Throw a baby in the water. Watch them struggle to get to the surface. Watch them struggle to stay on the surface. Watch them figure out how to stay on the surface without struggling. No baby drowns.  That is how we teach a baby to swim in the west.

You [...]]]> LEARN TO SWIM

Throw a baby in the water. Watch them struggle to get to the surface. Watch them struggle to stay on the surface. Watch them figure out how to stay on the surface without struggling. No baby drowns.  That is how we teach a baby to swim in the west.

You have been thrown into the immersion water of English. You may be scared, you may be struggling. BUT, you will figure it out and survive.

In 8 years no one has drowned in the Holistic English pool.

Do not use machine translations. They are not even as good as your Chinglish.

UNREACHABLE AND UNTEACHABLE STUDENTS

Every Chinese college and university has them, from top tier down to the bottom 4th tier.Usually every class has at least one and the unlucky teacher may be saddled with several. Occasionally, an entire class may be beyond reach.

No matter what the pedagogy, the methodology, the materials; there [...]]]>

UNREACHABLE AND UNTEACHABLE STUDENTS

Every Chinese college and university has them, from top tier down to the bottom 4th tier.Usually every class has at least one and the unlucky teacher may be saddled with several. Occasionally, an entire class may be beyond reach.

No matter what the pedagogy, the methodology, the materials; there are some students who have decided that higher education is only an endurance requirement.  In America there is an educational philosophy that no child shall be left behind. China has a slightly different bent – no college student shall fail to receive a diploma so long as the tuition has been paid.

Nationally, 5% of Chinese university students are unreachable and unteachable. At Zongshan University 1.6%  of the post-graduate non-English majors are unreachable and unteachable.

Chinese students know full well that they will not be failed even if they never attend classes. They are allowed to retake a final exam, with a different teacher each time, until a teacher is found who will pass them. Failing grades issued by foreign teachers are administratively changes rather regularly. The Chinese educational system deprives the teacher of a major external motivational tool and the students take advantage of this situation.

These students are not too hard to identify. They sit in the back row and try to blend into the back wall. Some sit up front, arms crossed with a scowl on their face that says a D-8 bulldozer isn’t going to move them.

Some give themselves away by telling the foreign teacher “you do not understand China” or “you do not understand Chinese students” or “you do not teach like a Chinese teacher.”

Others will declare their open contempt for English due to some misguided nationalistic pride. Some will state that they do not need English now or in the future. A Shanghai University student declared that his father was a very high Shanghai Government party official and that his father would always take care of his future, both politically and financially. This boy was well connected and his future was assured. Within months his father was caught up in the political purge and power shift that saw all of Shanghai’s political leaders replaced. His father was imprisoned and made to forfeit all of his money and property.  The boy was weeks away from graduation and would receive a useless degree.

A young man in Guangzhou insisted that he would never need English because his father was Chairman of the Board and majority Shareholder of a major Chinese company. This boy wasted his educational opportunity in reliance on his father’s position and wealth. Within two months of the boy’s graduation his father was imprisoned for economic crimes and sentenced to death and forfeiture of all money and property.

It is sad indeed to watch any misguided student pursue a path of self-destruction. But no matter what you say or do, they are determined to serve their time at university without earning an education because they know an education (Diploma) will be handed to them as long as their tuition is paid. Educated idiots!

China uses movies to teach English. Well, almost. Universities throughout China use movie clips shown in the classroom during class time. The short clips are repeated over and over again, ad nauseum, until the students have memorized certain chunks of language. Yes, movie clips are used for language learning cum memorization. Students [...]]]> Teach With Movies

China uses movies to teach English. Well, almost. Universities throughout China use movie clips shown in the classroom during class time. The short clips are repeated over and over again, ad nauseum, until the students have memorized certain chunks of language. Yes, movie clips are used for language learning cum memorization. Students routinely complain that they never get to see the entire movie or news article from which the clip is taken. Plus, the memorized chunk of language proves useless in subsequent production efforts due to a complete lack of context.

Holistic English uses movies to assist Chinese university students in acquiring English. Full length Hollywood movies and some documentaries are viewed in their entirety as homework. Movies are never used to waste class time. See DOWNLOAD page  Teaching With Movies  English movies are merely one spoke in the wheel of creating an English speaking environment. See DOWNLOAD PAGE for HOLISTIC ENGLISH: A Revolution – Not an Evolution

10 years ago foreign teachers with a doctorate were paid 5,500 rmb per month for 12 teaching periods each week. (114.58 rmb per teaching period)

Today the university pays the same person 5,200 rmb for 16 teaching periods each week. [...]]]> In the last 10 years China has reduced or cut the salary for foreign teachers.

10 years ago foreign teachers with a doctorate were paid 5,500 rmb per month for 12 teaching periods each week. (114.58 rmb per teaching period)

Today the university pays the same person 5,200 rmb for 16 teaching periods each week. (81.25 per teaching hour)

Inflation in China has made food, clothing and transportation costs higher now than 10 years ago.

Compared to foreign teacher’s salaries in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Miramar, China pays the lowest.

This is a major reason China does not get the better teachers.

China claims that foreign teachers are paid better than local teachers.  This is simply not true. Chinese university professors with a doctorate are paid much better than foreign teachers with a doctorate. There is more than basic salary given to Chinese professors.

Foreign teachers salary is often compared to Chinese primary school teachers who average 700 rmb per month.  However, a Chinese teacher with a family and local support network along with Government programs, can live much cheaper than a foreigner in China.

IN THE BEGINNING

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

This is a non-profit educational website that is utilized in the Holistic English teaching program. Its purpose is to provide Chinese university students with a vehicle [...]]]> This web site is hosted on a server in the USA. The owner is an American citizen who has lived and worked in China for the past 8 years.

This is a non-profit educational website that is utilized in the Holistic English teaching program. Its purpose is to provide Chinese university students with a vehicle to increase their English reading and writing opportunities as part of creating their personal English environment. The discussion topics cover a broad range and are intended to provide something of interest to every student.

The site is also a repository for articles written and published about teaching in China. The articles are freely available on the download page.

This web site respects the rule of law in China and does not allow or permit any material that violates the law of China. All posts are previewed for compliance with the law of China.  

This web site will comply with all requests from relevant Chinese authorities to remove any objectionable material.

2 boys hung themselves after being caught stealing books from the university library to sell to have enough money to eat at least one meal a day.

7 girls jumped from the roofs of tall [...]]]> A few years ago, at a 2^nd tier Shanghai University, there was an unprecedented 10 student suicides in one semester.

2 boys hung themselves after being caught stealing books from the university library to sell to have enough money to eat at least one meal a day.

7 girls jumped from the roofs of tall buildings after giving in to their boyfriends’ demands for sex, only to have the boyfriend abandon them afterwards.

Boys reduced to stealing to survive and girls who think loss of virginity and boyfriend means they are used goods and could never marry.

HEARTBREAKING to say the least. To have happened in Shanghai, one of China’s most developed cities and at a famous university is simply unbelievable!

Remember, boyfriends and girlfriends are like a taxi. If you miss this one, another will come along shortly.

Suicide occurs when the pain of living outweighs the fear of dying.

Why do boys choose death by hanging while girls choose to jump?

I just published a study called “Dissatisfied Customers” of a Shanghai joint venture business institute. (It is available on my download page) The study reveals the complaints of the 1,600 students.  The Dean’s reaction can be found at the end of the article. She was a horrible administrator who repeatedly lied to her [...]]]> CHINESE  ADMINS

I just published a study called “Dissatisfied Customers” of a Shanghai joint venture business institute. (It is available on my download page) The study reveals the complaints of the 1,600 students.  The Dean’s reaction can be found at the end of the article. She was a horrible administrator who repeatedly lied to her students but when confronted with the students’ complaints she exclaimed that the students’ are not mature enough to express such opinions and most of them were lying.

One Foreign Language Department dean in Henan was a DVM, an animal doctor, who spoke no English.

One Foreign Language Department dean in Henan calls his 18 – 24 year old students “boys and girls.”

One Foreign Language Department dean in Dalian ranks his female students by how much desire he has to make sex with them.

One famous Beijing University dean exclaimed that he had no interest in Holistic English because he does not care if his students can speak English or not. He just wants high pass rates on the CET exams.

And then there are Dean Xia Jimei   and Dean Wang Zhe  my current deans at SYSU. I have never had such deans in my prior 7 years of teaching in China. They are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

Their support and encouragement makes Holistic English possible at SYSU. All educational administrators throughout China should emulate them. So do not thank me for Holistic English, thank them.

EAST VS WEST

Several years ago there was an educational conference in Beijing where the three keynote speakers were the Chancellor of Oxford University, President of Yale University and the President [...]]]> THE PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD IS TO SHOW AGREEMENT BETWEEN ONE CHINESE AND TWO WESTERN TOP EDUCATORS AND IS NOT AN ATTACK ON CHINA.

EAST VS WEST

Several years ago there was an educational conference in Beijing where the three keynote speakers were the Chancellor of Oxford University, President of Yale University and the President of Peking University.

All three agreed that western college graduates had less value to their employers upon graduation that Chinese college graduates.

The reason is simple, western college students are taught concepts and philosophies along with the ability for creative problem solving. The western student does not memorize the latest data and information in their major area of study, they learn how to find and use these materials when needed.

Chinese students spend 4 years memorizing all the latest data and solutions to current problems thus equipping them for immediate problem solving upon graduation.

As the western student is immersed in their post-graduation employment and gain valuable hands-on experience, they are able to solve new problems as they come along.

The more years removed from graduation, the more valuable they become.

The Chinese student is not adequately equipped with creative problem solving abilities. They know the solutions to current problems but are unable to solve new problems as they arise. The more years removed from graduation, the less valuable the Chinese college graduate becomes.

All three academic leaders called for a paradigm shift in China’s educational pedagogy and methodology to enable Chinese to compete for jobs in the new global community.