teaching english to managers

[libertango]

at the place where I work, I was asked to teach a 30 minute english class a week to the managers. i'm not much of a teacher, so i'm conflicted about how to go about this.

they aren't kids, so i can't really do some kind of activities... they don't want to learn grammar...just a few phrases, but since people cant remember too much at one time, i dont know how to spend 30 minutes... if i take 10 phrases, which is probally about the limit of their memory, and go over pronuncation, and then review them...that is only gonna take about 10 minutes...

how would you go about doing this?

[imron]

Introduce 10 phrases, go over pronunciation+usage, then review them - 10 mins

Split into pairs. Pairs must prepare a short dialogue using X out of the 10 phrases - 10 mins

Present dialogues, with feedback and correction from you about mistakes, and incorrect/inappropriate usages - 10 mins.

10 + 10 + 10 = 30

[johnd]

Before the class, ask each person to suggest a topic that interests them. Then you can use the topic to theme your class and help you to choose some phrases.

[roddy]

Given the following facts

1) It sounds like you aren't actually there as an English teacher

2) They're only assigning 30 minutes per week

3) They haven't told you what you want to learn

I'd say they haven't thought this through very well - someone high-up probably just suggested they should have English classes and it got thrown together without much thought. My money says that your 30 minute classes will be plagued by people arriving late, leaving to take phone calls, speaking people who pop in to ask a quick question, etc. Attendance will drop off rapidly as people find they are too 'busy', and after three or four weeks someone will suggest cancelling the class as 'everyone is busy this week.' Your classes will never start again. At this point you can pretend to be keen by suggesting that you designate one hour a week where people can come and ask you English questions. Ideally, you'll suggest you sit in the meeting room to do this rather than your desk, and then you have an excuse for not working and a sly nap.

I'm not sure what your actual role is there, but if it's anything where you should be accorded a bit of professional respect I'd tell them to get a real English teacher and watch how quickly they decide it isn't worth the bother. Assuming you will teach English because you are foreign is liable to lead to further assumptions (let's take him to this meeting that's nothing to do with his work, it'll look good if we have a foreigner there; let's get him on the cover of the company brochure; let's get him to sit in the background working while the TV crew is doing the interview with the boss; etc)

[heifeng]

I second everything that Roddy just said!! Now, I am really creeped out how he knows everything ...it's just eery how predictable these types of things are in China...too bad I didn't keep my ppt presentation I put together when I got suckered into something similar in the past...I vote you make it over their heads so they don't understand, which then causes them to lose interest quicker, thus accelerates the drop in attendance, and, lastly, leads to class cancellation. Then you never have to fall into that trap again because they will probably never admit they don't understand what you are saying anyway.....

Maybe we can start taking bets to see if what Roddy said actually occurs in libertango's place of employment. I'll put my money on YES!!! Do us a favor and keep us updated =P

[libertango]

Yea, I'm not here as an English teacher. However, I am new..and so I need to make a good impression...I wanted to try and make the class worthwhile.

I only got through about 5 phrases in 30 minutes, because, few of them can really read the alphabet...and we also broke off into lengthy conversations several times. Most people seemed to learn the stuff easily, but there were a couple of people who acted completely lost.

Part of me hopes that people stop coming to the class, because I dread doing this kind of things for days... On the otherhand, I dont want the fact that I am a bad teacher, to reflect in the rest of my workplace image....along with my barely-fluent, broken chinese.

[roddy]

We're kind of getting off the topic of teaching English to managers here, but if I were you I'd have a quiet word with whoever is 'in charge' of you and tell them that you aren't a teacher, you are a . . . whatever your role actually is . . . and that you think they should find an actual teacher for the classes. Soften the blow by offering to continue for a week or two and maybe to help them find a replacement, but as it sounds like these classes are doomed to end anyway so you might as well take the opportunity to end them on your terms and make the point that you're there to do your job, not whatever they happen to want the foreign guy to do that week. If you are actually of value to the company in your main position they should appreciate that. Chinese companies have a habit of taking advantage of all their staff, not just the foreigners, and it's wise to set boundaries.

Having said that, it's only 30 minutes a week, and if it means you're owed a favor . . .

Roddy

PS 'Course, if you get fired due to 'not understanding 5000 years of Chinese corporate culture', don't you come running to me.

[kudra]

Are you new to China? (Obviously if your Chinese is barely fluent although broken, you're not new to Chinese)

my 2 cents: perhaps get a tutor to unbreak your Chinese as fast as possible. Would you then be more useful to your employer for the non-teaching job you were hired for? If you let your employer know you are taking extra lessons outside work in order to be more effective at work, this might reflect better on you than spending time preparing for those weekly classes. As far as your professional development, taking extra tutorials to unbreak your Chinese fast only has upside, whereas the teaching gig sounds only downside. Ask your employer if your skills per hour (especially if you work hard to improve your Chinese) are really only worth that of a completely novice English teacher. If the answer is yes, you have a problem.

[roddy]

Ask your employer if your skills per hour (especially if you work hard to improve your Chinese) are really only worth that of a completely novice English teacher

Actually, that's part of the problem with being a local hire in Beijing (not sure if you are a local hire or not, Libertango, though it sounds like you are ) - a fresh off the plane, unqualified 'English teacher' can, without too much effort, walk into 150Y an hour work. In terms of hourly rate, I'd say that's a lot more than many local hires make. If you can't, for whatever reason, get an ex-pat package, then freelance English teaching remains the quick and easy way to a decent monthly income. I'd imagine if you work out Libertango (or Heifeng's, or once upon a time mine*) hourly rate it'll actually be less than an English teacher would charge.

Roddy

*Actually, the last time I had a steady job I got a very good hourly rate, but I was born lucky.

[libertango]

well, normal employees were wanting to get into the class too...so i split it up into two classes a week, one for managers... the manager class got cancelled after two weeks...since they have pretty much have to start with the ABCs. the other class kind of exploded, and they want me to do it twice a week, which i don't wanna do.

I've been in China a year...so I'm not too new. My salary is about the same as a first year english teacher, but its more it has much more of a future than teaching english, since you can't really "climb up the ladder" much in teaching jobs, and it makes a much better resume. Not to mention, with the exception of about 30 mins to 1 hour a week for english classes, I get to work in a completely Chinese enviroment, which definitely helps me improve my Chinese ability.