Teaching English without Knowing Chinese

Hi,

The Obvious question having not taught english yet in
Taiwan is, how does an English speaking Teacher who cannot
speak Chinese, is able to communicate and teach english with
Chinese students ?

If I do not speak chinese and only english, and the chinese students also
have limited knowledge of english, how can English be taught to these students?

Thanks,

[quote=“susutea”]Hi,

The Obvious question having not taught english yet in
Taiwan is, how does an English speaking Teacher who cannot
speak Chinese, is able to communicate and teach english with
Chinese students ?

If I do not speak chinese and only english, and the chinese students also
have limited knowledge of english, how can English be taught to these students?

Thanks,[/quote]

Please, just do a training course. Or order ‘Learning Teaching’ by Jim Scrivener, published by MacMillan, if memory serves. It’s a pretty useful intro.

It’s actually often better not knowing Chinese as it can become a distraction. You once didn’t know English at all . How did people communicate with you to teach you that language?

I’ve heard quite a lot about the “English Lessons” as one of
the best ways to teach english.

Are there some good links to some of the better english lessons that
will help a non chinese speaking english teacher communicate more easily
and teach english to his or her chinese speaking students. Thanks

[quote=“susutea”]I’ve heard quite a lot about the “English Lessons” as one of
the best ways to teach english.

Are there some good links to some of the better english lessons that
will help a non Chinese speaking english teacher communicate more easily
and teach english to his or her Chinese speaking students. Thanks[/quote]

Susu, Buttercup gave you good advice.

I’ve heard of employers considering your knowing chinese to be a negative. If you know chinese, most employers hope you never use it to your students. If your students know you know chinese, they will stop using english to try to talk to you. Take some time to invest in a TESOL training course. I can recommend ITTT as my experience with their program has really prepared and enlightened me. Also, the TESOL certificate you earn may just help you get higher starting wage or ensure you the position you want.

thanks, for the great advice all, I have a Tesol Certification from i to i,
but some helpful links for great Teaching Plans and Lessons, would be great to have .

thanks again all

what’s the age group you’re teaching?

[quote=“susutea”]thanks, for the great advice all, I have a Tesol Certification from i to i,
but some helpful links for great Teaching Plans and Lessons, would be great to have .

thanks again all[/quote]
I don’t want to be nasty, but it sounds like they didn’t teach you much at i-to-i.

Anyway, I’m not a great fan of ready-made lesson plans, and they’re particularly useless if you don’t really have much idea of what you’re trying to do. Buttercup’s advice is excellent. Either do a real training course or at least study Scrivener’s “Learning Teaching”.

Flashcards and games, amongst others…

Susutea, if you have certification in TESOL, which means Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, you should already know the answer to your original question, no?

Then you jump from this:

which seems to imply you are perhaps considering moving to Taiwan to be with your wife, and looking at teaching English as a way to support that,

to this:

which seems to imply that you already have a target student group and are ready to begin preparing lessons.

Which is it?

Knowing where you are at will help people give you better advice. If you are at the ‘considering moving’ stage (my assumption), have a college degree, Tesol Certification and the option of applying for a Joining Family Resident Visa based on your marriage to a Taiwanese national, but do not yet know exactly where you would be working, what age level and English level of students you’d be teaching, then my answer is:

Don’t worry about not knowing Chinese. Move here (bring your diploma and certificate), get the JFRV and open work permit or a working visa, get a legal job, and THEN look at who your students are, their age and level and the textbooks being used at the school, before you start worrying about teaching plans.

And do listen to the advice others have given on training courses and book recommendations. TRY them and then come back with more questions if you have any. :wink:

I’d like to teach early education to elementary