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Archive for July 7th, 2010

This past spring I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of students from the Xi’an International Studies University (XISU) who are majoring in “Teaching Chinese as a Second Language”.  There are 82 of them, split in to two classes of 41 each and are all freshmen, as in fresh off the train and in to school. 

There are some interesting things about the university system in China that I didn’t know before meeting these students.  For example, in China no one transfers from one school to another.  Once you start at a school, you have to stay there until you graduate.  Also, based on your entrance exam you qualify for only a specific set of majors.  So, if you really want to study French and you didn’t qualify for that department, then you have to pick some other major instead.  Needless to say, there are a fair number of students in these two particular classes that aren’t super thrilled to be stuck in a major that they have no interest in.

However, it is the system they are in, and they are all adjusted to that fact.  I suppose if you have no other options, you play with the hand you are dealt.

My role with these students was helping them with their Oral English.  But first I wanted to share some photos I took during a field trip they invited me on to check out the Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an most famous historical landmark.  They were kind enough to invite me along and so I brought my trusty digital SLR and snapped a bunch of pics.  If you are outside of China you can view them all on my website or my picasa gallery, but here is a selection of my favorites for those of you still inside the middle kingdom:

 

Oh, and in case you were wondering why the majority of the students in these pictures are female, it is because XISU’s student population is around 80% female.  So, for all you single guys out there, now you know where to apply for your exchange programs. (j/k)

One of the things I helped these students with was to provide some opportunities for Oral English practice outside of their classroom experience.  I would meet them outside of the school for some “Free Talk” time.  They would come in groups of 2, 3, 4 or even 5 and we would hang out and I would give them a chance to ask me any questions they might have about whatever topics interest them.

It was also a good opportunity for me to get a bit of practice helping students with their English prior to getting started with my new teaching job at XISU starting in the fall.  I was able to ask them what sort of English class was the most beneficial for them and what their particular desire was with relation to learning English.  It was very educational.  Here are some pictures of the students I met with out and about in Xi’an:

Prepare yourself for an overabundance of peace signs

 

 

(Not a student at XISU, but we met him on the XISU campus during a Free Talk session, so here he is.)

 

 

 

 

You can click on an image to view a larger version.

With some of the students we would go out to eat, so here are a few gratuitous food shots just to get you salivating!

 

And thus ends my XISU related photos from the spring.  I’m really looking forward to teaching in the fall and have already begun preparing ideas and materials for my syllabus and first classes.  It should be fun!