Job Discussion Forums

[Sechelt]

I taught a "culture class" at a university- pretty much whatever I wanted. I started with social etiquette, using a lesson I taught at another U., during an extra guest lecture. I ended with the concept of individualism and it's often mistaken intrepretation in both China and "the West."
I began this one with: "Western" children are taught to respect their parents; "Western "children are taught to repect their teachers; "Western children are taught to respect their parents. This is one of the big mis-undrsandings here- thanks to Hollywood (I had done another lesson on movies/TV and their surealistic interpretations of life). Despite what many believe, the "West" is not individualistically-focused: we look out for others, as well (unlike most Chinese).
For other ideas, see the postings by Redfivestandingby (Peace Corps website) and ChinaLady ("Jellyknees" and all )- they're quite good and worth a try...
As for student participation- that's ify at the best of times- Cheekygal has an interesting approach.

[Ace]

And hey Greg, I said I come from NZ but I'm Australian... never heard the term in either country!

[tarzaninchina]

One thing you can do, although not too much of, is to discuss the history and meaning of idioms. Have some you want to talk about and them have the students try and guess what it means. Now Chinese tend not to have very many logical skills, but they love them (from all of my experiences) so you'll teach them something more than just English and they'll recognize a bit of that as culture.

Another thing you can do is dining etiquette. Do scenarios. Show them how we eat different foods. Hey - given the subject heading of my reply I had to mention something about food....

Explain different trends that are emerging, like more teenage females in Canada smoke than teenage males. Get them talking about casual social norms where even in China it's ok to feel something about.

As for dating, a few teachers here (including myself) wouldn't mind some sex ed and getting the approval for it. So gotta watch that one. Besides, the subject of dating normally shuts students up. Marital roles on the other hand...whoa.

Why not try a western style debate with tiem allotments for primary speakers, denouncement replies, rebuttals, sum ups, and questions. Students here I find are only used to verbal arguments, which they call debates. I've had some debates in my class and they are damn good at picking the appropriate points to mention, those Chiense weasels (if you don't mind me saying so).

Anyway, hopefully these will help.

[goeastyoung(ish)man!]

It probably doesn't matter what you teach, so long as it isn't boring and not too challenging.

Why not ask your students to write down a few topics that they would be interested in learning about/discussing and use those suggestions for future classes? You can approach their suggestions from whatever angle you like. You probably have much more prepared to teach than you realise and these suggestions can help you focus on a few areas.

As far as 'sensitive topics' go, I don't think you need to worry so much about that. I taught in a university last year. In my conversation and writing courses, we talked about all of the no-no's: religion, sex and dating, politics and probably a few more. Just treat them as academic subjects and not opportunities for changing lives. You may be surprised at the number of students who do have an opinion (of their own).

[lily]

Hi,

My bf has a resource he put together about Western Dining - etiquitte, customs etc. If you interested in looking at it, PM me.

Lily

[amberrollins]

I just pick topics like holidays, dating, TV, restaurants (tipping!), voting, schools, pets, renting an apartment, banking, etc. and explain how it is in the US without a lot of judgemental exclamations. I let them ask questions and then make their own comparisons, not me, so it doesn't come off (hopefully) like I'm trying to say Western ways are better than Eastern - in fact, I genuinely do not think so. If someone asks "Which do you like better?", I try to say something positive about both: "American grocery stores have a lot of variety, but Chinese groceries have fresher food and are cheaper."

[Spiderman Too]

Last term I taught my students about;

Greetings (physical & vocal) from around the world
Christmas (both the story of Christ and Santa Claus)
Easter (again, both the story of the resurrection & Easter eggs)
Birthday parties
Dating
Weddings - including buck's nights & bridal showers
Freshman initiation ceremonies
Superstitions (both lucky & unlucky)
Astrology (western star signs and personality types)

The students were both fascinated and responsive. They were they were the most lively lessons during the term.

' goeastyoung(ish)man!' is correct;