"Therefore the only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the ripe as at the ripening functions. It remains necessary to determine the lowest threshold at which instruction in, say, arithmetic may begin, since a certain minimal ripeness of junctions is required. But we must consider the upper threshold as well; instruction must be oriented toward the future, not the past.
Yeah, those buxiban owners are a bunch of scumbags. 
[/quote]
HEY! I resemble that remark! 
[/quote]
Resemble or resent? 
Is it a mistake or my sense of humor?
hmmm…
I would like to see more accurate student placement. It’s maddening trying to teach a class where there are two, three or more different levels of ability. Filling a class should be about more then filling the seats.
Very good point. I also think a good thing (but very unlikely to happen) would be for “unqualified” English teachers to be required to go through a teacher training program set up by the government, but taught/run by real foreign EFL experts, with the buxiban covering part of the cost as well as paying the teacher’s salary while he/she is in training.
And jdsmith, I was referring in general to Taiwanese buxiban owners … 
[quote]
And jdsmith, I was referring in general to Taiwanese buxiban owners … 
[/quote]
Oh, then it’s ok.
I’m not Taiwanese. 
Yeah, those buxiban owners are a bunch of scumbags. [/quote]
You know I wasn’t referring to you or Bassman! [/quote]
Don’t put me in that group. I am redefining myself, I am a junior profit sharer, just a lad along for the ride showing his handsome face to pull in the parents and the students. We all know that young handsome westerners all teach English real good like.
No, seriously, I am long over the illusion that I own anything. Don’t call me a scumbag anymore. Call me the profit sharing guy at the top of the teacher heap. Call me the guy that guides people into finding the correct path. But, please, oh please, do not call me a buxiban boss.
Actually, I just discovered the best way to get things done. Find something that the local staff disagree with you on, give them the information that they need in you disagreement. Wait a while. They aren’t going to admit that they are wrong, they never can. Then, build them a ladder for them to come down. Give them a problem to solve (you know, the same one they said you are wrong in) and ask them for their suggestion. You know what, they’ll come back at you with a brilliant idea, your own idea, but they think that they have just come up with something brilliant.
A leader, to get things done, sometimes needs to hand out the information to solve the problem, and let them put it together as their own.
Call me a leader.
Is this what they should do or should stop doing???[/quote]
They should stop it. I am not a native-speaker or a qualified teacher. But there a plenty of schools that would hire me just because I’m a nice blonde. 
Is this what they should do or should stop doing???[/quote]
They should stop it. I am not a native-speaker or a qualified teacher. But there a plenty of schools that would hire me just because I’m a nice blonde. :p[/quote]
A nice blond what??
The government should close down 90% of all buxibans, instead of allowing them to capitalise on the inadequacies of the school system. What is a ‘cram school’ anyway? If we’re talking about English maybe we should start by explaining what ‘cramming’ actually is.
They should pass a law limiting the amount of time children can spend in schools to approximately half of what it is now, and preventing schools from assigning insane amounts of homework.
Start a public information campaign stressing the importance of sleep and play in learning.
Adopt the motto “Work smarter, not harder.”
Start with the end in sight. High Schools should provide career counselling, so that kids can have ideas about where they are going in life rather than simply trying to pass tests for no adequately explored reason.
Accept that we can’t all be good at everything, and stop wasting effort forcing students to try and memorise stuff they are never going to use.
Give me more money.
Blonde, the ‘e’ indicating femininity. ‘A nice blonde’ is a concept that needs no further elaboration, why ask questions? I’d hire a nice blonde, no questions asked, and I don’t even have a school.
Blonde, the ‘e’ indicating femininity. ‘A nice blonde’ is a concept that needs no further elaboration, why ask questions? I’d hire a nice blonde, no questions asked, and I don’t even have a school.[/quote]
So, does that mean I’m a nice blond?
They let the parents have way too much say.
Brian
Very good point. I also think a good thing (but very unlikely to happen) would be for “unqualified” English teachers to be required to go through a teacher training program set up by the government, but taught/run by real foreign EFL experts, with the buxiban covering part of the cost as well as paying the teacher’s salary while he/she is in training.
And jdsmith, I was referring in general to Taiwanese buxiban owners … [/quote]
There’s a thought. Instead of simply requiring that potential teachers have only a degree, how about running a test that covers basic grammar, spelling, and writing skills to make sure they are actually competent in the language (see point 1 about competence vs. performance). I’ve seen far, far too many people who call themselves English teachers and looked like they could have used a crash course in basic usage and mechanics…and I’m not talking about only people online either.
Here are a few tips I have for improving English, based on my own experiences here and in seeing what others go through:
-
Tests are nice ways to see how much a student knows, but in language acquisition there’s these two things called “competence” and “performance”. Knowing the basics of English gets you so far, but being able to use it, even with errors gets you even further. Granted, you can’t have performance without some competence, but we have all seen what happens when you shove competence down students’ throats with no focus on performance.
-
See English as being more than just a status symbol. “Speech contests” that are merely thinly-disguised advertisements for your school, only speaking to your kid in English when in the presence of a foreigner and forcing him to say something in English to the waiguoren, bragging about how you went to visit relatives in the States (who live in a Taiwanese-immigrant neighborhood where English is rarely spoken)…it’s not a competition. It’s a language.
-
Use practical situations for English with as much use of realia as possible(again goes back to #1, but a pet peeve of mine with my parents). Naming vegetables off a flashcard is not something that we do day-to-day. Asking what ingredients students like the best on pizza is more practical. Even better than that is for the students to create a recipe using vocabulary words and then prepare it. Get away from simply regurgitating information and get into synthesizing it.
-
Use Chinese-English dictionaries sparingly once you are beyond a beginner stage. Another pet peeve of mine. If you get into the habit of translating from one language to the other, then you don’t give yourself the opportunity to think in English. Get an English-English dictionary and use what words you already know to apply it to learning new words.
-
Don’t be so gung-ho to speak English to your kids 24/7 unless you are very advanced in English yourself. A photocopy of a photocopy never comes out very accurately and neither do the words of a non-native speaker casually picking up English from a non-native speaker. In speaking your native language, if you are going to send your child to an English school/kindergarten in lieu of a Chinese one, unless you plan for your child to never attend a Chinese school, it’s up to you to teach them basic concepts in their native language. I’ve had a kindergartener who spoke fluent English full of errors and couldn’t count past 12. When I asked her to count in Chinese, her native language, she couldn’t go beyond 6. If you can’t grasp concepts in your own language, then the English words for these concepts will be even more confusing.
I don’t discourage speaking English, especially in reading to your child (and then having them retell what you read or answer questions or make predictions, etc in your native language is a good way to forge a connection between the two languages), but make sure that you have a purpose for doing this and are not just doing it for show.
-
Use authentic materials whenever possible and point out real applications of English when you see them. It takes English from being something that you do in the classroom to something that you use in the real world.
-
You can’t have English classrooms where the teachers instruct in Chinese and expect the students to speak English. Simply put. Be a good role model and use Chinese only if you need to clearly explain important information. For everything else “English only, please”.
-
Stop thinking that English is supposed to be arduous to learn and therefore having fun learning is a sign that the students aren’t being worked hard enough. A parent of mine threatened to pull his kid out of my class (and eventually did, stubborn ass) because he liked going to English class.
-
Do not shove English lessons down your kid’s throats. No, your 3-year-old doesn’t need private tutoring. No, your 10-year-old doesn’t need an extra English class after his buxiban class ends. And forcing your 6-year-old to talk to you in English after spending 7 hours in an English-immersion school as a means of improving her English is the fastest way to get them turned off on learning the language. And yes, I have had to say these things to Taiwanese parents who were surprised to see this behavior discouraged by an English teacher which brings me to my final (for now) and most important point…
-
English “teachers” (and school owners) stop thinking of your job as simply a means of making money. There are ethics attached to being a teacher because you have a very strong influence on your students. They are people who have ambitions, goals, dreams, and interests. Treating them like playthings by giving them silly English names for a laugh, and doing your job, your students, and/or your staff like it’s a burden serves no one at all. If you are unhappy, then quit. Don’t take it out on your students.
Ethics is also not taking on a tutoring job for $1000 an hour if you are not a $1000/hour teacher. Asking for tips for a student is one thing. Asking what kinds of things you should teach a student that you are privately tutoring only underlines that you have no business doing that job and should give the money back to the parents for conning them into hiring you.
Learn about the business, get your feet wet, and when you have the experience then start asking for higher fees.
ImaniOU,
I like everything that you have to say. Have you considered being something more than just a teacher? You have passion for what you do, something that is very rare these days.
Kudos
a bit simplistic, no??
a bit simplistic, no??[/quote]
unless the classes are two to three hours long…I completely agree.
a bit simplistic, no??[/quote]
It’s not like most of the kids are going to do much review at home anyway, that is unless their parents force them.
a bit simplistic, no??[/quote]
It’s not like most of the kids are going to do much review at home anyway, that is unless their parents force them.[/quote]
yes, cooperation between the teacher, parents and student is the key there. but if they do the work it won’t necessarily be worthless.
Three-hour English classes? You’re kidding right? Not sure what the number is, but research shows that longer classes produce worse results in concentration. Now dealing with that and schoolwork on top of that, how on earth could one think that having only 2-3 sessions a week would be of any benefit? Supplemental? Maybe, but not as the only source of instruction. Especially for beginners.
[quote=“Bassman”]ImaniOU,
I like everything that you have to say. Have you considered being something more than just a teacher? You have passion for what you do, something that is very rare these days.
Kudos[/quote]
Actually, since I was six years old, I have not really thought or dreamed of becoming anything but a teacher. But thanks for the encouragement. Ironically, after shadowing a kindergarten teacher in 7th grade, I swore I’d never teach kindergarten…but then here I am.