Job Discussion Forums

[Twisting in the Wind]

[scot47]

But surely, English learners disregarded, the weirdest people on Planet Terra are in or from California ?

[denise]

[scot47]

It was intended as a kind of back-handed compliment !

But certainly California must be something special even in a country that is itself quite remarkable.

(This post is guaranteed to be free of irony. Those with irony allergy may safely read this post without danger to their mental health.)

[lagger]

My most annoying students are Indians, Israelis, Palestinians and Sri Lankans (though some are very nice). It's hard to judge. I've had great groups of Chinese and terrible groups. It's easier to say "Some people are jerks and some are even bigger jerks."

[leeroy]

Really? Colombians? I've found the ones here in London to be great (and the girls are mui bonita) - though perhaps a different "profile" of Colombian comes to Britain instead of the US. Thinking about it, I don't understand why they'd come all this extra way, really...

My attitudes to Japanese/Chinese students differ, almost daily. On the one hand, they're hard-working and (worringly) obedient - but they tend not to mix well with other nationalities.

[scot47]

"I really hate people. That is why I teach."

Something does not seem right here !

[MindTraveller]

The worst for me were college students in France. After a semester, the last day, when all the idiots skipped class, we had a LOVELY class with the communicative things working! I was so shocked.

Then the French teenagers in the UK one summer protested when I reprimanded them not to speak French in the English classs - they insisted upon FREEDOM. Bunch of philosophical words only used for selfish reasons.

The adult French, however, were much nicer most of the time. In class, at companies.

At the UK summer school, EVERYONE disliked the French students. Even the bus drivers. THEY, like me, liked the Chinese kids the most: buses were clean and the kids were well-behaved on the bus for the tours into London and Oxford.

The Spanish kids were great too.

What was interesting was rather than house the kids in 'international dorms' the students were housed by their nationalities. I asked about this. The Embassy (name of organization) staff said the French had to be housed by themselves because so many times kids from other countries stole things from the French.

[Stephen]

Chinese/Taiwanese and "analytical"? I don't see how they could end up in the same sentence! Also, I personally think they are lazy, I notice a sudden change in motivation around test time though! But even then they want a set of "answers" to rote learn!

Personally, I loved Turkish adults, loud, argumentative, difficult to shut up, but generally this is all conducted in English.

Chinese students and speaking reminds me of an expression about blood and a stone, and when you do succeed, well let me illustrate with feedback I had from a former Taiwanese boss.

Boss: "Your classes are very noisy."
Me: "Yes, but they're speaking in English, don't you want them to learn to speak English?"
Boss: "Yes, but we want them to learn to speak English without talking"

Summarises Chinese education

Stephen

[J-Pop]

A statement:

[october]

This is kind of a sad thread
Do most of you teach adults?
It seems then that all people are annoying!!??
I might as well pitch in and say that palestinians, Israelis and Americans are pretty annoying and disrespectful. even though i am an American-israeli myself... But i'm different

[yaramaz]

Although I have ranted and raved many a time on these boards about the bloody lunatic Turks and their surreal concepts of time, language, concentration, discipline, etc, I am actually quite happy to be here teaching them to not say "finethanksandyou!' to any enquiry about their well-being, and to use words other than 'too' to indicate supelatives (the Turks like to use TOO for everything, even when it shouldn't be used...she is too nice (she is really nice), he is too angry (he is very angry), it is too fast (it is incredibly fast)... gawd, fellas, try to use incredibly, awfully, wonderfully just once....) My kids drive me nuts far too ofen with their ADHD nature, but I really love their energy, their openness, their hugs and kisses and gifts of sweets and tea and ugly gilt-dipped roses. My adult students (my other job, away from the k12 day job) keep me sane with their willingness to learn, their focus, their life experience, and their tolerance for my foreign goofiness.

[Capergirl]

Generalizing, are we? All right, let's see.....

The Korean children I taught were quite poorly-behaved on the whole. There were a few that were cute little things, though. One little girl used to walk part of the way home with me after class...I just wanted to steal her, she was so adorable. But 95% of the kids were little $%#@s. The adults I taught weren't too bad. Argumentative, but pretty good students. Nonetheless, I couldn't seem to get them to stop saying "Englishee" and to get the whole "f" and "p" thing under control. It was like nails on a chalkboard after a while.

The Taiwanese children I taught were very well-behaved on the whole. There were a few who were a bit of trouble, but in Taiwan, that is rarely a problem for long. A phone call to one's parents in Taiwan is a powerful tool indeed. Many of my Taiwanese students excelled in their classes. They were bright kids...I'm not sure if that is indicative of the entire population, but I certainly had some smarties in my classes. They had great personalities, as well. I still miss them.

I taught some Chinese adults in Canada (about 10 or so). Only one leaves me with a good memory. I still see him on campus sometimes (he's in the engineering program now) and I'm thrilled with how well he is continuing to do with his English. He was a joy to have in my classes. One other student was determined to learn English quickly - very motivated, I will give him that much - so he found some shortcut to get around the ESL requirement (don't ask, I'm still trying to figure that one out). The rest of the Chinese students I had were slugs. No kidding. Unmotivated blobs.

I have taught 2 students from the UAE and one from Kuwait thus far. The UAE guys were quite intelligent and did very well. Other than an episode of plagiarism (which we sorted out ), there weren't any problems with them. My Kuwaiti student (whom I have just started teaching) seems to want to learn, but is having a hard time with English grammar. I've slowed things down for him and he is doing a little better. All three of these guys are very pleasant and amicable young men - not at all what I had been expecting considering their strict Islamic upbringings. Stereotype destroyed.

My Angolan students are a dream to teach. I cannot say enough about them. These are the best students I've ever had. I didn't think the new group could top the last group, but so far, they are proving me wrong.

Next week, I will begin teaching three Russian students. That will be a first for me.

[Wolf]

All right, all right, I'll genralize.

While teaching in Japan I had students of all sorts. (I lied. As if lying is better than generalizing . . . oh well.) I didn't teach children very often (and when I did they were elementary school aged.) The children I did have were eager and fun. There was one boy who made a rude suggestion he thought I couldn't understand, but a few lines of his native langauge cured him of that. (and henceforth I shall only enter a classroom with children if I happen to share one common language or another with them.)

Mostly my experience was with adults. A few of the younger girls were my greatest sucess story. One 20 year old factory worker from Okinawa went from false beginner to high intermediate in her time at my school. I also remember three girls and one boy who somehow mystically learned English in high school and at eikaiwas. Many of my students studied English because it was the "in" thing to do, and were hardly prepared to put in the effort that is required to master a language. These students were on the whole wonderful people who improved very slowly. As a teacher it could be a bit frustrating to see this (espeically since I knew they had spent about $5000 US in order to be in my school.)

I have some experience with Korean students, but as a student myself. In my Japanese classes, there were a few Korean housewives and at one time a male Korean teacher. They did wonders in turning the class into an open and fun learning enviornment (for me, anyway). Perhaps it was due to my living in Japan, but I found their directness to be refreshing.

My Chinese students come from working class backgrounds on the whole. They really do study hard. There is a big study hall visible from my living room, and I see hundreds of students in there on Friday and Saturday nights. They tend to be innocent in the ways of the world, however. My Chinese students seem to believe that girls make bettter langauge learners than boys. More than 70% of the students in the Foreign Langauges Department are girls. I'm not sure if this is a sublte way to keep women out of "men's fields," or the result of a bizarre study, or some odd party docorine.

[chinagirl]

While I am aware that we all are entitled to our opinions, (and grateful that I have the right to express mine!) I have to say that I find this thread offensive. There are too many variations among nationalities and cultures to make such broad brush statements. Some of you will disagree with me. I feel, however, a responsibility as a teacher to say that we need to avoid sentiments such as some of the ones expressed in this particular thread, however lighthearted.

I know that this will not be a popular setinment here, but hey, that's OK. Just had to toss this in the ol' meat grinder.