teach English

[caffeineaddict]

So on average...how many times per day do you guys encounter people wanting to practice their English?

Why exactly is it so annoying? Is it bad timing? Sheer number of requests? I'm asking because as a Chinese person living in the west I get a few people now and then wanting to practice mandarin with me (I'm at a very international uni) and it has never annoyed me. If someone wants to improve their language skills for a few minutes it's not a problem.

[muyongshi]

You ever read the book If you Give a mouse a cookie?

If you haven't you should and then you would understand the frustration.

Another common expression that would generally be used to describe this would be "you give an inch, they take a mile".

Basically if it was a friendly chat, no biggie, but I have very very rarely seen that happen. It is usually within 5 minutes asking for a phone number, calling everyday, texting even more, asking for answers on test, and it just keeps going.

[anonymoose]

In Shanghai it doesn't happen so much as other cities, so when it does, usually I don't mind chatting for a few minutes either. If they ask for phone numbers, then I just say I don't wish to give it out. Perhaps a bit direct for Chinese, but otherwise it does get too much.

[imron]

I think it's also a matter of the repetitiveness of each request. There are only so many times you can have the exact same conversation before you get tired of it.

[heifeng]

So on average...how many times per day do you guys encounter people wanting to practice their English?

Why exactly is it so annoying? Is it bad timing? Sheer number of requests? I'm asking because as a Chinese person living in the west I get a few people now and then wanting to practice mandarin with me (I'm at a very international uni) and it has never annoyed me.

When I was in China, I was asked about teaching OR finding another foreigner (since I must know every English speaker in China, right?!?) at least every other day, or every 3 days...FOR (bleepin) THREE YEARS! (even if I had a period of time when people didn't ask, it soon averaged out when I would wander into wudaokou and had multiple requests as I walked by BLCU...ughhh)

The worst is when you can't avoid the person, like the elevator ayi who would keep mentioning it every time i got in the elevator, teachers at school, landlords, coworkers**. Don't even bring up those people looking for foreign "FRIENDS" really are just looking for someone to teach them English. At least it's a bit easier (even if somewhat rude) to get rid of random strangers, but it's a much more delicate situation with people you have to see frequently...keep the harmony you know. (it's enough to, I dunno, run 10+ flights of stairs multiple times on a daily basis to avoid the topic?!)

So now let's think about this. 1) getting asked to teach English or constantly being 'practiced on' by people my age at the university. 2) then getting asked by older people to teach their own kids or their friend's kids. THE ENGLISH QUESTION WILL ALWAYS COME UP!

If it happened 1x a month, I wouldn't have been annoyed. Once a week is pushing it, but mutliple requests per week or per day by strangers..AND THEN being continually re-asked about it by people I DO know (can you do it? did you find a tutor? do you have any friends who are interested? can you help me advertise?) is when I just go off (well, in my head at least:mrgreen:)

________

**Not my story, but i thought I would add it here: my classmate use to like to go to the park and dance or something in the evenings and would constantly get harassed to teach some kid English to the point that this kid's parents would say stuff like "oh but you have time to come here and dance, why can't you teach him English."...blah blah blah... You can imagine how that totally killed her motivation for going to that park. (plus she wasn't even an English native speaker!) . I on the otherhand had to stop reading outside my apt building because the senior citizens would send all of their grandkids after me. (actually, I kinda would get suckered into that a bit, but it was just super informal and chatting about simple stuff and sort of cute...but I definitely learned NOT to read outdoors in my 小区 unless I wanted to teach free English.) So in conclusion, when you need to change your habits to avoid being literally harassed about teaching English, I think it's not a stretch to say the English teaching questions rank up there with the most annoying part of being a obviously western foreigner in China.

Edited August 7, 2009 at 04:37 AM by heifeng
poor English!

[roddy]

You must look far too friendly and approachable, Heifeng - I get nowhere near that level of attention, and we both lived in roughly the same bit of Beijing. Have you tried scowling more?

[heifeng]

I am super approachable looking*. It's from too many darn years of working in retail during high school I think. In fact the more angry I get the more polite I get...it's absolutely terrible!

*Well, or it may just be the *super foreign-looking" aspect at work here too.

____

FYI except for the occurences in my former 小区 alot of this happened in wudaokou, my school, on the bus, and other random places~so a majority of the pestering took place outside of your 'hood.

Also, scowling works for strangers...not for the repeat pesterers though! So that would only solve 1/2 of the problem....

Edited August 7, 2009 at 02:36 AM by heifeng
and the worst speller award goes to....

[Meng Lelan]

heifeng has done it again! --- words of wisdom in a semi-concise post. If emoticons included a bouquet of roses I would click it into here.

This is such a great thread, I laughed until I wept. Actually given all of your abysmal situations in China, I should have wept instead of laughed.

Thankfully I am in Texas where I can get all the Chinese language practice I want without being asked for an English-speaking cookie.

[JP Micco]

After lurking for a fair bit on these forums I've decided to make my first post.

I must say that this thread has me somewhat alarmed... are they really that persistant and common?! I mean I visit a language website and I get about 3-4 new friend requests per day (and if I set it to "not accept new friend invites) I start getting complaints as to why I don't add them as friends...

Heck I just answered my own question didn't I?

Deary me, it kinda makes me afraid to want to go to China not just as a foreigner, but as an English Teaching one! But after reading this thread I do believe I have my backup plan.

Chinese national: OH, are you foreigner? You please teach English?

Me: מה? אני לא מדבר אנגלית

Chinese national: *confused look*

Me: [broken Mandarin] 对不起，你会说希伯来语吗？

Chinese national: 希伯来语？！ 不会....

Me: 我说的普通话... 不好。再见。

[Meng Lelan]

Yay for the Hebrew language!

Seriously though there are Chinese who emigrate to Israel -

maybe you can teach both Hebrew and English in China?

A nice strategy you have thought out in your post, too, JP Ricco.

[HeDiWen何迪文]

Same here! I'm planning to go next year, and all this talk of random people wanting to learn english has me a little worried. But, honestly, i get enough of it now as it is. Over the years of Chinese study, i've met plenty of freinds on language sites such as livemocha, and a good number of them are no different from the people you all mention. I geuss the only difference is that i can ignore them, but eventually they get upset and think there is something horribly wrong with me. "Are you sick? Busy now? are you there?" just a small example. I assume what i get online now is just gonna increase 10 fold when i go to China. 哎哟

[Madot]

This thread has given me what may be true inspiration. I will be in China for 4 months, not as an English teacher, but as a language teaching METHODS teacher. Maybe I could gather together a group of those wannabe English students for some pracitce and use them as a demo class for my methods students!!!

Mado

[Meng Lelan]

It's amazing how language teachers like us can fix up some devilment when we get inspiring ideas from threads like this.

[JP Micco]

Maybe I could gather together a group of those wannabe English students for some pracitce and use them as a demo class for my methods students!!!

All you would need is to put a sign in a park, reading "FREE ENGLISH HERE, 1pm"

Then come back at 1pm with your student teachers and smile with glee at your new class of 10,000 English students.

Being the jovial type myself, I might actually consider running open-air English classes at various times and locations, even if just to see what I can get away with. It would be amusing to give a 5 minute "to the whole bus" English lesson while travelling somewhere! I'm sure I could do it something like Pimsleur style. The problem would be timing the lesson just right so you can jump off at the next stop right as you finish the lesson, but before anyone can ask for contact details!

[roddy]

Come on folks, it's not THAT bad, is it? Reading some replies you'd think people are being tackled to the ground by teams of college students armed with copies of New Concept English and a couple of jokes Li Yang told them to memorize.

[Meng Lelan]

See what all of you did to me, now I'm a sobbing mess.

[yonglin]

I must just look extremely unfriendly.

Having spent about 5 months i China, no one ever asked me to practice English with them. Sure, I'm not a native-English speaker, but I do look Western enough.

[caffeineaddict]

Come on folks, it's not THAT bad, is it? Reading some replies you'd think people are being tackled to the ground by teams of college students armed with copies of New Concept English and a couple of jokes Li Yang told them to memorize.

LOL I guess that's what I trying to ask intially. Anyways thanks for answering my questions.

Edited August 18, 2009 at 06:10 PM by caffeineaddict

[gougou]

Always have to smile when I see this topic. I for once have never been pestered to be taught English...

[aimei]

Is it acceptable in Chinese culture to stop or accost random strangers in a street or at a coffee bar in general or it only acceptable in this situation? It probably wouldnt go down well in Europe.

In short, yes. Random people kept asking my boyfriend and me to teach them English. I'm happy to have a conversation with someone who wants to practice a bit, but no I'm not going to be your personal tutor! This wouldn't be acceptable in the U.S. or Canada either, but if you haven't noticed the Chinese are kinda blunt.