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Tag Archives: Mandarin
A Bit About Changzhou
Changzhou (常州) is more than a city (市 – shì) in Canadian terms. It is a union of five administrative districts consisting of towns, villages and rural settings contains of about three and a half million people (rén – 人). Changzhou city (Chángzhōushì – … Continue reading
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Tagged Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, Jiangsu, Mandarin, teaching esl, xinbei, YángGuāng HuāYuán, 阳光花园
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A Home is Where the Heart Is
This older couple is one of many I found as I walked throughout Changzhou who seemed to be comfortable together. The scene reaffirmed within me that it takes more than money to bring happiness into one’s life. At home in … Continue reading
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Tagged blog, bókè, Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, home is where the heart is, Jiangsu, Mandarin, 博客
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Contrasts – Behind the Walls
This is one of the homes that are found within the gated community called Sunshine Gardens (yáng guāng huā yuán – 阳光花园) where we lived during our first two years in China (Zhōng guó – 中国) and where we will again live when return to Changzhou … Continue reading
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Tagged běi, Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, dōng, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, hōng chǎn, Jiangsu, Mandarin, nán, pín kùn, Sunshine Garden, Sunshine Gardens, teaching esl, xī, xinbei, yǒu qián rén, Zhōng guó rén, 常州, 阳光花园
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You Are Never Too Old to Work
The first September in Changzhou, we got to see how a group of women would take their small scythe-like tools in order to cut grass. This group of women were cutting the grass on the grounds of the Changzhou Software … Continue reading
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Tagged begging, C.I.T., Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communicate, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, gardening, grounds keeping, Jiangsu, jiao, Mandarin, qǐ tǎo, teaching esl, work ethic, xinbei, yuán, zì zūn, 乞讨, 元, 自尊, 角
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Discovering Confidence in a Strange Land
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
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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
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Things Aren’t Always As They Appear – Misperceptions
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
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Tagged Changzhou, China, Chinese, chinese language, communication, ESL, ESL blog, foreign teacher, FT, imagination, Jiangsu, Mandarin, misperceptions, school, teaching esl, xinbei, 学校
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An Introduction to Teaching ESL
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
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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
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Preparations For Teaching ESL
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
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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
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Green Spaces in Changzhou
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
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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
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Bath House or Restaurant?
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
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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
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