before ,for example, our thoughts is narrow and backward compared with this open world. But I think our people is enjoying this comfortable environment.
The movie is good at reproducting the differences between different cultures clearly.Some can be made up,however some gaps can never be crossed.But this movie seems to be not so suitable for today.Because the cultures from the Easten and Westen are in the integration. Of course,it creats some new problems.
China has changed a lot during recent twenty years, especially people’s housing, eating, closing and transportation. More and more people dressing like westerners. They eat bread, drink coffee and choose fast food more often than ever. In the past the china government encourages people to lead a simple life; nowadays the China government encourages people to consume, to invest, to stimulate the economic of the country.
China is changing,walking in the street, we’ll found people’s clothes were no longer so unified like the movie, it is bright-coloured,color,style and changeful today. you can heard English songs,saw lovers kissing in the street.But China has never abandon the traditional culture, Chinese still modest,hospitable,love peace .China’s development to influence the world.
When I watched this movie, I was deeply impressed by the love of.Mark and Ming. Their love was destroyed by the social climate in China at the time. Now many things have changed in China, for example, each person can love who they love and ones do what they like to do; China’s economy is growing fast, people’s living standards is being improved; Chinese attitudes to the western culture have changed ,they can accept western culture slowly. However, many things have changed just on the surface, their internal has not changed, such as the Chinese girl is still quite conservative in their love; the quintessence of China did not change, such as Peking Opera and martial arts. In addition, China’s kindness has not changed, most Chinese people are very friendly to foreigners.
After watching the film, I have some sighs but cannot say. Although this is an American film, but it made me feel very true, and I feel China was simple at that time. I have always felt that a foreigner in China to be an English teacher is very easy, as long as you have a university diploma, and the salary is high. But Changsha in 1982 was completely different, and everyone still has a huge prejudice to foreigners. They saw Mark just like rare animals. I think this film not only made foreigners feel the cultural conflict, but also made the Chinese people deeply feel the change in China.
In my opinion, different countries have different backgrounds and thinking habits. of, make, The east and the west have different cultures because of the different backgrounds . Facing the same problem, there will be quite a different approach. The Angle of view problems will be different, we should learn to understand and accept the different habits of thinking, so that the interaction between us more harmonious.
“China is always changing but China never changes.”But today’s China is not what it was a couple decades ago that is for sure.In the 1980′s the Chinese government made a decision to start making Special Economic Zones which grated the freedom to trade wiht the west.With the implement of reform and opening policy,our economic has made rapid progress over the years,people’s level of living and environmental conditions also have improved greatly.Of course,there many things have remained the same.Our government need more efforts to make greater progress.
i think we should work hard ,and do our best to finish our goal.Every society has its own rules,so we can fit ourselves to the word and follow the situation. That is all.
Since the reform and opening-up, China has changed greatly in politic, economy, culture and so on. Now we enjoy a higher standard of living, the ability of accepting new things has improved. But at the same time, the influence of traditional culture exists. For example, Chinese people are subtle, we may have accepted something but we will not express openly. In a word, China is moving on, our thought is also changing.
With the reform and opening up policy, China has changed at many places, especially in the economic and concept to foreign countries. But we all knew that we Chinese also have something do not change and do not need to change. For example, we should still practice one of our traditional skills such as brush calligraphy. Of course, we also changed something such as the life style. In a word, we must learn the advantages from foreign countries and keep our own advantages survival.
Since the reform and opening up,China has changed a lot. Economically,more and more foreign enterprises try to enter China’s market,that makes Chinese economy and market develop at a sharp speed. In social aspect,people become more and more open,they wear fashionable clothes,eat various food and take part in different kinds of activities. But on the other hand,some aspects remain much the same,for example,the traditional Chinese culture and behaviour. All in all,at present,China need the world ,the world also need China.
With the high pace of developing economic, china becomes more and more rich. People’s living level improved, educational level enhanced, public facilities become more complete and the various laws and regulations more clear and executive.These are the fruits of reform and opening.
However, there are also something postive and negative customs left from then on. On the one hand, traditional virtues, like hospitality, hard work, the pursuit of progress and so on, are handed down. On the other hand, with the increasing level of electronic information that anything becomes more convenient, the traditional virtues, like “eating bitter”, not fraud and pursuiting of innovation are lost. It is a great pity.