Tips for Teaching in Mian Yang from Volunteer Lorraine, Spring 2009

What experience do you feel you gained?

	Teaching - I have taught adults before but I have never taught a large group of children before. Therefore I was able to learn more about how to handle many children of young age in classes while enabling them to gain something from what I have to offer in teaching them English.
	I learnt more about people of different cultures. Even in China, the culture between cities can differ vastly and now I understand people in the Sichuan province better.
	I have improved my Mandarin tremendously over there, while also learning a couple of phrases in Sichuanese.

What was the best thing about your placement?

I went to Mian Yang during springtime, which was a beautiful time to be there – the flowers and blossoms were beautiful and the weather was pleasant. Everyday on my way to school I was greeted with beautiful fields of flowers, and the teachers had also taken me around to see some of the pear and peach blossoms around the city. Also the students were very welcoming and they really enjoyed my classes. Some students even asked me for my autograph! I seriously felt like a Hong Kong movie star!

Would you recommend this placement to anyone else?

Yes I would definitely recommend this to my friends and other volunteers.

What type of person do you think this placement would suit?

Someone who is open minded, willing to help and also willing to live in rural conditions. Life in Mian Yang is very slow-moving and relaxing, so if volunteers are looking for something more fast-paced then I would recommend Shanghai instead.

Can you describe a typical day?

I get up around 7 to get ready for school. After having breakfast with my host family I will then head out with my host teacher to the school. Teachers have to get in by 8am even though classes officially start around 8.30. Each class lasts for around 40 minutes and there are 4 sessions in the morning, and 3 in the afternoon – 7 in total. The afternoon session starts at 2.30. There is no canteen in the school so I usually go back to eat lunch and dinner with my host family. On a typical day I will have usually anywhere between 2-4 classes throughout the day. Besides the English teacher in charge for the class, some other English teachers will also sit in for my lesson to observe what kind of games I play or the lesson plan I have come up with. The classes I give are oral English lessons, which are not from the textbook, but something which can help the students practice speaking their English while listening to me speak English with the correct pronunciation and grammar. During my free time in the school, when I have no lessons, I will usually go to the computer room to research on new materials for my next few lessons, such as downloading relevant pictures for the “Show and Tell” sessions, or looking up for more exciting games to be played in classes while learning English. Sometimes, I am requested to visit other rural schools/ schools in Mian Yang city to help observe the English classes given by their teachers. I can then give them some comments on their pronunciation as well as grammar mistakes. However as these activities are during schooldays, I will usually have to reschedule my classes in the school I was teaching at to another day.

General Comments

I would advise volunteers to bring more English materials from home, such as maps, pictures, flags, etc. The most useful thing I have brought was my own laptop – most schools here do not have their own computer in classes, so having a laptop was really useful for my “Show and Tell” lessons, and it makes up for the lack of facilities here. My laptop also contains all the digital pictures I have taken over the past few years, so to show the places I have been to some of the students and teachers was an eye-opening experience for them. As the students here speak very little English outside of their textbook vocabulary, I usually write down my lesson plan in a simple English script, in order to avoid speaking too fast or too much such that students do not understand. I also try to avoid doing any translation into Mandarin (although some teachers are more than enthusiastic to do so). Usually when explained properly with actions, students can understand my English after repeating my sentences 2-3 times. Culturally speaking, volunteers should go to Mian Yang with an open mind. As most people here have not seen a foreigner before, they tend to be very welcoming, sometimes too much. Teachers want to do everything with you and they think it’s not safe for volunteers to go out on their own. The teachers also organize a lot of activities for the volunteer. I would of course try to join as much as possible, as this enables the teachers to practice their English more. One exception however is Mahjong, which is a favourite pastime in Mian Yang, where they only speak in Sichuanese when they play that. Don’t feel like you have to join in and play if you don’t want to, as they tend to play with money and it is akin to gambling.