Ridiculous classroom experiences in China

[Brandon263]

One of my classmates always plays games on his iPhone during Chinese class. Instead of taking the phone or otherwise reprimanding him, the teacher always kind of helplessly walks up to him and just says 快死！ 快死！ This has occurred a number of times, which I think is outrageous, though it doesn’t quite reach the American standard of a student eating an entire rotisserie chicken with a two-liter Pepsi in the back of a class.

Have you guys had similar weird experiences in class in China?

[Kenny同志]

You might have misunderstood the words. The teacher was trying not to embarrass or humiliate him too much in front of the class. By saying 死了，死了, he/she meant the game was being over, not that someone was dying.

[Meng Lelan]

One of my classmates always plays games on his iPhone during Chinese class.

That is very inappropriate behavior in class. As a teacher, the closest I can come is a student was texting in my class so I had the principal confiscate the cell phone.

[Brandon263]

You might have misunderstood the words. The teacher was trying not to embarrass or humiliate him too much in front of the class. By saying 死了，死了, he/she meant the game was being over, not that someone was dying.

Not sure what you mean kenny; my point was that the kid was being disrespectful, but the teacher was just like "die, die" in a suggestive (and hence comical since she's the authority figure in the class) way, instead of throwing the iPhone out of the window.

That is very inappropriate behavior in class. As a teacher, the closest I can come is a student was texting in my class so I had the principal confiscate the cell phone.

My thoughts exactly.

I thought teachers were supposed to be strict/respected in China. Different standards for foreigners?

[Kenny同志]

Not sure what you mean kenny; my point was that the kid was being disrespectful, but the teacher was just like "die, die" in a suggestive (and hence comical since she's the authority figure in the class) way, instead of throwing the iPhone out of the window.

No matter. 死了、死了 in the context I think can be translated as “game over, game over”, something like that. Yeah, I agree with you; it’s very funny. Hehe.

[fanglu]

But what do you expect her to do? The student is presumably an adult, they should know what is and is not appropriate for class.

[anonymoose]

Different standards for foreigners?

No. Different standards for paying students. When the student is the customer, they can basically do what they like. And that applies to Chinese students in private schools also.

[jasoninchina]

Was the student making noise or in some way disrupting the class? If not, I don't see the problem (assuming we're talking about adults). If anything, the teacher compounded the problem by drawing attention to it. Ideally, however, you're right. The teacher should have taken that student aside and ripped into him a little bit if there was a problem.

I'm a student at 海南师范大学 and occasionally use my phone to send or read a text message. If the teacher gave me a hard time about it I'd probably be a little confused what the problem was. I understand that there may be a difference in culture here. And yes, I have noticed a different cultural standard for foreigners, which should be expected given the mixture of students at a school.

As for "similar weird experiences", I have had many. Last year, I was in a class predominately made up of Kazakhstani students. They had a tendency to be quite boisterous in class. The teacher, not once, said a word. I don't really know why. They were quite friendly people, but I ultimately had to change to another class.

[Brandon263]

No. Different standards for paying students. When the student is the customer, they can basically do what they like. And that applies to Chinese students in private schools also.

We're all CSC scholars though, so there should be a different class dynamic; I'm surprised she lets people sleep in class, speak in their native languages, etc.

[anonymoose]

I'm surprised she lets people sleep in class

Sleeping in class is common practice in China. Well, I don't know about at high-school level, but it happens all the time at university, and the teachers don't involve themselves with it.

I think it would be pretty awkward for a teacher to admonish adult students. In fact, it is really irritating when people chat loudly during class, and I wish teachers would be more proactive in preventing that.

The other thing to consider is that, at university, students often have to fill in feedback forms rating their teachers. To some extent, I think the teachers are also worried about getting on the wrong side of the students and hence receiving negative feedback, as it could have an impact on their jobs.

[abcdefg]

More good reasons to study one-to-one if you can.

[joshuawbb]

Playing games in class is pretty inappropriate as has been said, and I'm sure your teacher is a bit frustrated trying to get him to stop without causing offence/losing the student's face.

Sleeping in class happens sometimes too; it's more accepted by teachers and as has been said they don't tend to involve themselves in it or really mind at all. It tends to be more Korean or Japanese students who I personally see do it, as well as Chinese students too in their own lectures (according to what my girlfriend told me). European or American students, etc, often seem fascinated by it since it's less common and probably considered rude in their respective countries, i.e. it would be considered rude in the UK. I don't mind it myself in class though, as long as it's not done to be deliberately be rude. I remember one time in class when our listening teacher was going through answers to a long, awfully easy exercise and the three Korean students behind me were fast asleep and holding hands.

If I need to make a call or write a message urgently I will ask the teacher for permission, then do it outside the classroom. Some students in my class have sat texting before, but the teacher doesn't tell them off because half the time she's not sure if they're texting or using a dictionary - nowadays with many people buying PDA-phones, smart-phones and whatnot, most of them have dictionaries on board. When the teacher is talking or writing quickly, most students look up unknown words on their dictionary instead of interrupt her by asking. I do this too sometimes as my phone has a mini dictionary, though I'll admit that it looks like I'm texting when I'm actually looking up a word. If my teacher asks I will let her know.

[gato]

You are such a proper student, Josh. Hehe.

[joshuawbb]

You are such a proper student, Josh. Hehe.

Ah, too kind of you...But I'm not really a proper student - I took quite a dislike to the way courses were taught in my first semester as well as our textbooks (we used 1st term level Hanyu Jiaocheng books; the old blue/white ones, not the new ones). Our first teacher was fantastic but I felt teaching quality declined after he left during the term, and didn't think listening class was being taught too well (rote learning focus, awful quality recordings etc). I wasn't outspoken about it but instead sometimes sat near the back in class chiefly using NPCR instead, secretly working through them whilst my teachers thought I was focusing on the class book. I also admittedly skipped some classes to sit in a cafe and get further in NPCR.

I did as a result gain a foundation I believe was quite a lot better than what I might have gotten only from the course, but it was in disrespect to my teachers. Most of them were actually really great in person and were pretty much friends with the class, so despite them apparently not knowing what I was doing, I felt bad about it.

[gougou]

I, for once, would much prefer to have a teacher like Brandon mentioned then one that admonishes people even if they don't disturb the class (assuming the person in question didn't). Everybody should be allowed to choose for themselves whether they pay attention or not.

[jasoninchina]

Things that don't disrupt the class when done quietly:

1:sending and receiving text messages

2:day dreaming

3:sleeping

4:otherwise not paying attention

Things that definitely disrupt the class while being quite common:

1:late student who knocks on the door before entering (never understood this)

2:teacher who chastises students for doing something quietly

3:not turning phone to silent

4:answering phone inside classroom then hurriedly walking outside

5:eating an entire chicken in class :rolleyes:

On the other hand, just today a group of students were talking very loudly in the back of the classroom. The teacher refused to say anything. It was the students who ultimately had to tell their classmates to be quiet. I really don't understand this behavior from the teacher.

[gerri]

On the other hand, just today a group of students were talking very loudly in the back of the classroom. The teacher refused to say anything. It was the students who ultimately had to tell their classmates to be quiet. I really don't understand this behavior from the teacher.

I teach, and I will sometimes do that. If I said something, the students who are distractedly chattering wouldn't even notice that I'm trying to say something to them...

[bakhtinjali]

While in China, I've never had any particularly bad incidents, but I have always been in very hard programs with only a handful of other students. I do recall hearing stories about Shida in Taiwan where a student came in incredibly drunk every single class.

Interestingly enough, I did have an awkward experience in a 1-on-2 class where my classmate hadn't prepared his homework for the lesson and basically told the teacher that she could give him an F. We weren't allowed to look at our vocabulary lists or the dialog and had to paraphrase as best as we could. Hearing "我不在乎!" was horrifically awkward. My teach was so stunned, she just quickly moved on to kill the awkwardness.

[Brian US]

A fellow classmate at BLCU last year would watch movies on his laptop during class. After one semester he couldn't say a single sentence in Chinese, so I don't think it helped his studies. I think it's sad that being on a CSC scholarship he didn't know what 朋友 or 加油 meant after 6 months in Beijing. Some people go out of their way not to try.

[Lu]

In Shida I had a Japanese classmate (businessman) who would not only answer his phone, but hold a whole conversation (in Japanese) in class, while the teacher taught on. She acted like this was completely normal behaviour.

I could be wrong, but it seems Europe/the West values attention paid over attendance, while China values attendance over attention paid. So in China, you come to class, even if it's only to sleep, while in the West you pay attention in class, or you don't show up to begin with.

Although sending text messages is not really disruptive, I do think it's rude behaviour. But I also think it's rude to text with someone while talking with someone else, and that's not really a majority opinion either, it seems.