Language Exchanges/Intercambios

One of the best things that I have found when living in a foreign country and trying to learn the language and make friends is to have language exchanges. I think that I have explained this in a past article, but because it is so important, I will explain again for those of you who haven't read that one. In a language exchange (or intercambio, as they call it in Spanish-speaking countries), two people who want to learn the other's language get together to help each other. For half of the time that they are together, they speak or learn one language and for the other half, they speak or learn the other language. There are, of course, variations. For example, you could get together once for one language and another time for the other language. There are many ways to find language exchanges/intercambios. I will give some examples through my experiences:


I have had wonderful experiences with my language exchanges and these experiences have taken place in many parts of the world. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, I met a language exchange in a Argentine tango class and he and I became very close. At first I was just going to tutor him in English, but as we talked, I decided I would benefit more from an intercambio, so I suggested that to him and he readily agreed. We met every week in a cafe to talk and we soon became very good friends. We hung out, saw many different sights, and even travelled together. My Spanish vastly improved!


In Barcelona, Spain, I found my intercambio through the school program that hung up signs of Spaniards who were looking for people who wanted to practice their Spanish and were willing to help with English. I met with her every week at a teteria, which is a place where you go drink tea that is very famous in the south of Spain. Although we did not become as close as I did with the intercambio from Argentino, it was still a great experience and a great way to practice my Spanish. Whenever I had a Spanish questions, I was able to ask her when we got together and I was able to feel helpful because I could help her with English.


Now, in China, I have four language exchanges. I found the first one when I was shopping with one of my friends. A shopgirl who was attending us was confused about something and had been talking to us in English but was having trouble getting her point across, so she tried asking in Chinese. Since I speak a little Chinese, I answered and it turned into a bit of a conversation. Since my Chinese isn't very good and her English wasn't very good, it was a very choppy conversation, but still a conversation, which was good. I explained that I was trying to learn/practice my Chinese and she answered that she wants to practice her English, at which point the word OPPORTUNITY!!! flashed in my mind. I then suggested a language exchange. It was a bit difficult to explain the concept in Chinese, since my Chinese is still pretty bad, but I got the concept across and she agreed. We exchanged numbers and now do language exchanges.


My second language exchange is with someone who works at the school with me. She is the person who is in charge of the foreign teachers. My friend and I were asking her if there are any Chinese classes that we could take since we want to learn Chinese. She gave us one option that was pretty expensive, but also suggested have locals help us. Then she said that I could just talk to her in Chinese whenever I know how. I took her very literally and started speaking in Chinese to her. That day after lunch she came over to my apartment and we started the language exchange. We get together pretty much everyday to talk in Chinese and English. The wonderful thing about this language exchange is that we have also become pretty good friends and we get together on the weekends to go shopping, to walk around, etc.


My third and fourth language exchanges are also both from the school. They teach kindergarten with me. After talking with them and getting to know them a little bit before and after the classes, I decided the ask if they wanted to do language exchanges. I was a little wary because I didn't know if that was implying that their English was bad or needed improvement. I did, though, because it is such a great way to get to know people.

More Games/Activities for Preschool/Kindergarten ESL Classrooms

Hide-and-Seek

First you have to either make pictures of the words you are studying or get objects of the vocabulary the children are learning. So, for example, if you are studying the words apple, cake, and banana, you either have to bring in pictures of apples, cakes, and bananas, or a real apple, cake, and banana. Pick three children to come up to the front of the classroom and close their eyes. You hide the picture or the object. Then the three children have to find the object while the other children in the class clap and say "Find the _____" (for example: "Find the apple! Find the apple! Find the apple!") until one of the children has found the picture/object. Once the children have found the picture or object, then they have to answer a question about it. Another variation on this is that if they can't find it, then they have to sing a song in English.

When the children get better at this game, you can have another child hide the picture/object instead of you hiding it. The children seem to love this game. Even though only three of the children are really involved at a time, the other children do not get bored as they do in some other games when only a few are participating at one time. The others are interested in the seekers. It works really well.

Yes or No?

Once the children seem to know the vocabulary really well and can make sentences with it, then you can play the yes or no game. You hold up a picture of something that is part of their vocabulary and say something wrong. For example, if you are holding a picture of a kitchen and they should know that, you can say, "This is my bedroom". The children should then all shout, "No, this is my kitchen!". You can have them make head gestures as well, because that is fun for them. When they say yes, they can nod their heads and when they say no, they can shake their head.

Once they understand the game, have a child come up and ask a question that is either correct or not and the other children have to say "Yes...!" or No...!" This game helps the children with constructing full sentences and with understanding positives and negatives as well.

Games/Activites for Preschool and Kindergarten ESL Classrooms

Quiet/Loud:

First teach the children the words for quiet and loud, along with hand gestures. I put my hands very close together when I say quiet and, of course, I say the word quietly. I say that a few times with my hands close together and have the children repeat, with their hands close together as well. Then I spread my arms very far apart and shout (or say very loudly): Loud! Loud! Loud!

I repeat those two words and gestures until they understand that when I put my hands close together, they should say "quiet" in a quiet voice and when I spread my arms apart, they should say "loud" in a loud voice.

Then, to teach new vocabulary, you can take whatever word you want them to learn and have them say it quietly or loudly according to your hand gestures. For example, if you want them to learn the word "apple", put your hands together and have them say "apple" quietly, and then spread them apart and have them say "apple" loudly. Repeat with different patterns so the children don't know when they have to be loud or quiet unless they are watching you intently.

The children like this game because it gives them an opportunity to be loud, which is fun for them.



Magic Numbers:

I use this game when I am teaching the children new vocabulary words and I want them to practice saying the vocabulary words over and over again. First you give them a vocabulary word (living room, for example). Then you hold up a certain amount of fingers - one through five. Depending on how many fingers you hold up, that is how many times they have to say the word. With each time that they say the word, you put one finger down. When all of your fingers are down, they must stop saying the word and be quiet. They have to be watching you so that they know when to stop saying to word and be quiet instead of repeating the word more.

So, for example, if I am playing this game with the word living room and I hold up four fingers, then they have to say: "living room, living room, living room, living room". Each time, I put one finger down until I only have a fist. Then I make the sign for stop, which is basically a Time-out signal. If you have a blackboard, you can keep track of points and the children really enjoy this. You can write G&B or S (for Girls and Boys or Students) on one side and T (for Teacher) on the other. If they say the word the correct number of times, then the students get a star. If they don't - if they say it an extra time or are not quiet, then the teacher gets a star. This challege between the students and the teacher really makes the students want to do it correctly. Another way is to split the students up into three or four groups and have the groups compete against each other.

With this game you just have to make sure that the students are pronouncing the words correctly and well. If need be, you might have to stop and correct their pronunciation so that they practice the words with the correct pronunciation.

Teaching Preschool and Kindergarten

When I was told that I would be teaching kindergarten, I was very surprised. I had thought that I would teach between grades one and five. I was even more surprised when I was introduced to all of my eight classes and I learned that not only was I teaching kindergarten, but I was also teaching prekindergarten and preschool! The children that I am teaching range from 3 to 6 years old.

Since starting in the beginning of September and having worked through the first weekend, I have already learned a lot about teaching preschool and kindergarten. I went in knowing practically nothing about how to teach such young children and I feel as though I have learned a good amount so far (although I still have a long way to go!)

I learned that the best way to teach them is through songs and games. However, with the very young children - the 3 year olds - most songs are too difficult. There is a very wide range. With the 3 year olds, I can barely do any songs that I know from my childhood. Instead, the Chinese teacher has taught me a song that counts up to five and includes claps. The 4 year olds can sing the good morning song, as well the happy birthday song and a song that helps them to learn their English names. The 5 and 6 year olds can basically do any song - the itsy bitsy spider, Do a Deer, etc.

As for games, the very young children like games in which they can stand, jump, and just follow my basic directions as long as they can watch me do them at the same time. They can also play quiet and loud, a game in which we say words quietly and loudly, depending on my action. The 4 and 5 year olds can do those games and counting games and the 5 and 6 year olds can do some role playing games and Simon Says (or Teacher Says, as I call it). These games can get out of hand, though, if I am not careful.

I learned that it is very difficult to control these children. They are very young and they get antsy very quickly, and then they get loud. Then Chinese teachers can sometimes quiet them down very easily, but sometimes they won't even quiet down for the Chinese teachers. I have a lot of trouble quieting them down, but I am also very lucky because I have the Chinese teachers there with me to quiet them down for me. I think that I am getting better at this, though. I am proud because sometimes I can teach the classes without the Chinese teachers needing to quiet the students. In time I am sure that this will get easier.

Lastly, I learned that the best thing is to go straight from one activity or song to another, without pause. I should just do one song, repeat it, then do another song. If I pause, then they get bored. If I just go into the other song or the game, then they have no time to get bored or loud. I learned this from one of the preschool teachers who helps me. She demonstrated this technique to me and it worked wonderfully.

Although, as I have said, the children can be difficult and loud, I am not complaining. They are lovely. I love going to classes every day and teaching them and being around them. Every day just being in the same rooms with them makes me happy because they are so cute and sweet. They are getting more used to me and less shy with me, so more and more often now they come up to me after classes or in between classes to talk with me (in Chinese, of course) or to hold my hand and play with me. It is wonderful!

Teacher Appreciation Day

The first thing I heard last Wednesday when I walked past one of my kindergarten classes was "Happy Teacher's Day!" Until then, I had forgotten about Teacher's Day, but once the day started, it was hard to forget. Every single time that I passed a class in the hallways of the school, a group of students, or just a student by him or herself, they would wish me "Happy Teacher's Day". It was very sweet - especially when the four and five year old children in my classes would crowd around me and say, "Miss Abbie, Miss Abbie, Happy Teacher's Day Miss Abbie!".

To start off each of my seven classes, the Chinese teachers made sure that the children told me, as a group, "Happy Teacher's Day" and in two of my classes, I even got roses! Teacher Appreciation Day seems to be a big event in China. At first I thought that perhaps it was just at our school in which it was important, but when I looked on the news site online, there was an article about Teacher Appreciation Day, so I realized that it is important all over China. It is nice to know that teachers are so appreciated here.

In order for the teachers to celebrate the special day, we had an assembly with live entertainment (each group of teachers - high school, elementary school, kindergarten, and foregin teachers) had to perform. We also had a buffet with a lot of good food. Most of the teachers sang songs or did traditional Chinese dances. It was wonderful to hear the songs and see the dances and to eat dinner with both my Chinese friends and my foreign teacher friends.

The foreign teachers put together a skit and a song: we did a skit about a Chinese child that was learning a tongue twister and having a difficult time with the "th" sound. The foreign teacher who was teaching the child got very frustrated and was about to give up, but then realized that teachers should never give up and after hard work, got the child to say the tongue twister correctly. Then, a Chinese person came to the foreign teacher, who did not speak Chinese, and asked the foreign teacher a question in Chinese. The foreign teacher did not understand and the Chinese person became frustrated, but after working through the question and being patient, the Chinese person was able to help the foreign teacher to understand what the question meant and to answer it. The skit was all about helping each other - the foreign teachers help the children to learn English and the Chinese people help the foreign teachers to learn Chinese. This then went into our song, which was "With a Little Help From our Friends" by the Beatles.

It was a very fun night. I felt like I was a part of the school - not just a part of the group of foreign teachers, but instead as though I was a part of all the teachers, both foreign and Chinese. When I went up to do the skit (I played the young Chinese girl), the Chinese kindergarten and preschool teachers that I teach with all applauded me and were excited to see me up there. It was very sweet. At the end of the night, I felt very lucky that I could be a part of this school, teach with such kind people, and already have such a great group of friends. It was a great Teacher Appreciation Day!

Sore Throat/Cough Remedy

For Mid-Autumn Festival, each staff member of Suzhou International Foreign Language School received a box of about 20 golden pears and a box of mooncake. I was talking with two of my Chinese friends and they were wondering what I am going to do with 20 pears. How am I going to eat them all before they go bad? Well, I had been wondering the same thing. I couldn’t give the pears to them, because they all worked at the same place and thus they had also received the pears. Then, one of the friends suggested that I make a throat remedy with the pears. She said that it is especially good for teachers because teachers are always talking in front of the class. I said that it is definitely good for me because I teach such young children, so I always have to sing and yell with them, so my voice is getting hoarse and my throat is starting to bother me. The next day, my two friends came over with the other ingredients that we needed:
Ingredients: One Pear (a Golden Pear), Rock Sugar, Water
Directions: Core the pear and peel a bit of the skin off the top. Put the pear in a bowl with a little bit of water and put the bowl with the pear in a small pot with some water (maybe a quarter of the way up the bowl). Put one piece of rock sugar in the pear. Cover the pot and boil the water. Once the rock sugar in the pear has completely dissolved or melted, then the pear is done. Make sure that the skin of the pear is soft and comes off the pear easily. Then you can be sure that the pear is done.
When eating, you can eat the pear and drink the water that was in the bowl, but not the water that was in the pot. Also make sure to peel the pear while you eat it - I was told not to eat the peel. The recipe is delicious and very sweet (which I love). Try it and tell me what you think!

The Importance of Flexibility

When my friend, Sable, and I came to China, we had heard that we needed to be flexible. It is very true – if you are coming to China, flexibility is a must. For example, I thought that I would be teaching elementary school (grades 1-5) and Sable thought that she would be teaching high school. We thought this because this is what we had been told when we were talking to the agent online before we got to China. However, when we got to China, we were told that we wouldn’t know what grades we would teach until a few days before classes started. This meant a couple of things. First of all, it meant that we could be teaching any grades – anywhere from preschool/kindergarten through 12th grade. It also meant that we could not prepare anything in advance. Finally, the day before we started teaching, we got the grades we would be teaching. Sable, who thought she would be teaching high school, is teaching grade one. I am teaching preschool and kindergarten.
Another reason you have to be flexible – you never know when you really are teaching or not. At first, we thought we would just have a normal teaching schedule with a normal week. But no. Our first week, we did not get a weekend off because the last week we had an extra day off and the next weekend was a three day weekend. And that is the way it is here – when we have one weekend with three, four, or five days off, the weekend before that is not off. So you have to be prepared to teach through the weekend. Then, my first day of classes, I went my first class to teach and they told me that my classes were canceled because of a meeting. So, you have to be flexible. You have to be completely fine with changing last minute. If this bothers you, then it might be a problem to come here and teach, because many things here change last minute. If you are okay with it, then it is very fun. Teaching here is a great experience so far! I am having a great time – and the changes that I have to be okay with can make it even more fun – just think of them like surprises…

My Country and My People II

Everything that I learned about China taught me that it is a collectivistic nation. According to an article by Triandis, Chan, Bhawuk, Iwao, & Sinha, in collectivistic countries, people define the self as interdependent, as opposed to individualistic countries, in which the self is defined as independent. In collectivistic countries, the goals of the group are more important than the goals of the individual, whereas it is the opposite in individualistic countries. Lastly, people may emphasize relationships instead of exchange in collectivistic countries instead of the other way around in individualistic countries (Triandis, Chan, and Bhawuk 1995). Many psychology experiments have proven that China, as a nation, is collectivistic. However, the author of My Country and My People seems to disagree with these statements.
In the chapter titled “Absense of the Social Mind”, his first sentence states, “The Chinese are a nation of individualists” (167). Although one could say that his definition of individualists could be different than described above, he goes on to describe, “It is curious that the word ‘society’ does not exist as an idea in Chinese thought” (167). He also explains that there is no “public spirit”, “civic consciousness” or “social service” in China. For example, according to the author, teamwork is unknown. All of the games that are played in China are for individuals: Mahjong and poker, for example, are played one person against everyone else. There are no teams. In other countries, the games that are played require teamwork, such as sports, in which people have to work together to do well. This is amazing to me because he is saying the opposite that I learned in all of my psychology, sociology, and history classes: that in China, people are more individualistic and in the west, people are more collectivistic. For example, in the United States, we do play games on teams, which makes us work together to do well. That is collectivistic because the goals of the group (to win) are being emphasized.
Another example of the individualism in China that the author gave is in the newspaper system. He explained that each part of the organization of the newspaper is done without coordination – nobody knows what is happening with the other people working on the newspaper and nobody interferes with anybody else: “The man in charge of domestic news has his page, the man in charge of international cables has his…If you ask why there is no coordination, the answer is, there’s no social mind” (170). Therefore, the newspaper system, and on a grander scale, the working system, is individualistic. However, many times in the west, the newspaper systems and the organization of the newspaper is done with coordination so that everyone can have their articles fit on the page, etc. Perhaps people in the west coordinate and work together more in the work place, making them more collectivistic.
It seems to me that the collectivistic/individualistic scale must be a balance. Yes, the articles that I have read and the classes that I have learned from say that China is more collectivistic and the west is more individualistic, but perhaps in some ways some countries are collectivistic and in some ways they are individualistic. Maybe the scales that were used to measure the countries and the items that were asked did not correctly measure every item of life. In any case, reading this chapter surprised me very much, since it was the antithesis of everything that I had ever learned.

Triandis, H.C., Chan, D.K., Bhuwak, D., Iwao, S., & Sinha, J. (1995). Multimethod probes of allocentricsm and idiocentrism. International Journal of Psychology, 30, 461-480.