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jpvanderwerf2001
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 1117
Location: New York
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 Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:25 am Post subject: Summer Camps |
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Hello, all.
I'm thinking of teaching for three weeks at a summer camp (in China) this summer. I've never done the "summer camp thing" before.
My question: Have you taught at summer camp (especially in China)? How was your experience? When I think of camps, I think of (probably naively) archery, cabin dorms, crafts and swimming in the lake; are the camps like this?
I look forward to your insight. |
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denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:47 am Post subject: |
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I did a summer camp in China about five years ago. No archery, cabins, etc... Sorry! Just 20 hours per week of teens and young adults who were usually sweet but didn't care terribly much about learning English. And of course it's really hard to squeeze anything into four weeks!
There was a decent salary plus room and board (a hotel that doubled as apartments, right on campus), but airfare was not included. I actually lost money doing it. And I didn't really have any time to see China, other than the Xiamen area and Hong Kong. Still, it was a good experience. I approached it as sort of a working holiday.
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ilaria
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 88
Location: Sicily
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| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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jpvanderwerf2001 wrote:
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| Have you taught at summer camp (especially in China)? How was your experience? When I think of camps, I think of (probably naively) archery, cabin dorms, crafts and swimming in the lake; are the camps like this? |
Not at all like this! The summer school in China consists of a small stuffy classroom, far too many desks, a miniscule whiteboard and a boardmarker on its last legs, in my experience. There might be some old copies of Headway and Interchange (ugh) and if you're lucky the tapes could even match the books. More importantly, the students are usually very pleasant, although as Denise says, they may not be too thrilled at spending their summer holiday in said small stuffy classroom with an exciting copy of Interchange Level 2.
There are some schools that pay airfare, although if they do then they will reduce the salary proportionately! You might break even but you certainly won't make a profit! And forget travelling around China during the summer school itself - you'll probably be working six days a week. Best to plan your flights and visa so that you have two weeks or a month of free time for travelling after the summer school finishes. |
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denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish
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| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:40 am Post subject: |
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I think I would have preferred Headway! We had some cheesy conversation book whose name I can't recall. The teachers at least had originals, but all of the students had black and white (this didn't become an issue until the lesson on colors) copies with pages missing, out of order, etc.
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| I think I would have preferred Headway! We had some cheesy conversation book whose name I can't recall. The teachers at least had originals, but all of the students had black and white (this didn't become an issue until the lesson on colors) copies with pages missing, out of order, etc. |
It is a good idea to bring your own materials. Your school may not have much to work with. I worked at a Chinese summer camp and we didn't even get a book to work from. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| jpvanderwerf2001, if you have a BA you might want to try Korea. You can get paid 2 million plus airfare. Or just a straight 3 million Won ($3000 USD)for one month. |
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