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teachertomthailand
Joined: 31 Aug 2015 Posts: 31 Location: Eugene, OR, United States
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 12:43 pm Post subject: Returning to China- Guangzhou |
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I am returning to China after 4 years of being away while I earned my masters degree in Education with a Concentration in ESL in the US. At the time I was teaching in Shenzhen, which I liked very much. I was there for two years. I will have a second interview tonight with someone from the Elan Learning Center. They have schools in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
I have been thinking about going to Guangzhou this time. I have visited this city twice. I love Cantonese food, the long history of the city and big cities in general. Has anyone here taught in Guangzhou and have suggestions about living there? Has anyone heard of the Elan Learning Center and have thoughts about what it would be like to work there? The job pays pretty well and it involves teaching children.
My Mandarin is at a very basic level, but I just got a bunch of Pimsleur CDs from the library to listen to and practice with in my car. I would be interested to hear how others are fairing with learning this difficult language! |
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voyagerksa
Joined: 29 Apr 2015 Posts: 140
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:24 am Post subject: |
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The pimsleur goes a long ways and is a good start. |
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Simon in Suzhou
Joined: 09 Aug 2011 Posts: 404 Location: GZ
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:19 am Post subject: |
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Not familiar with Elan, but been in Guangzhou for 8 years. If you were happy in Shenzhen, you'll be fine with GZ's miserable, hot, humid weather, which is the biggest drawback to the city, IMO. Pollution has been decreasing yearly since I arrived and the air is pretty good. I find GZ to have much more character and history than sterile, modern Shenzhen (although if modern shopping malls and skyscrapers are your thing, there's plenty of that here as well). Good access to HK via high-speed train, and GZ is an excellent travel hub to the rest of China. Any specific questions you have I'd be happy to answer. |
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Simon in Suzhou
Joined: 09 Aug 2011 Posts: 404 Location: GZ
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:26 am Post subject: |
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Learning the language is simply about the effort you put into it. The difficulty of the language is more of a psychological barrier than a real one, IMO. A little bit of studying and memorization every day goes a long way. You don't get it by osmosis. The method is secondary to the grind of just doing it. Then be outgoing enough to go practice with people. Chinese people love to speak Chinese with foreigners, although it takes awhile to catch Mandarin with a Cantonese accent. |
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