Chinese teachers the most dilligent

[Scoobyqueen]

I recently came back from Russia having done a Russian language course there. I found the teachers were just as capable as the Chinese teachers I have had in terms of their knowledge of grammar, peadagocial teaching etc. However, I noticed that they were miles apart from their Chinese counterparts when it comes to meticulous preparation, explanations of vocabulary (subtleties for example), teaching methods (make sure everything is drummed in), relentlessness when you have not understood something. Also the Russian teachers did not give me that much homework and I ended up having to learn a lot of my own stuff outside lessons instead, rather than doing a lot of homework. The lessons were also shorter 45 minutes as opposed to 50-60 minutes in China.

I personally find the Chinese teaching style the best. I love the huge amount of homework as it is challenging and also having it all drilled in and they don't tire until you have learnt a particular point.

My colleague just came back from Syria having attended an Arabic course and we compared notes.Apparently her Arabic teacher was a 22 year-old who was quite strict, which my colleague being much older did not appreciate. Her teacher also was not prepared to deviate from her prepared schedule and like me in China, my colleague had some 4-5 hours of homework a day.

Has anyone got simliar experience with Chinese teachers in terms of their dilligence? Do you like their teaching methods?

[Brian US]

I've had everything from the 'I'm going to wing this' college student to the 'I'm a teacher at a prestigious university' sitting in a chair with divine authority, with some good teachers thrown in between.

The first two years were terrible at an American university where they were generally Taiwanese graduate students, which were probably forced to teach by their scholarship or exchange program. They tended to wing it and never corrected our pronunciation or writing. One teacher calculated my grade in front of me at the end of the semester and came up with 68% because she added it wrong. I asked her to do it again and she came up with the corrected 88%.

Everyone responds differently to different teaching styles. I found I respond best to the kind yet focused motherly/fatherly figure. The kind that don't get angry, but "just disappointed." I do wish I got the contact information for a teacher at a small private school I went to. She was a Nazi about pronunciation/tones and wouldn't give up after a week like most teachers.

Basically, I want a great teacher for general study and the strictest most vile one for pronunciation.

[Scoobyqueen]

Brian US - Thanks for your comments. I should have mentioned that I was referrring to the teachers I have had who were based in China. They have all been graduates of teaching Chinese to foreigners so there might well be a difference there. Your example about students in the US having to teach sounds like you might not get the best deal from that. And also you are right, the teacher needs to hone in on the student's weaknesses and improve that area.

Interesting to hear about your preference for a parent figure :-)

[Brian US]

Most of my experience has been from studying in Beijing full time.

Interesting to hear about your preference for a parent figure :-)

I hope it's less creepy to know that I don't come from a broken home. Born and raised in suburbia of the American Midwest to a middle-class family.

[Daan]

I'm sure there are plenty of good Russian teachers, much as there are plenty of good Chinese teachers. You can't generalise from your experience at one institution. And even at the same institution, you'll have good and bad teachers. This has been the case wherever I've studied Chinese, so I doubt there is much value in making such generalisations.

[jbradfor]

I've been happy with all of my Chinese teachers -- but then again, I've been happy with most of my teachers in general, so maybe I'm not demanding enough.

Regarding the amount of homework, there have been some classes (in general, not just Chinese) that I was happy to get very little homework, for those I don't really care about. But those were relatively few and far between. For language learning, especially, lots of homework and drilling seems necessary.

My main complaint with the "traditional Chinese teaching method" (not teaching Chinese language, but how Chinese people tend to teach) is that it relies a lot on insulting people to encourage them to do better (to avoid being insulted). While I don't think USA's focus on self-esteem is good either, and I agree that way can be effective in the short-term, I think long-term it causes issues. Although I've been happy that all my teachers teaching Chinese language by-and-large didn't do that, likely I would think they were told not to.

[Brian US]

...it relies a lot on insulting people to encourage them to do better

I had one teacher yell at me for several minutes in front of our class when I didn't know the word 敌方. I think he was more upset that I never went to his class and only showed up for the exams. Yet, he went on about how he had been teaching for 10 years and I was one of the worst students he has met. Kept asking me how I couldn't know such a simple word, which even my fellow classmates couldn't help out.

He probably thought a 5 minute berating would inspire me to be more diligent and prepared. I just never went back to his class, but at least I remember 敌方!

I was also surprised about the conduct while presenting in class. Doing my master's with Chinese students I found they are often criticized in the middle of presenting their powerpoint. It was a group presentation and my teacher interrupted one girl to tell her the slides were repetitive and to skip to the next part. This goes on while other students are voicing their disagreements with the presented work. I like the idea of open discussion, but I think it's done in poor taste. It also goes against my feelings of praise in public, and criticize in private.

[WestTexas]

He probably thought a 5 minute berating would inspire me to be more diligent and prepared. I just never went back to his class, but at least I remember 敌方!

According to my frequency list it is the 28145th most common word... in other words not very common. The guy sounds like a prick.