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[clunkypainter]

I have a few questions: 1) What is the general procedure for receiving contracts- before or after you arrive in China?

2) Has anyone traveled to Kumming, Dali, Xishuangbanna? If anyone has any advice reagrding the best method of travel (plane, train, bus) from Shanghai and any inforamation they would like to share it would be most appreciated!

PS- Anyone located in the US may want to know that the last day to mail a visa application by mail is May 1st, also after May 1st the single entry visa fee is $50.00. I had quite a shock when I went on line to receive info on applying for a visa. I am still waiting for my foregin expert and introduction letters and sweating the whole situation out.

I would also like to know if anyone has any info on Changsha and environs or is currently residing in or near Changsha.

Whew! I guess I really need some info. Last question: I am currently a university instructor but I teach visual art foundation curriculum so the ESL will be a new teaching experience. Are there any books that would offer solid advice regarding teaching ESL in China. I hear most colleges do not use syllabi! Supposably I am teaching Conversational English but have yet to hear what their expectations are!

Thank you so much much for any advice!! I have enjoyed reading these posts and since I am almost in China feel its time to say hello!

Lost in Jupiter (Florida that is)

Deborah
[/b]

[Roger]

I suggest you purchase a LONELY PLANET or a ROUGH GUIDE, not because I want to offload you but because you might have some pertinent question that a guide answers best.
I personally like Kunming a lot, though not so much for the cityscape as for its environs! From Shanghai it will take you 2 nights on board a train. I once flew there from Nanjing, some 3 hours. It's around 3000 kms away! The train ride is really romantic, with the landscape changing enormously over the last 500 kms as you reach the plateau of Yunnan.
Dali can now be reached by train or bus within a few hours.
Xishuangbann is a 700 kms ride. Most people fly. Roads there are not so good!

Your train from Shanghai might stop at Changsha, which you mentioned in your query too. NOt much to see, if you want my opinion.

[clunkypainter]

Thanks for your post and info Roger!

The train trip sounds like the best option, I must remember to wear my mask and bring antibacterial gel, gloves, etc.

I went out bought Lonely Planet but I need to find a good book that offers advice regarding teaching ESL in Changsha. As a visual artist I am pretty creative but I am sure there are topics such as religion, politics, sex, etc. that cannot be discussed in class. As long as I don't have to teach Statistics I will be ok!

[gerard]

Hello--At least you have the right attitude a lot of teachers never give a thought to what they will teach--or how. I don't know that there are any "taboo" subjects. For example there is a large Catholic church in my town so it isn't like they haven't heard of religeon. The challenge would be to make it interesting to them. Also keep in mind they start Uni at a younger age. They live on campus under strict rules and curfews. A world apart from students at home. But they use the net and see western films so they aren;t as in the dark as I thought they would be.

Books?? Don't know if you will find much specific to China. If you find stuff that looks good buy it. Might want to bring some real stuff like brochures...Also outside work is often offered sometimes for younger classes so it wouldn't hurt to be ready for ALL levels...

Good luck.

[Roger]

Clunkypainter,
your question about appropriate teaching materials might be answered more to the point if you post it in a different forum such as Secondary Education or Teaching Materials.
Most of us end up as conversation teachers, which is not really my cup of tea. There is a whole school of thought that subscribes to the notion that people need a lot of oral practice. Most find it rat5her difficult to actually just do that with CHinese students, including, and perhaps, especially those who have no other ideas on teaching English than this oral practice. SOme of the most challenging constraints are:
- Class sizes and English levels (always mixed levels, in classes of
40, 60 and more students!);
- comprehension is extremely poor (underdeveloped listening skill
due to having acquired English under teachers that present the
target language as a collection of words, each of which they
translate; most textbooks are bilingual up to university level!);
- motivation of students is not always ideal, and the exam system
is a scam! Anyone can pass because statistics have to give a
rosy picture!
- Students don't learn to work on their own and to accept responsability
for their own failure or success! Everything is a group effort that the
teacher has to iniatate!
- Box thinking reinforced by a rather paranoid political indoctrination!
Certain taboos are strictly enforced, and you could be in a bind if
you ignored blinking red lights such as guidelines on how to talk
about politics and relikgion!

I know this sounds awful, and in many instances it is; but with a reasonable quantity of common sense you can weather the storms out here and have quite some fun! note that Chinese students need nothing more than a little human warmth and humour - both of which are conspicuously absent in their school grind where most of tertiary students are confined to a life on campus, often under dreadful living conditions and being closely watched over all the time, attendance being recorded even for homework (every evening up to 9 p.m.!).
With games and similar activities you can make everybody's life a little easier! How about "101 WOrd Games" by George P. McCallum, Oxford Univesity Press, or something similar, as an extra piece of literature in your luggage?