正文
前面讲到16岁的儿子这个暑假到山东临沂附近的乡下中学教英文。 下面是他的日记数则，描述了他在那里的生活和工作情况，也透露出一个在美国长大的孩子对中国农村和中国学校和教育方法的观察。
We came to 抗大中学 on the 16th, grandpa and Uncle stayed with me till 4 in the afternoon. I was shown my living quarters – seemed nice. Walls with faded/peeling white paint. A 28" (best estimate) color tv with cable, a nice overhead fan, and a set of "living necessities" prepared for me by the school. These necessities included a metal basin, a thermos, a cup, and some other items that are currently eluding me. A bed, of faded white painted wood， sat covered under mosquito netting. I settled down for that night, all okay.
Now, a quick deion of the school: There are two main classroom buildings, and a "lab" building – for experiments and such. The two main buildings each have three floors, for classrooms. My dorm is on "faculty row" – a teacher's dorm. It's better than the students' living quarters (around 20 people to one room, bunk beds). I'm perfectly fine with this setup. The only huge negative: the bathrooms and sanitation.
The bathrooms. There are no toilets. There are no urinals. If you have to go "number two," you squat over a rectangular hole, and do your thing. Bear in mind, these holes run two lines, of around 20, no walls, nothing. Privacy? Hah. As for "number one"-ers, the urinal is a small canal, which a line of people pee into. The smell! I doubt there is a word in the entire English lexicon to describe it. It's something that one must experience to truly appreciate. If you think taking a dump at home smells bad, multiply it by 20, and by 20 again, and you still wouldn't be close.
The lack of a shower is bothersome. Excruciatingly bothersome. Going to sleep without a shower feels sticky – really uncomfortable. What the heck; bed time. Will write tomorrow.
Yesterday: First day of teaching – 7th graders. It was really fun. The 7th graders are a boatload of fun. I start with a quick review of vocab – each student orally says one word, I repeat, and then the class repeats it – until all the students each say one word. I try and create a more relaxed, American-like, environment for teaching. I think that the students, under China's rigorous education system, seem too stiff, afraid to get answers wrong. The right environment is extremely important for the acquisition of a new language. With stiff rules and rote learning 100% of the time, there is a dearth of interest, which leads students to give up and dislike English class. And so after vocabulary, I have 1 on 1 conversations with random students in the class utilizing the simplest of topics, such as: "How are you?" and "What sports do you like." They are not used to such 1 on 1 conversations and many are afraid to reply, fearing the traditional Chinese reprimanding if they do not answer the question correctly. I want to instill an atmosphere where the students aren't afraid to speak up and ask questions. After these conversations, we play a game where the class is divided into two teams and each team sends up a person to represent them. At the front, the two representatives try and spell a word I say. The first one to write it correctly wins their team a point. The reward for winning is 5 less words on next class's vocabulary quiz. After this, I let the 7th graders go as it is the end of the period.
First day of teaching 8th graders. I used the same system as I did with the 7th graders. The 8th graders seem more stiff than the 7th graders, not as open. I changed the curriculum a little bit as I expect more from the 8th graders than the 7th, and so for homework I assigned sentence making. Only 5 sentences, at least 8 words each. They have never done this before, and I think it is important to learning English. I will progress to small stories after this exercise.
I love teaching the 7th graders. They are much more open and easy to handle. There is this one cute little girl who, the second I entered the room, raised her hand. Thinking that something was wrong, I called on her, and she proceeded to race to the front of the room, picked up a piece of chalk, and stood ready at the board. I laughed. She had probably heard that I was going to go over vocabulary, and she was ready to write! So eager!
Haven't written in some time. Let's see. I've been quite busy. Got back on Monday from Linyi, classes throughout. I've talked to a couple students. One in particular (name to come later), his parents are farmers; they plant corn, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. Also,
I found out that the tuition for a border is 50 yuan per "semester" (half a year). He has decided that after middle school he will not attend high school. He intends to get a job and make money, forfeiting his education. This weekend he intends to return home to help out the parents. (He's an only child, and lives about 30 minutes from the school)
He plans on capturing scorpions to sell. 150Yuan per 500mg.
I went to a student's house today. She's a day student, and lives about 15 minutes. Her dad makes windows, and has also been contracted by the school to supply windows for the new school building that is almost done. I ate dinner there, and talked a lot with the mom. We also went to visit the elementary school, which is extremely close to their house, it's between their house and the middle school. Got back to school around 9:30ish, washed up. It's about 12 now, time to sleep. Just a couple quick notes. Health is alright. I spend most of my time mingling with the students and teachers. I'm hardly ever in the room during the day. Sleep now. I'll try and write more later.
Today school went alright. I'm not so fond of the 8th graders as they are a bit harder to handle. I enjoy the 7th grade classes very much. I love teaching them. It is very enjoyable.
Tonight, I went to 张辛（a student) 's home and invited their family out for dinner. Food was good, though I did drink half a bottle of beer. I think I'll be fine. I'm very tired now, perhaps I will write later.
We came to 抗大中学 on the 16th, grandpa and Uncle stayed with me till 4 in the afternoon. I was shown my living quarters – seemed nice. Walls with faded/peeling white paint. A 28" (best estimate) color tv with cable, a nice overhead fan, and a set of "living necessities" prepared for me by the school. These necessities included a metal basin, a thermos, a cup, and some other items that are currently eluding me. A bed, of faded white painted wood， sat covered under mosquito netting. I settled down for that night, all okay.
Now, a quick deion of the school: There are two main classroom buildings, and a "lab" building – for experiments and such. The two main buildings each have three floors, for classrooms. My dorm is on "faculty row" – a teacher's dorm. It's better than the students' living quarters (around 20 people to one room, bunk beds). I'm perfectly fine with this setup. The only huge negative: the bathrooms and sanitation.
The bathrooms. There are no toilets. There are no urinals. If you have to go "number two," you squat over a rectangular hole, and do your thing. Bear in mind, these holes run two lines, of around 20, no walls, nothing. Privacy? Hah. As for "number one"-ers, the urinal is a small canal, which a line of people pee into. The smell! I doubt there is a word in the entire English lexicon to describe it. It's something that one must experience to truly appreciate. If you think taking a dump at home smells bad, multiply it by 20, and by 20 again, and you still wouldn't be close.
The lack of a shower is bothersome. Excruciatingly bothersome. Going to sleep without a shower feels sticky – really uncomfortable. What the heck; bed time. Will write tomorrow.
Yesterday: First day of teaching – 7th graders. It was really fun. The 7th graders are a boatload of fun. I start with a quick review of vocab – each student orally says one word, I repeat, and then the class repeats it – until all the students each say one word. I try and create a more relaxed, American-like, environment for teaching. I think that the students, under China's rigorous education system, seem too stiff, afraid to get answers wrong. The right environment is extremely important for the acquisition of a new language. With stiff rules and rote learning 100% of the time, there is a dearth of interest, which leads students to give up and dislike English class. And so after vocabulary, I have 1 on 1 conversations with random students in the class utilizing the simplest of topics, such as: "How are you?" and "What sports do you like." They are not used to such 1 on 1 conversations and many are afraid to reply, fearing the traditional Chinese reprimanding if they do not answer the question correctly. I want to instill an atmosphere where the students aren't afraid to speak up and ask questions. After these conversations, we play a game where the class is divided into two teams and each team sends up a person to represent them. At the front, the two representatives try and spell a word I say. The first one to write it correctly wins their team a point. The reward for winning is 5 less words on next class's vocabulary quiz. After this, I let the 7th graders go as it is the end of the period.
First day of teaching 8th graders. I used the same system as I did with the 7th graders. The 8th graders seem more stiff than the 7th graders, not as open. I changed the curriculum a little bit as I expect more from the 8th graders than the 7th, and so for homework I assigned sentence making. Only 5 sentences, at least 8 words each. They have never done this before, and I think it is important to learning English. I will progress to small stories after this exercise.
I love teaching the 7th graders. They are much more open and easy to handle. There is this one cute little girl who, the second I entered the room, raised her hand. Thinking that something was wrong, I called on her, and she proceeded to race to the front of the room, picked up a piece of chalk, and stood ready at the board. I laughed. She had probably heard that I was going to go over vocabulary, and she was ready to write! So eager!
Haven't written in some time. Let's see. I've been quite busy. Got back on Monday from Linyi, classes throughout. I've talked to a couple students. One in particular (name to come later), his parents are farmers; they plant corn, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. Also,
I found out that the tuition for a border is 50 yuan per "semester" (half a year). He has decided that after middle school he will not attend high school. He intends to get a job and make money, forfeiting his education. This weekend he intends to return home to help out the parents. (He's an only child, and lives about 30 minutes from the school)
He plans on capturing scorpions to sell. 150Yuan per 500mg.
I went to a student's house today. She's a day student, and lives about 15 minutes. Her dad makes windows, and has also been contracted by the school to supply windows for the new school building that is almost done. I ate dinner there, and talked a lot with the mom. We also went to visit the elementary school, which is extremely close to their house, it's between their house and the middle school. Got back to school around 9:30ish, washed up. It's about 12 now, time to sleep. Just a couple quick notes. Health is alright. I spend most of my time mingling with the students and teachers. I'm hardly ever in the room during the day. Sleep now. I'll try and write more later.
Today school went alright. I'm not so fond of the 8th graders as they are a bit harder to handle. I enjoy the 7th grade classes very much. I love teaching them. It is very enjoyable.
Tonight, I went to 张辛（a student) 's home and invited their family out for dinner. Food was good, though I did drink half a bottle of beer. I think I'll be fine. I'm very tired now, perhaps I will write later.
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