So, it was bound to happen. As teachers, we all have good and bad weeks. This week was definitely in the latter category. And yet it also wasn’t. My lesson this week was an introduction to public speaking and it isn’t that good. It wasn’t terrible and the main task (one I did in my …
Category: China
Another year, but has anything changed?
Although 8th March is officially International Women's Day, in China (at least at universities, or rather at least in my university), there is Girls' Day, the day before. I asked a student why this was and they told me that the idea of women implies a married woman, whereas Girls' Day does not have that implication. …
Job done!
I have taught my last class of the semester. At the end, after the exam, I gave my students a feedback sheet I’d produced myself. This is so I can get some insight into what they have enjoyed, what they haven’t, why, and what they would change. Students are often reluctant to give criticism, but …
From 2017 to beyond
‘Tis the season, or so the saying goes. And so, another year ends. I was reading how I summed up 2016 here, and I described it as ‘interesting’. 2017 has been, if anything, ‘more interesting’ and certainly more depressing. Brexit seems to be spiralling aimlessly out of control, with the Brexiteers seemingly hell-bent on leaving …
Christmas all the way
The Christmas season is upon us! I taught my last class of the week on Friday, and whilst it didn't have a Christmas theme per se, we did do a couple of Christmas-related activities (including two Santa drawings I did in class - see below). Students also wished me a Merry Christmas. The lesson was …
One character at a time
Thanks to my friend Alexandra at Wild Eyed and Wandering, who gave me an idea for a post about 学习汉语 （xuéxí hànyǔ）- learning Chinese! It has been something I've grappled with since touching down here in September 2015. Is my Chinese any better? It depends. I think I can use it more often in more …
Love letters and similar things
This is a quick post about various things that I've seen or have happened recently.... I caught one student writing a love letter to another student in class last week. It wasn’t part of the activity we were doing, and he was initially reticent about telling me who is was for, but eventually he confessed. …
