How could Taiwanese speak better language here?

Man, it’s nice to know there are people out there who truely enjoy teaching English in Taiwan, especially in the buxiban set-up. I, myself, have no balls to even remotely think about setting my feet into these places. All the powers to you guys out there.

Alien, thanks for the articles. It was great reading for me. By the way, where do you guys go to get English reading material? Either fiction or non-fiction? Casual reading? I can’t read too many online books as my eyes are popping out of my ugly gace in no time.

Thanks a million,

Crunchy, I think there are few of us who are teaching because we truly enjoy it and not just for the money. In the past I chose buxibans simply because I don’t like babysitting (teaching kindergarten) and love teaching when the students are really interested in learning and apply themselves. Eventually I got out of buxibans and did more corporate teaching, business English type of stuff, but buxibans are great places for those who are just starting out and looking for solid work hours.

Reading material: I live really close to a Cave’s Books, so I usually go there, although there are many bigger and better bookstores scattered all over the city to choose from. The library is also a good place to go.

Just a quick note, could it be that most Taiwanese men usually opt for more non-social studies courses such as engineering, physics, computer science (courses that do not put an emphasis on communication) mainly to be able to ‘care’ as the major breadwinner lateron. Add on to that is the 2 years non-productive mandory military training, that is basically a total waste of time. Result, that these guys can read or write good English, but it is technical English.

Females on the other hand, I would suspect are under less pressure, to learn for a living/career, thus would be more free to practise different social courses that they are interested in, learn English, have fun, go out & explore the world and in this way "have more opportunities to practise English?

A friend of mine is a college professor teaching Spanish, and says usually 95% of his class are female?!

Just a thought.

Bao-Bao, where is Cave’s Books? Would you mind pointing me to the right direction? I don’t live in Taipei so my choices are limited, but I make monthly trip to Taipei to satisfy my craving. What library are you referring to? Thanks for the tip.

I don’t doubt some teachers enjoy teaching; I just can’t believe they are so brave to teach at buxibans. I keep my distance away from them. As for baby-sitting, not my piece of pie either; I can barely handle myself. Believe me, I have the highest regard to these people. I bought three pots of plants two weeks ago and pronounce them dead as of yesterday! :unamused:

Crunchnumber, this is really in the wrong forum, but I’m sure moderator Alien will forgive me, just this once. :wink:

If you’re only coming to Taipei once a month, the easiest decent bookshop for you is probably the main Eslite branch on Dunhua South Road.

From the Taipei train station, just hop onto the blue line MRT toward City Hall and get off at the Dunhua/Chungxiao stop. Eslite is just a few yards from there.

If you go north from there for about three (?) blocks (Dunhua S. Rd/Nanjing E. Rd. intersection), you’ll find Fnac, which is massive and full of books, computers, hi-fi equipment, cameras, etc. The shop is not so easy to see because its in a basement, but if you look for the huge Ikea signs, you’ll find Fnac in the same complex.

There are lots of other places, but they’re probably a bit harder to find if you’re only here now and then.

To my knowledge, Eslite- the one Sandman just directed you to- is the biggest bookstore here. If you follow his direction I’m certain you’ll find it a jackpot. In response to the library, there a few that I know of. Here’s a sample:

National Central Library 2361-9132
20 ChungShan S. Road, near the Chiang KaiShek Memorial (a 5-10 minute walk from Taipei Station). This is the largest library in Taipei, possibly in Taiwan.

National Taiwan University (Tai-Da) has a new library and it’s open to the public (I.D. required). Not sure what the address is but the university can be found on nearly any map of Taipei if you don’t know where it’s at.

Good luck!

Bao-Bao & Sandy man, thanks a lot. I am not greedy. If one bookstore or library satisfies my needs, I’m a happy camper. I’ll check them out next weekend (hiding this weekend due to typhoon).

You (guys) are simply the best (by Tina Turner)! 8)

P.S. Yeah, I tend to forget what my original question is and dive into something totally un-related. :shock:

Why do the Chinese/Taiwanese people speak English poorly? I think that an important consideration is that the majority of Chinese people seem to lack the gift of gab. This is also because if you ask them their opinions about many issues, oftentimes they don’t have well formed opinions, and as a result they do not have any need to pass those opinions on to others.

Hence, there is no need to speak in English outside the classroom. So they don’t learn the conversation skills, because they don’t converse.

Also, most of the Chinese people whom I taught over the years were not interested in grammar details, peculiarities of usage, idiomatic expressions, etc. This is also reflected in the way that English is taught. For example, consider the phrase “it doesn’t hold water”. If you look in a dictionary, you may see an expression which is a rough (very rough) translation of this expression. But neither the compilers of the dictionary, or the students (in my experience) care very much about the origin of the term and the thinking behind it.

The same goes for verb tenses. The students cannot do them, and when the teacher explains (even in an advanced class), the sudents get bored. But, without that kind of research into the language, and paying attention to details, you cannot learn English well.

My NT$ 2.

What you said about Taiwanese may be true.

But I must point out one thing: the vast majority of Taiwanese who choose to study English in buxiban don’t speak English well (at least they don’t learn English well at schools), and lack the gift of language learning. That’s why they go to buxiban, seeking for extra help in English learning. So you may only base your findings on a specific group of subjects (but who knows, maybe that group happens to be a valid sample that represents the majority of Taiwanese!)

So if those buxiban students are really poor English speakers, of course they can’t efficiently and effectively express their opinions in English. This makes them look like idiots in the eyes of native English speakers. Actually I would be amazed if most of those students are interested in details of the language. After all, they just try to find a way as quick and easy as possible to speak English!

Hey Guest & A-Da,

Thank you both very much for expressing your thoughts here. You both have great points, at least, they explained some of my confusion. I’m sure Taiwanese (adults or children) learn English for various reasons, but one thing remains true is that there is no quick fix of learning a language regardless a new or an old language. I totally agree with A-Da here. It takes years of practice and learning to become good at it.

Guest had a great point though, about Taiwanese are not well-rounded. An English-learning TV program interviewed 5th & 6th graders in a bi-lingual school and asked them “what do you want to be when you grow up and why”. It’s a simple question but most students either didn’t know how to answer the question (it’s possible they didn’t even understand the question) or couldn’t tell the interviewer why they wanted to be so-and-so. It is frustrating to see that kids can’t express what they want to say. I remember when I used to tutor American kids, I’d have a hard time to shut them up once they started talking! :unamused:

How could we interest the Taiwanese in the details of English? I took Japanese when I was in college and liked the stories my teacher told us about the verbs or vocabulary. It’s not the same case as Taiwanese learning English? Puzzled…

Later,

[quote=“crunchnumber”]I remember when I used to tutor American kids, I’d have a hard time to shut them up once they started talking! :unamused:
[/quote]

I assume that, since you’re making an analogy, you were teaching them Chinese and they wouldn’t shut up in Chinese?

As for Taiwanese not having the “gift of gab”: Guest, have you ever been to a crowded Chinese restaurant in the evening?