Tag Archives: ESL

Discovering Confidence in a Strange Land

Posted on 2 June 2010 by gypsy

With the passage of a few weeks in Changzhou and classes beginning to settle into some sort of routine, we found that we had a bit more time for wandering around the city. Remembering our first journey to the city … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, fàn diàn, FAO, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, Mandarin, nán dà jiē, shì zhōng xīn, Sunshine Garden, teaching esl, xinbei, yáng guāng huā yuán, 南大街, 市中心, 阳光花园, 饭店 | 2 Comments

There Are Stories Behind The Faces

Posted on 27 May 2010 by gypsy

This is a look at some of our first students. Somehow, we both got to teach this group of students. I taught them History and Maureen taught them Conversational English. I guess you could say that they are typical second … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged C.I.T., Changzhou, China, Chinese, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, stories, students, teaching esl, xinbei | 2 Comments

Things Aren’t Always As They Appear – Misperceptions

Posted on 23 May 2010 by gypsy

Here is a scene that we came upon during our second week in Changzhou, parents and grandparents at a set of school gates waiting to pick up their children at the end of a school day. When we came upon … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, imagination, Jiangsu, Mandarin, misperceptions, school, teaching esl, xinbei, 学校 | Leave a comment

China Dinosaur Park – Changzhou

Posted on 22 May 2010 by gypsy

In the northern sector of Changzhou, in the Xin Bei district, lies China Dinosaur Park. Looking out our apartment window we can often see the three white arms reaching as if to join hands. We often walked towards the park … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged C.I.T., Changzhou, China, China Dinosaur Park, communication, culture, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, teaching esl, xinbei | Leave a comment

An Introduction to Teaching ESL

Posted on 21 May 2010 by gypsy

This was Maureen’s first class, the first day of a new term in September, 2006. Luckily, I didn’t have a course to teach at that time, so I was able to take a few photos of this special event. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged C.I.T., Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, content classes, conversation classes, ESL, ESL blog, first day of class, foreign teacher, FT, interactive lessons, Jiangsu, Mandarin, stereotypes, students, teachers, teaching esl, xinbei | Leave a comment

Preparations For Teaching ESL

Posted on 14 May 2010 by gypsy

After about a week of getting ourselves acclimatized to Changzhou, it was finally time to begin the work for which we came to China, that of being ESL teachers at C.I.T. The process began with a meeting with the department … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged C.I.T., Changzhou, China, chinese language, communicate, communication, context, Dà xué sheng, ESL, ESL blog, FAO, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, Lǎo shī, Mandarin, policies and procedures, student, teacher, teaching esl, team-building, xinbei, 大学生, 老师 | Leave a comment

Green Spaces in Changzhou

Posted on 12 May 2010 by gypsy

Being from Canada, a land that is basically empty of people in many places and where nature runs free, it was important for us to find “green” spaces in the city. As we stretched our journeys beyond the first boundaries … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, green spaces, Jiangsu, Mandarin, Sunshine Garden, teaching esl, xinbei, YángGuāng HuāYuán, yuán, 园, 阳光花园 | Leave a comment

Bath House or Restaurant?

Posted on 11 May 2010 by gypsy

A week into our first experience of China we began to get a better idea of our new home away from home. As we wandered, always carrying a a camera of course, we continued to discover more and more of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bath house, Buddha, Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, face, fàndiàn, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, Mandarin, restaurant, shrine, teaching esl, xinbei, 饭店 | 2 Comments

Preconceived Ideas

Posted on 10 May 2010 by gypsy

On the first full day in Changzhou, we decided to go walking around what would become our neighbourhood. Below our apartment in Sunshine Gardens – 阳光花园 , at street level, shops line the roadways giving people a seemingly endless array … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Buddha, Changzhou, China, chinese characters, chinese language, chinese sounds, communication, Duì bùqǐ, ESL, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, Mandarin, Méi guānxi, oral chinese, pinyin, preconceived ideas, preconceptions, Sunshine Gardens, teaching esl, temple, xinbei, 对不起, 没关系, 阳光花园 | Leave a comment

Recycling: Doing it Right in Changzhou

Posted on 8 May 2010 by gypsy

In a field just east of China Dinosaur Park in the Xinbei district of Changzhou, a mixture of modern and not so modern technology are at work together as a site is being cleared for a new development. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Changzhou, China, Chinese, demolition, ESL, fear, foreign teacher, Jiangsu, law suit, liability, recycling, salvage, teaching esl, xinbei | Leave a comment