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Q: what do you think is most important while teaching English?
12 years 26 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
To keep your sanity. No matter how right you think you are...you are wrong.
Lower your expectations a little, because teaching English seems to be tongue and cheek.
Being patient.
I think, oral in general, i've noticed most Chinese written english is great, but as soon as I speak with them in person or the phone; I have to use my chinese. If you teaching children, be lively and entertaining. 
Confidence. Some Chinese find the idea of learning from a foreigner to be a loss of face, so you have to project yourself as worth listening to. Even the slightest show of insecurity and you can lose a student, and one lost student can cause a domino effect.
Have fun! While students are enjoying a class, they will come, be awake, and amazingly - even learn something! If it's fun, they'll want to participate.
If it's dull, boring, slow, and uninteresting, they'll tune out, stop coming - and learn nothing!
"Fun" doesn't just mean games... it means your style of teaching, your attitude, your relationship with your students.
Oh, and of course - KNOW YOUR STUFF!
kchur:
If you can only learn by being entertained like a toddler, you don't deserve the privileged of being in a classroom. There are plenty of hard-working Africans and street kids, and villagers who would benefit from the opportunity more than some spoiled, worthless, sheltered moron who can't be bothered to put effort into self-improvement. I can't stand the idea that students are entitled to be lazy and teachers must be clowns. No wonder the world economy is going down the toilet.
Shining_brow:
Kchur - 'fun' does not equal 'acting like a clown'. Nor does having an entertaining class mean that it's only for lazy spoilt brats... It's the same for ANY subject in ANY country - if it's 'fun', then it's easier to learn. I've studied most of my life, through many different disciplines (from logic and philosophy, to IT, to bio-chemistry and the medical sciences... as well as 6 very different languages with different alphabets), and trust me - the ones you learn the most from are the ones that are 'fun' to go to - instead of a dead bore! I've had students who HATED English and didn't see a reason to study it, turn up to class and actually enjoy it - and WANT to learn! I currently have 1 student who will come to my class, but not go to any other English class. (and, not to mention - except that I am :p - the more than 250 students who are in my QQ list - because they WANT to be).
TedDBayer:
I agree school,business meetings, what ever, if the chair/teacher is boring. they can not hold attention. Try speaking low and in a dull mono-tone voice and see how much attention you get. I remember teachers that were boring. It's human nature, if you are lively,warm and funny, people will like you, if you are dull and boring, it is hard to know you, so maybe you just get ignored.
lchickman:
Shining, that might not be what you meant but that certainly is the expectation in a lot of schools. Some of my coworkers who teach at elementary schools recently had to have their classes observed by officials from the Ministry of Education and they were all told later : "you're great teachers but we'd like you to be funnier and entertain the students more." I happen to know that these teachers already engage in games regularly (we're told to by our company) . We were just like wth more can we do but suit up in full clown costume ?? Same deal with my middle schoolers . I don't understand it one bit . Maybe for kindergarteners , but after about the second grade all of my teachers were serious teachers when I was growing up . I mean we played games occasionally but they in no way entertained us , nor did our parents expect that (the way parents here do). My parents understood I was in school and if I didn't pay attention it was I who got in trouble , not my teacher for not being "entertaining" enough.
Shining_brow:
It might also depend on your qualifications... If you've just done a basic TEFL course to be able to work here, being a dancing monkey isn't a bad expectation. If, however, you've got the full shebang - CELTA, MA, PhD, or B.Ed. - I'd tell them to go shove it!
Just remember that not all chinese students want to learn English, most of them are just being forced by their parents. My advice is to be creative, try to know your students, understand them, always have plan B and C. Make your students like you, make the class interesting for them. try to play an english related game, every kids just want to have fun,but trust me, at the end of the day your students will love you and they won't know tnat they actually learned something.Being a teacher in china for 6 years this works for me all the time. Hope this help
