A REAL Culture Clash

My first 2 weeks were very boring at work (just observations, training and a lot of downtime) and very busy outside of work, trying to get situated. Finally, this week it's picking up at work and slowing down outside of work. I've team-taught several times now and am loving it.

The students here are eager to learn because they pay the equivalent of $3000 to take the course. That's a huge amount for the average Chinese, so these are relatively well-to-do, professional people. I need to remember that when I want to generalize about the Chinese people: that I'm seeing a select few, which are not the typical Chinese.

I am simultaneously impressed by how much English the students know and how poorly most of them speak it. That's because, since the 1980's all Chinese students begin learning English in the 3rd grade. However, their system here is all about conjugating, grammar and repitition; there is no practice speaking it or using it in real-life situations. That's where companies like mine come in: we teach them conversational and business English and give them a lot of opportunities to practice speaking it with the teachers. Thank goodness for the limits of the Chinese education system, else I wouldn't have a job!

When I tell people I'm from the US, most of them make no comment. Some ask where in the US, and when I say North Carolina, most haven't heard of it. Of those who have, a couple actually know Charlotte because of Bank of America, but most of them--the young guys actually--know it because it's where Michael Jordan is from and went to school. One of my students actually said to me "Michael Jordan is a god!" Hmmmm. Basketball is very big here. Right across from my apartment building, there is a public basketball court, and guys are frequently playing there. One guy knew Charlotte because it's the home of an NBA team.

A lot of the students are quite chauvinistic about China...more about that in a later blog. But a couple have commented about the US having more individual freedoms.

My company prefers to hire all native-English speakers (referred to as international teachers), but can't find enough who are qualified, so about half our teachers are Chinese. Today in our weekly staff meeting, one of the Chinese teachers said "I want to say something". Now, we frequently counsel our students on how not to be too direct, to soften what they say. For instance, when practicing being a waiter at a restaurant, one of the students opened with "What do you want to eat?" We told him to say something like "May I take your order?"

So when the Chinese teacher--W-- said "I want to say something", I thought, "I hope she didn't teach that lesson because she doesn't understand the concept." Well, it turns out she had no intention of being indirect or softening her words. She had a complaint about how management was taking a student's side in an dispute between her and the student. She launched into a lengthy explanation and diatribe. After about 10 minutes, the Senior Teacher--J-- said "This is really not appropriate--let's move on". W objected, so J said, "OK, one more minute". So she had her minute, then J cut her off.

Back in the teachers' lounge, W attacked J for cutting her off. A couple of the other Chinese teachers spoke up for her as well. (All of us international teachers pretended to be going about our business, not noticing this ruckus.) J kept saying it was inappropriate. Then W said "You're from America--you're supposed to understand free speech. You wouldn't do this in America."

Erase from your mind the notion of the Chinese--at any level of society--being humble and subservient. They are a proud people and are being allowed to speak up in ways they weren't previously. The Chinese teachers' reactions may have been because they haven't yet learned the limitations of free speech, and it may be related to what happend in the Cultural Revolution in the 60's and 70's. More about that in another blog.