Summer Camp - Can I Learn Any Chinese As Well?

[Dixon]

So I browsed some threads and a lot of people believe that it is not possible to learn much Chinese while teaching English. I just wanted to know if the members here think this is a good idea or not, based on my goals. I am going to take a summer camp job which will probably be 27 teaching hours per week. There will be two days off per week.

I've never studied Chinese before, but I've recently become interested in learning it. I don't expect to be conversational after this trip, I just want to study Chinese in China for 2 months this summer while I work. I am hoping this trip will give me a jump start to begin my studies, but realistically, can I accomplish much?

I will be on Dandong and will probably try to hire a private teacher for a 1 hour, 1 on 1 lesson each evening. I picked Dandong because I will be going to live in Seoul for the year after, and there is a Korean community in that city.

Do you think this is a good way to start to learn Chinese, or should I just stay home this summer and work a job and Canada and pay for Chinese lessons there?

[monto]

So I browsed some threads and a lot of people believe that it is not possible to learn much Chinese while teaching English.

It couldn't be the truth if you can cut you working time with your leasure teme clearly. In work time, you are expected to speak English; But for the time after you finish your work you can find an environment where Chinese is spoken.

[renzhe]

The problem with English teachers and many expats is that they end up in an English-speaking environment both during work and outside of work. If you can surround yourself with Chinese-speaking people in your leisure time and concentrate on learning Chinese, you can get something out of it, like monto says. This may be more difficult for a beginner, though.

But if you only have a couple of months to prepare + a couple of months in China, don't expect brilliant results. You can accomplish a lot, but most people will need a lot longer to become conversational. If you want to make the best of your time there, my suggestion is to get studying intensively as soon as possible, to lay a foundation for your time in China. Arriving in China knowing a little bit means you'll get far more out of it than knowing nothing.

[Dixon]

Do you think there will be much non-working time if I'm teaching a summer camp? I think it's 27 teaching hours per week.

[imron]

27 hours is a large teaching load, especially if you have to prepare the lessons yourself, and especially if you don't get to repeat previous lesson plans because you always have the same students. I'm not sure what things will be like with this summer school, but these are things you should definitely consider.

Learning Chinese while teaching is not impossible, but you need to be disciplined. Don't just think that you'll be able to pick up the language by osmosis, you need to make a concerted effort. This is not always easy because sometimes at the end of a long day teaching the last thing you want to do is open books and study.

[roddy]

To be honest I don't think it's a good idea. By the time you've settled in, got a handle on the teaching work, found a tutor, it's going to be time to go home. I'd say you'll get better value for money staying in Canada and earning money to spend on, say, two weeks of intensive study and a week's traveling to put it into use.

[Dixon]

Hey Roddy. I'm already buying the plane ticket to Asia anyway (I'm going to university in Korea for a year directly after.) So I figure it might be cheaper to go to China. I asked about a Mandarin tutor in my town and she charges $18 per hour. I figure a private tutor in Dandong could run me $3 per hour and I would get more practice, although my girlfriend here in Canada speaks Chinese.

I'm still not sure what to do because many people tell me summer camp jobs leave you tired and without any time.

[lilongyue]

I'm still not sure what to do because many people tell me summer camp jobs leave you tired and without any time.

Teaching is exhausting work, especially when you just start. And as imron said, twenty-seven hours is a very large work load. Keep in mind that if you are teaching 50 minute classes, they 10 minute break isn't counted in the teaching time. So that comes out to 32 classes a week, or about 6 classes a day, rounding down. If they provide you with teaching material, which isn't guaranteed, you will still have to prepare your lessons, a time consuming process when one just begins teaching. But if they don't, then on top of your teaching you'll need to be scouring the internet and picking other's brains to put lessons together, which is even more time consuming. If money is not your main motivation for doing this, and you're going to Korea for a year afterwards, where you won't really have much chance to use Chinese (meaning you'll forget it all), then I'd say skip the whole thing, and teach in Korea. You can make A LOT more money teaching English in Korea. A 4 year degree is required to get a work visa in Korea, strictly enforced from what I hear, so if you haven't graduated then working in Korea might not be an option.

[simonlaing]

I would listen to lilongyue ,

Preparing for classes is very tiring. I have also heard summer camps are notorious for asking the teachers to spend meal times and trips with students. 27 hours a week will leave you exhuasted, with just enough energy to zone out to a DVD at night. If it was 12 -16 hours you might be able to handle both.

Also Chinese is hard to learn, 2 months of study will barely get you conversational if that most people take 2 University semesters to get conversational. And that is with the strong motivation of grades, homework and tests.

However perhaps you are an accomplished elementary school teacher with a lot of preplanned lessons and laugh in the face of 30 fourth graders trying to playing kungfu monkey king rather than listen to your class. If this is you then 27 hours of class time won't be that bad.

Good luck, you'll need it.

Simon:)

[Lu]

I agree with Roddy. You'll have only a very short period of time, with probably won't have much opportunity to study during the summer camp, and if you go to Korea after that you'll likely forget most of what you've learned (and even if you don't, you won't be able to use it in Korea).

[priscilla]

Hi,I think you are wise to learn Chinese while working as you planned.

I am a Beijing girl here.

My suggestion is, why not taking your Chinese course in Beijing,,which will be your good choice.

Dandong,I think, is also good,but it is such a small city,and you would not get much more opportunity than in Beijing,where you can also join in a camp to Korea.

Anyway,it is all up to your decision.

If any help in Beijing in learning Chinese,you can turn to me for any help.

I am a native Chinese Mandarin speaker,and also speaks excellent English.

Good luck to you,whether you finally pick Dandong or Beijing!

Priscilla