Nabble - TEFLChina (life) (teach) (job)

Re: (life) for those celebrating Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:59:28Z

--- On Wed, 11/25/09, Philip VanZandt <vansos@...> wrote:

HAVE A REALLY GREAT THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!
Phil VanZandt

Thank you, Phil. For any Yank in Beijing who wants to celebrate Thanksgiving, the German deli in the Lido Hotel takes orders for turkeys and does the cooking too. I introduced my Chinese and Australian colleagues to a Thanksgiving dinner this way. It cost 535 rmb a few years ago for a 15-pound bird. It was worth it. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Tom K.

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(teach) 10 Tasks for Training Teachers to Use Web 2.0 Tools

2009-11-26T07:09:56Z

Hi All

Just published these training tasks for teacher trainers or for teacher who want to develop their own skills a little.

I've published them on the British Council Teaching English site, but it does have the word blog in the URL so I'm wondering if it is blocked???

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/nik-peachey/10-tasks-training-teachers-use-web-20-tools

Anyway, if you can see them i hope they will be useful

Best

Nik Peachey | Learning Technology Consultant, Writer, Trainer
Teacher Development: http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/
News and Tips: http://quickshout.blogspot.com/
Student Activities: http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/
On Social media: http://bloggingandsocialmedia.blogspot.com/
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/NikPeachey

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-26T06:49:41Z

<"The (actor) (verb)ed the (object), therefore the (object) (verbed)". If the sentence sounds natural and logical, and the conclusion is obvious, then the verb is ergative. If the sentence sounds strange, or the conclusion seems really bizarre, then the verb is not ergative.>

Thank you, master Peg. This is another way of classifying verbs, an important tool for internalizing grammar. It's up there with "How many complements can a verb have? (subject only, subject and direct object, or subject, direct object and indirect object)

Nelson Bank

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-26T00:18:34Z

They have probably gotten a lot of those drills from their Chinese teachers,
haven't they?
</peg>

one would hope so, at least by the time they're studying composition. with
the emphasis on testing, lots of the CETs we're relying on to give Ss the
prereqs to what we're teaching aren't too concerned if their students don't
retain, say, passive voice AFTER THE TEST on passive voice. (that's not to
bash CETs; i've encountered a lot of FTEs who aren't concerned if Ss don't
retain eg passive voice after the LESSON on passive voice or, in some cases,
during it).

if they don't seem to have much difficulty doing the drills, spend less time
on the drills--a bit of teach-test-teach is probably safer than making
assumptions about what they've been taught in the past and how much of it
they've retained, especially with adults who might not have had an english
class for several years, or without much clear knowledge of what their CETs
have taught them when.

most of the Ss i've done PV lessons with are excellent at converting PV<>AV
when the verb's in the simple present, a little shaky (some of them) when
it's simple past, and quite weak (almost all of them) once the perfect
tenses are involved.

WHY a writer would choose to use PV vs. AV (excepting instances where info
is missing or redundant) is, to me, a question of style and/or register.
regrettably, i've never had students advanced enough in their writing to be
ready to move on from simply achieving clarity to achieving a given
(appropriate) tone or style in their writing. i do agree with peg that
(ultimately) WHY we use PV or AV is what's important, and that writers
(including NSs) not adequately considering the "why" is probably the chief
cause of overuse of PV.

nate.

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-25T17:44:10Z

Nelson,

Here's another treatment of ergative verbs. While it's heavily dependent on the Wikipedia article for examples, it includes a nifty test:

--begin quotation--

Here's a straightforward test to check whether a verb is ergative, assuming you're a fluent native speaker. Say the following sentence: "The (actor) (verb)ed the (object), therefore the (object) (verbed)". If the sentence sounds natural and logical, and the conclusion is obvious, then the verb is ergative. If the sentence sounds strange, or the conclusion seems really bizarre, then the verb is not ergative.

Example 1. Paint. The sentence is: "The painter painted the wall, therefore the wall painted."� The conclusion sounds extremely bizarre. Walls aren't known for their painting ability, after all. This verb is not ergative.

Example 2. Shatter. Sentence: "The rock shattered the window, therefore the window shattered."� The sentence sounds natural, and the conclusion is so obvious it doesn't even need stating. This verb is ergative.

Example 3. Bake. "I baked the bread, so the bread baked."� Ergative.

Example 4. Swallow. "The spy swallowed the poison, so the poison swallowed."� Huh?! Not ergative.

--end quotation--

The article can be found here:

<http://www.glowingfaceman.com/blog/ergative-verbs/>

I hope this is helpful.

--Peg

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(life) for those celebrating Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T09:33:29Z

HAVE A REALLY GREAT THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!
Phil VanZandt

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(job) Criminal Record Report

2009-11-25T09:04:53Z

Maybe this depends on the province or city?

We had to get criminal record reports last year from China for the time we lived in Guizhou & Heilongjiang. We had a Chinese friend obtain it for us (we Fed-Ex'd her power of atty to do so signed with a big notary stamp) in Guizhou and that worked.

Heilongjiang was nearly impossible because according to the local PBS, we "were not in country (China) AT PRESENT." They refused to give it to a Chinese attorney on our behalf, to a well-heeled American friend with loads of guanxi in the province, and to the university. PBS wanted us to fly there and get it ourselves!

The FAO at the university where we taught in Harbin did write a letter for us saying that the university knew of no criminal record for us, and that as our employer, they would be aware if there had been. We needed this for US Immigration for an adoption. USCIS only took the FAO's letter (along with documentation of all the ways we TRIED to get the actual criminal record) BECAUSE we had gotten a criminal record report WHILE we were in living in China also, though the USCIS wouldn't accept that one in itself because the signature on that one was dated several year ago -- though the criminal record would be for the exact same time period. I would hope that most organizations aren't that strict.

We decided if/when we live in China again, we will try to always get a criminal record while there before we leave so we'll have that on hand for the future if it's ever needed.

Sherrie Buscemi

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (job)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-25T06:07:29Z

>Ergative verbs can be divided into several categories

Thanks for the long version of 'ergative', although I really need even longer. I want to put some knowledge of ergative into my lesson plans, but still don't have enough info on what it means. The 'change of state' requirement is helping me along.
Nelson Bank

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (life) EMS (was Slow Boat FROM China)

2009-11-24T22:20:40Z

I used EMS from HeBei (live 2 hrs. south of Beijing) to my mom in Wisconsin to send her my tax papers since I couldn't file online. I'm thinking it was about 160 or 180 yuan and took just under a week.

I was happy with the service. Even at the post office the papers were easy to fill out and I was there for just a few minutes.

However my mom's mail carrier was unhappy since it messed up her route for the day. She told my mom that EMS packages must be delievered before 11am and my mom usually gets her mail at 2 or 3 pm.

Charlotte

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-24T20:14:21Z

Marta said
>If they want their writing to snap and grab the reader's attention, then they'll want to avoid using the passive voice like the plague.<

I encounter the reverse problem. I find it very difficult to get people to write business reports in the passive voice. It is always, I, I, I but this makes it subjective when it should be objective. Maybe it would help if students understand the purpose of using active vs passive and the appropriate domains.

Stehanie

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) Re: Writing

2009-11-24T20:00:05Z

--- On Wed, 11/25/09, dk <davekees1@...> wrote:

> I call it Teamwriting. [snip] I divide the blackboard space into vertical sections large enough to allow someone to stand in front of one section and large enough to contain the writing task (about one-meter wide). Then I divide the class into pairs or teams, assigning each set of students to a part of the board.>

I have used this successfully with high school classes in Japan and a friend tells me that she always uses it with her college writing classes. Even when I'm teaching in a room with projection equipment, I've found that getting students on their feet often results in more contributions from more members and quicker completion of the task.

--Peg

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-24T19:55:45Z

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, nate jarvis <natejarv@...> wrote:

> I'd want to give them a lot of open practice where they convert AV>PV and PV>AV, as well as a worksheet where they can practice writing those

They have probably gotten a lot of those drills from their Chinese teachers, haven't they? One result of such drills (in the absence of any other instruction about passive voice) is that students assume both forms are equally appropriate in any context.

I have three points to make on this subject:

1. What students need is instruction in the appropriate use of passive voice.

This site sums up what most people have contributed to this thread so far and includes some useful examples:

<http://www.protrainco.com/essays/passive.htm#ok>

2. But an area that never seems to be addressed (and which I run across often in my role as copy editor for a center that publishes dozens of professional journals) is the role of ergative verbs. Their use in scientific reports, in particular, is a way around using a lot of passive constructions. See the verbs listed in the first category in the excerpt from Wikipedia below:

--begin quotation--

In English, most verbs can be used intransitively, but ordinarily this does not change the role of the subject; consider, for example, "He ate the soup" (transitive) and "He ate" (intransitive), where the only difference is that the latter does not specify what was eaten. By contrast, with an ergative verb the role of the subject changes; consider "it broke the window" (transitive) and "the window broke" (intransitive).

Ergative verbs can be divided into several categories:

* Verbs suggesting a change of state - break, burst, form, heal, melt, tear, transform
* Verbs of cooking - bake, boil, cook, fry
* Verbs of movement - move, shake, sweep, turn, walk
* Verbs involving vehicles - drive, fly, reverse, run, sail

Some of these can be used intransitively in either sense: "I'm cooking the pasta" is fairly synonymous with both "The pasta is cooking" (as an ergative verb) and "I'm cooking", although it obviously gives more information than either.

Unlike a passive verb, a nominalization, an infinitive, or a gerund, which would allow the agent to be deleted but would also allow it to be included, the intransitive version of an ergative verb requires the agent to be deleted:

* "The window was broken" or "The window was broken by the burglar."
* "to break the window" or "for the burglar to break the window"
* "the breaking of the window" or "the breaking of the window by the burglar"
* "The window broke" but not "The window broke by the burglar."

Indeed, the intransitive form of an ergative verb almost suggests that there is no agent.

--end quotation--

Thus, there is no need to report "the crops were grown in a solution of slurry" or "the mixture was melted at a temperature of x" because the writers can use the intransitive form of the ergative verb.

3. A third area, for which I cannot find a website, is that for some synonym pairs, one verb is passive while the other is active and students (my Japanese students, who are often mentally translating from Japanese when it comes to higher lever vocabulary) often choose the passive one. A few examples off the top of my head:

was raised vs. grew up
was introduced to vs. met
was admitted to vs. entered

So the problem is sometimes one of vocabulary rather than grammar.

--Peg

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (life) Slow Boat FROM China

2009-11-24T18:52:56Z

Hi Jada - Why are you changing locations again? How many different places have you been over all these years? Are you just trying many different schools for a special purpose?

john Life's a journey not a destination, help others along the way.

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

Re: (teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-24T15:35:27Z

You can compare overuse of the passive voice to overusing the sustain pedal on the piano, which creates a legato effect, forcing all the notes to echo and overlap.
I tell students that although the passive voice lends their writing a note of authority, readers usually find it dull and uninteresting. If they want their writing to snap and grab the reader's attention, then they'll want to avoid using the passive voice like the plague.

Marta Holadek

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Writing: The Elements of Strunk

2009-11-24T15:18:35Z

I had a copy of The Elements of Strunk for over 20 years; I first got it when I earned my degree in journalism. It's just a small, thin book, but it's probably one of the most valuable guides for anyone writing English. I highly recommend it. Strunk advises writers to ruthlessly eliminate extra words.

Marta Holadek

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Re: Writing

2009-11-24T13:58:33Z

I have been doing research in a method I developed at a university and at
multinational businesses where I taught managers and businessmen. I call it
Teamwriting. It helps students to benefit from peers, helps students to
learn not only from their mistakes but from the mistakes of others and makes
the most economical and efficient use of the students' and the teacher's
time.

I divide the blackboard space into vertical sections large enough to allow
someone to stand in front of one section and large enough to contain the
writing task (about one-meter wide). Then I divide the class into pairs or
teams, assigning each set of students to a part of the board.

The writing tasks are everything from brainstorming a subject to writing a
paragraph to writing an essay (write small). This works quite well with a
class of about 20 but I've only been able to do it with a class of 40 when
we had blackboards on two walls of the classroom.

Sometimes each group gets a different topic to work on or sometimes it is
the same and they compete with the other groups. I get the whole class out
of their seats and up to the board. Usually one student will take up the
chalk while the rest of the team (from one to three others) offers
suggestions and corrections during the writing process. I find this gets the
students intimately involved with the language process and able to benefit
from the help of some of their classmates - thus the peer-learning factor.

After the writing is done, usually terminated by a set period of time, I
will examine each writing sample, one-by-one, with the entire class looking
on. First, I will ask the class to offer corrections. The class really
focuses on this activity. You can see every eye examining the sample trying
to see if it is correct or not. Some speak up. Others may have ideas about
the writing even though they may not voice them. But they're all involved.
Then I will offer my corrections, if any.

Some of my classrooms are equipped with AV equipment, essentially a video
camera and projector, which allow the projection of books or papers. If the
classroom has this sort of equipment the students do not need to write at
the blackboard but can do their teamwriting on a piece of paper that the
teacher can project and correct before the class.

Teamwriting seems to be more effective than personally correcting individual
writings or conferencing with students, and especially so when considering
the economy of time. It allows every student to test their ideas about the
language, it enables immediate feedback and is a quick, easy and engaging
way to "learn from the mistakes of others".

Dave Kees

GUANGZHOU, CHINA
Email - DAVEKEES@...
Chat - Skype:DAVEKEES QQ:897869963
Blog - http://DAVEKEES.blogspot.com
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/DAVEKEES

INSIGHTS INTO TEFL
Blog - http://INSIGHTS-INTO-TEFL.blogspot.com
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/INSIGHTS_TEFL

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(life) EMS (was Slow Boat FROM China)

2009-11-24T10:55:08Z

Aloha,

Thanks to all who have responded to my question about snail mail from China.

I have another question. An American friend of mine had a document sent to her in Oregon from China by her Chinese husband through EMS. He had to pay an arm and a leg for it to be expressed to her within one week; about 200 RMB.

I've never used EMS and I was wondering about their services. Are they reliable as my friend has told me?

Jada

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(teach) Writing

2009-11-24T02:42:18Z

>These students will be writing
the Test for English Majors (TEM)8 exam next semester. Any thoughts?

"Western Civilization with Chinese Comparisons" Blair and McCormack
ISBN 7-309-0511-8 , while they were visiting profs at BFSU in 2006, has a
CD with 2 pages of direct comparison. (amongst 900 pages of other docs).
It helped juniors Advanced writing.

THe Elements of Style, Strunk and WHite, available as a reprint in H-K,
ISBN 0-205-30902-X but I haven't read it.

I think I have 2 pages as a doc file somewhere...

Dave Nevin

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) passive voice (was: Writing)

2009-11-23T22:54:33Z

One of the specific problems Russ mentions is overuse of passive voice. I've
done mini-lectures/demonstrations on how to turn active voice into passive
and how to turn passive voice into active both with and without a convenient
"by [whoever]" phrase. Usually this entails something like "the mouse... the
cat... killed.... who did what?" which ought to be fairly intuitive. When we
get to turning something like "My phone was stolen" into "[Someone/A thief/A
criminal] stole my phone." it becomes obvious that "someone" doesn't add any
real information, and from there we get to the idea that if you have the
information you should give it, if you don't have you should find it, and
only then should you consider using passive voice. Obviously "a thief stole
my phone" or "My mother bore me" don't add any information not implied in
the PV versions.

I'd want to give them a lot of open practice where they convert AV>PV and
PV>AV, as well as a worksheet where they can practice writing those
conversions. Once you're sure they're actually able to convert PV>AV (that
is, mechanically) it's (hopefully) a simple matter of telling them "I found
three PV sentences in your essay I feel would be better in AV." It will
probably take a while before there's no problems with it, especially if
you've got classes so large you can't give yr Ss much in the way of
individual feedback, but if you've held their hand and walked them through
the steps of undoing what we all tend to consider a misstep, then point it
out on a regular basis, they should do it much less frequently.

Nate.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) Writing

2009-11-23T22:35:56Z

One thing I'll do is work on structure without writing any real prose. We do
mind maps and outlines just as exercises--not as prep for an essay--as well
as for prewriting. Sometimes I'll number the paragraphs in a student's essay
then identify the main idea of each. If the main idea is repeated,
non-existent or irrelevant to the main idea of the piece as a whole I might
point that out. That's also the first step in looking at a student's essay
and describing its structure using a mind map or outline, which is also
something students can do as part of peer review.

One thing you might try is to

1 put Ss in groups of six
2 each one writes an outline for a well-structured 5 paragraph essay
3 Ss pass their outlines to the S on their right
4 Ss write the 1st paragraph for the outline from the S on their left
5 they pass to the right
6 write the 2nd paragraph, based on the outline and 1st paragraph
7 pass to the right
8 and so on

if the outline isn't well planned, if the introduction is poorly written or
someone starts to ramble, they'll let each other know.

i did this with mind maps a few days ago. we did three branches off three
branches (so 3^0 + 3^1 + 3^3 = 13) and one student picked "planets" as the
main topic. the subtopics they put in were "moon", "sun", and "earth".
several students pointed out that while they could think of things that fit
under the subtopics, none of them and anything to do with the main topic
(also that the moon and the sun aren't actually planets). i just smiled and
said "and you're better off knowing that BEFORE you write than AFTER you
write" and told them not to worry about it that day.

i think it can be a forest/trees situation when they're looking at several
hundred words in an L2, but is often much clearer when working with an
abbreviated description of the content of an essay, either before (in
planning) or after (in reverse-engineered "planning" for purposes of
analysis). doing essays without any actual writing might be a good first
step.

nate.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (job) Criminal Record Report

2009-11-23T16:33:50Z

On Fri, 11/20/09, dewi6112 <dewi6112@...> wrote:

I have just returned home to the UK after six and a half years teaching in Guangzhou. I am looking for work as a Supply Teacher here and have just been informed by the Teacher Employment Bureau that I will need a Criminal Record Report from the police in China.

Does anyone know where I would write or email to, to get this?

Common sense should prevail. If you were not deported from China, your record is clean. English bureaucrats being what they are, I realize there are no higher brain functions going on there. You should contact the PSB for the last school you taught at in GZ. If you left on good terms, the FAO might be able to help also.

Tom K.

From forum: TEFLChina (job)

Re: (job) Criminal Record Report

2009-11-23T10:05:22Z

If letters from or school do not hold any ground I would try and ask your
school to get in touch with the local PSB. From what I know of the UK system
you should be able to ask your school to get in touch with the CRB in the
UK. The Teachers Employment Bureau normally follow the directives from the
CRB. So if you can prove with your correspondence with your school in China
and the PSB that it is not possible for you to get a record for the last
6months they might not require it.

It is worth a shot. I would also try speaking to the CRB in UK directly,
they are very friendly and helpful.

punam

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 9:05 AM, Don williamson <willdon13@...> wrote:

>
>
> ________________________________
> From: dewi6112 dewi6112@... <dewi6112%40yahoo.co.uk>
>
> .
>
> I have just returned home to the UK after six and a half years teaching in
> Guangzhou. I am looking for work as a Supply Teacher here and have just been
> informed by the Teacher Employment Bureau that I will need a Criminal Record
> Report from the police in China.
>
> Does anyone know where I would write or email to, to get this?
>
> Dewi
> >>>>>>
>
> Hmmm....This is a first. I would try your last FAO and, I guess, the
> records would have to come from the local PSB
> where you were working. Without sounding negative I think this would
> probably fall thru the China beaurocratic cracks.
> Would not recommendation letters from your schools suffice? Good luck and
> let us know what happens?
>
> Don
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (job)

Re: (teach) Writing

2009-11-23T06:50:44Z

russssch wrote:
>
> I've just started teaching my first Discourse Writing class and was
> wondering if others had come across the same problems with Chinese
> students' English writing with it's indirectness, it's inappropriate
> word choices, it's average at best use of English grammar and it's
> over-dependence on the passive.

In the past I taught expository writing for sophomores in Beijing. They
had many of the same problems you describe. Freshman and sophomore
American undergraduates, in my experience of TAing here, often have
remarkably similar problems with indirectness, overuse of the passive,
and inappropriate word choice. It is not simply a Chinese problem!

One essential problem seems to me the fact that students have not often
read many essays similar to the ones they are supposed to be producing.
I have never been able to find a good collection of model
university-level student papers. Has anyone found one? I always
regretted not having a massive collection of example essays available
for my Chinese students to consult.

I differ from Mary Kelley a little with regards to Chinglish. If we
teach students to rely on teacher correction ("this phrase here is
Chinglish, this is correct") to fix errors then we make them reliant on
us and give ourselves unnecessary work. If students have access to the
internet, why can't they Google every phrase of which they are not
certain? You may need to teach students how best to use Google for this
to work. Students may also think this is too time-consuming -- but this
is, in my opinion, time they should be spending (and not time the
teacher, who has to grade many many papers, should be spending).

I tell all my students that papers can never be too clear. Use of the
passive and general indirectness make it difficult for the reader.
Clarity is something we all have to work on when we write, and I have
yet too see a student paper that is too clear. I read Chinese and I am
not greatly convinced by the arguments students present about it "not
being Chinese to state things directly". This is not to deny there are
some differences between Chinese and English essay writing. But I would
suggest, rather, that, the problem is often that students are unsure of
what they want to say. I always spend a lot of time on thesis and topic
sentences. If these are not clear, nothing else will be.

Julian Suddaby

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From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (teach) Writing

2009-11-23T05:52:12Z

>writing indirectly employing 'beautiful phrases'

Do you have time to do 5-minute 1-on-1's in your classes? There's a lot more energy in this format, and students pick up more evaluative feedback. Still, it's a long-haul effort, worth it.
Nelson Bank

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Writing

2009-11-23T05:39:23Z

Hi, Chinglish is a normal part of the learning process. I point out this is Chinglish, that's English, etc. I will help them re-write/correct the essay. After many times they get it.
MK

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Blog topic re-routed to Life

2009-11-23T05:26:15Z

Thanks for the input on Blogs. All further Blog posts will be re-routed to Life.
Teach List Moderator

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Are you as smart as a CEO?

2009-11-23T03:49:26Z

Here is a chance to have a go at being CEO. You and your students can
experience the hard work and the thrills of starting a business. Make
decisions about the product, service, customer, sourcing, marketing and
more. Then experience the ecstasy of victory or agony of defeat.

This is a business simulation website that is suitable for
upper-intermediate students. Students will have the opportunity to be
introduced to words like ethical, brand-driven, recyclable, labor costs,
etc.

http://www.btplc.com/Societyandenvironment/Businessgame/BetterBusinessChoice
s/index.html

OK, I failed. But will the government bail me out?

Dave Kees

GUANGZHOU, CHINA
Email - DAVEKEES@...
Chat - Skype:DAVEKEES QQ:897869963
Blog - http://DAVEKEES.blogspot.com
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/DAVEKEES

INSIGHTS INTO TEFL
Blog - http://INSIGHTS-INTO-TEFL.blogspot.com
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/INSIGHTS_TEFL

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

(teach) Writing

2009-11-23T02:05:59Z

Hi to all,
I've just started teaching my first Discourse Writing class and was wondering if others had come across the same problems with Chinese students' English writing with it's indirectness, it's inappropriate word choices, it's average at best use of English grammar and it's over-dependence on the passive. I understand why those problems are there I think, the students are producing inter-language, English with Chinese characteristics as I refer to it, but I wonder if any teachers out there could tell how they surmount these problems. How do you get a Chinese student to correctly structure an argumentative essay in English in the requisite direct style rather than writing indirectly employing 'beautiful phrases'(sic)?
I'm teaching seniors at a Normal university (when they are not job hunting that is)
I have recommended some websites like the Online Writing Lab for help with General Academic Writing and in particular with Argumentative Writing and I am encouraging the reading of Op-Eds in native English newspapers and magazines to see how argumentative writing is written within word limits. These students will be writing the Test for English Majors (TEM)8 exam next semester. Any thoughts?
Thanks

Russ Taylor

From forum: TEFLChina (teach)

Re: (life) getting chinese wife out of china

2009-11-22T20:06:01Z

I know my wife does not expect to ever get anything as she is now an American Citizen and the Chinese passport was never returned to us. In fact all of her possessions that were left in her apartment located in the Hospital dormitory disappeared. Fat chance anything will come her way from the government.

john Life's a journey not a destination, help others along the way.

>Does you wife get anything for retirement after moving to another country?
>
> thanks
> Ron

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

Re: (job) Criminal Record Report

2009-11-22T19:35:59Z

________________________________
From: dewi6112 dewi6112@...
.

I have just returned home to the UK after six and a half years teaching in Guangzhou. I am looking for work as a Supply Teacher here and have just been informed by the Teacher Employment Bureau that I will need a Criminal Record Report from the police in China.

Does anyone know where I would write or email to, to get this?

Dewi
>>>>>>

Hmmm....This is a first. I would try your last FAO and, I guess, the records would have to come from the local PSB
where you were working. Without sounding negative I think this would probably fall thru the China beaurocratic cracks.
Would not recommendation letters from your schools suffice? Good luck and let us know what happens?

Don

From forum: TEFLChina (job)

(life) Re: Blogs Blocked

2009-11-22T19:07:02Z

Or you could use a VPN service. I use ExpressVPN (www.expressvpn.com) ... $12.95 amonth/$69.95 for 6. Money back guarantee; AND the IP address says you're in the U.S., so you can view a lot of the sites that don't work outside the U.S.

KTF
RAY

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

Re: (life) Slow Boat FROM China

2009-11-22T17:57:10Z

Sheila wrote:

Hopefully you'll get it soon, or a resend.....
>
>
I've asked my invitation to be re-sent so many times and I've asked it to be sent via Fedex or UPS because I have seen their vehicles several times rolling through my hometown.

I'm thinking maybe my letter is somewhere on the US mainland since it is cheaper to send stuff to Hawaii from Shanghai via New York? Go figure that one out!

Jada

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(life) Blogs Blocked

2009-11-22T16:56:22Z

Dear Susan,

There is a way to get around the "Chinese Firewall" when it comes to blogs.

Find some Chinese computer majors/geeks/students to tweak your computer and you
should be OK.

I had my Peking University students, majoring in computers, show me how to do it last January. You need them because Chinese is needed to tweak the computer to fly over the firewall.

One of the joys about working in a Chinese University is the abundance of free help you have for your computer. If you sneak these student's a tip, (majority will not accept a tip and will give it back to you) they will love you for life.

They say you know you have a friend if they will help you paint or help you move. Well, sneak these computer guys a tip and you make some new loyal and real friends.

I'll have to ask some of my computer friends to look into the blog issue and get back to you. Let me know what you find out on your side.

Best,
Mike
Dezhou University

--- Susan Kelly <skellyatsogang@...> wrote:

From: Susan Kelly <skellyatsogang@...>

It's frustrating as many professional information is found in blogs.
Just now I couldn't get into Shutterfly. Is that a fluke or another blocked site?

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(life) Blogs ARE blocked

2009-11-22T16:55:35Z

I have just found out that Dave Kees' blogs are also inaccessible from my computer. Why?
---
GUANGZHOU, CHINA
Email - DAVEKEES@... <DAVEKEES%40gmail.com>
Chat - Skype:DAVEKEES QQ:897869963
*X* Blog - http://DAVEKEES.blogspot.com <http://davekees.blogspot.com/>
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/DAVEKEES

INSIGHTS INTO TEFL
*X* Blog -
http://INSIGHTS-INTO-TEFL.blogspot.com<http://insights-into-tefl.blogspot.com/>
Podcast - http://gcast.com/u/INSIGHTS_TEFL
---

Steve NoNes

From forum: TEFLChina (life)

(life) Blogs ARE blocked

2009-11-22T16:54:57Z

Dave Kees wrote:

*A few blogs are blocked in China but the word "blog" does not trigger any blocking. For example, these blogs are easily assessable:

**http://www.typepad.com/* <http://www.typepad.com/>*
**http://www.livejournal.com/* <http://www.livejournal.com/>*

And this,
**http://blogsearch.google.com/*
*
*

I wouldn't say 'a few', since 95% of my attempts to open a site containing the word 'blog' have been unsuccessful.

The links (*http://www.typepad.com/ and http://www.livejournal.com/) are probably blog spaces, but the domain name does not contain the dangerous word.

http://blogsearch.google.com/ is accessible just for a demonstration
of openness or for some other vague reason. (The BBC was blocked a couple of years ago, too, but now http://www.bbc.co.uk/ is open.)*

I don't believe Mr. Peachey's helpful sites have anything to do with
politics in this country, however they ARE inaccessible. Why? Why do they trigger the Golden Shield?

Try them. They could be blocked only in Guangdong and open in other
provinces.

Nik Peachey | Learning Technology Consultant, Writer, Trainer
Teacher Development: http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/
News and Tips: http://quickshout.blogspot.com/
Student Activities: http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/
On Social media: http://bloggingandsocialmedia.blogspot.com/

Google's blog is also inaccessible: http://www.blogger.com/

Greetings from
Steve NoNes

From forum: TEFLChina (life)