I was nervous about the first week of class because I am the kind of person who is always nervous the first week of class whether I am the instructor or a student. In China, however, I was nervous for a few new reasons.

1) There is no textbook for my class. The foreign language department basically said something to the effect of "You're teaching sophomore oral English. Go." I don't know how to organize the class, what to include in the semester, what topics to cover, how to evaluate etc.

2) I don't know the level of English of my students or what they have covered in previous oral English courses (or if they have had previous oral English courses).

3) I don't know any Chinese.

4) I have been inundated with information during orientation about how it is sometimes next to impossible to get Chinese students to actually speak English due to their lack of confidence and a high embarrassment level.


Taking these worries into consideration, I did the only thing I felt comfortable doing: teaching the first day of English class like I would teach the first day of a beginning Spanish class. For the first hour of class I reviewed greetings and common introductory conversation topics and had students practice in pairs. They also practiced introducing each other to other groups in the class and to me. For the second hour of class I went over my rules and goals for the semester and talked about weekly journal assignments that I wanted them to write. I also had them fill out a short survey about themselves and what they wanted to learn about over the course of the semester as well as what they were nervous and excited about. The top themes selected included learning about U.S. culture and how to talk about traveling, food, holidays, family and university life.

For the last part of class I allowed each student to write down an anonymous question for me and I answered each one out loud. Here are only some of the questions I received:

"I want to know the experience in your college"
"I think Obama is handsome and cool. What's your opinion of him?"
"Can you talk something about your family?"
"Can you sing a song for us?"
"What do you think of China?"
"Why did you come to China?"
"What do you usually do in your leisure time?"
"What do you think about the death of MJ?"
"What's your lucky number?"
"Can you make a brief description about your hometown?"
"Have you marriaged? And how many children do you have?"
"Do you have a BF or talking about your love story"
"As the first impression, who do you like most in this class?"
"Do you have a Chinese boyfriend?"
"Which religion do you believe in and why?"
"Gay or straight?"
"America food or Chinese food. Which do you prefer?"
"Can you hold a party with us at the end of the term?"


The questions were fun (though sometimes surprising and awkward) to answer and it was interesting to see what was important for the students to know through the questions that they asked me. At the end of the class I passed around pictures of my family and of my hometown and while explaining each photo I had the complete attention of every student in the room - I don't think I have ever felt more important and listened-to as I did during that class.

People have told me that teaching in China is like being a rock star - you get special treatment everywhere you go. My first day was no exception but I hope that with each class, the students can see me as less and less like a foreigner and more and more like a friend.

1 Comment

1. LK on September 26, 2009 at 8:19 AM

   This is soooo cool! And you have always been a rock star! I am so looking forward to following your adventures!