One of my students, while visiting a middle school for her student teaching, was shocked to hear one of the teachers mixing up "he and "she" during a lesson. So, it's a problem with deep roots. It bothers me that a putonghua teacher will quickly correct the "ta" mix-up, but an English teacher just lets the he/she error slip by. It's so basic!
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Agreed. I've seen a lot of basic errors like that in my time here. I feel like it's because of the test-based system. They just learn what they need to know to pass the test. As a result, they learn rigid phrases and vocabulary. This leads to a very limited vocabulary and style of communication as they never really get to practice. I teach at a Vocational High School and whenever I try to get them to think critically or express opinions, I'm met with a lot of silence. Since there is one answer for the test, there is one answer for a question. How are you? "Fine thank you and you?".
This will change as the country becomes more open and people are exposed to the language more but then again, China sure seems like it doesn't want foreigners here anymore. They've really made the visa requirements strict and from what I've seen, they've been doing a lot of raids and deporting illegal teachers.
Oh yeah. Last June 3 I was told I had to leave my university job, because the province had changed the maximum age from 65 to 60, and I was 61. My res permit expired June 30, so I had just barely enough time to close out the term, move my stuff out of my flat, find a new job, etc., etc. I got a new job, but fulfilling the new visa requirements meant I had to apply for a brand-new Z visa back home. And the paperwork has multiplied four-fold, because each document has to be verified (apostille'd) by local, state and federal offices before it goes to the Chinese embassy/consulate. Took three months.
Woe unto anyone here working under a tourist or a business visa. They find you, you get deported, fined a lot of money and banned from entering the country for 10 years. And, they're checking all of us to make sure we're not working any other extra jobs, or it's deport, fine, ban again.
Yeah strange way to encourage English education isn't it! Oh well, I've spent nearly 4 years here and I'm ready to return home. It's been a ride but I'll always feel the outsider here.
I liked my previous post. It was in a small city and I felt part of the local community more. Now I'm in a big city, and while there are more expats to hang around with, I feel more a visitor than a citizen. I'm staying another year, and then packing it in.