Classroom tactics now tried: 429. At least it seems that way. In my oral English classes for freshmen, sophomores and juniors at Jianghai Polytechnic College — here, the class levels are referred to as grids one, two and three — I’ve settled into a routine of mixing my own ideas, stolen and otherwise, with the “Inside Out” series published specifically for Chinese courses by Macmillan of the U.K.
(It’s a tad outdated with its 1980s pop star references, and uncomfortable for an American teacher with its English idioms. Where I come from, only the Geico gekko “fancies a crisp.”)
Words of warning for fellow ESL novices: So many lesson plans, games and exercises can be found online that it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong. My bookmark lists keep growing, but it takes time to organize all of that stuff, let alone to find what you need for future classes. I’m still figuring out how to deal with this issue.
That said, allow me to summarize some of the desperation heaves I’ve hoisted, with occasionally amusing and useful results.
[picapp align=”right” wrap=”false” link=”term=Jay+Chou&iid=3516399″ src=”http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/3516399/2008-beijing-pop-music/2008-beijing-pop-music.jpg?size=500&imageId=3516399″ width=”234″ height=”317″ /]Jay Chou: That’s the Anglicized name for Zhou Jiélún, the Chinese pop star who is beginning to show up on American radar. He’ll appear in the upcoming film “The Green Hornet.” To say he’s big in China is to fall short of an accurate description. When I played one of his hits, “Dào Xiang,” on my laptop in more than one class, all of the students — I mean every single one — sang as if it were the Chinese national anthem, revealing the visceral connection they have to an artist who belongs to them.
One of my students introduced “Dào Xiang” to me, and it is catchy. It really stuck in my head. So, I found some English translations, as awkward as you might imagine them, and went to work.
In “Dào Xiang” (稻香), or “Fragrance of Rice,” Jay Chou tells us essentially to stop complaining and appreciate what we have. The Chinese refrain, of course, rhymes:
The English lyrics, not so much:
I still remember you said your home was the only castle
You continue to run along with the fragrance of rice and the flowing river
Smiling, the dreams when you were young, I know
Don’t cry, let the fireflies lead you to escape
Folk songs in the country, you can always rely on them
Just go home, go back to the happiness at the very start
As a way of getting Chinese students’ attention, it works better than translating American hits into Mandarin, though I’ve done that, too. The web site Chinese-Tools.com provides the lyrics to “Dào Xiang” in Chinese characters and pinyin, with English annotations and a free download of the song itself. Check it out. It’s a good tune.
Bribes: Some ESL manual must advise against going this route, but I was getting desperate to raise the interest level. A bag of treats, i.e., small stacks of Pringles and Oreos, or the Chinese brand equivalents for a couple of yuan apiece, is guaranteed to spice up any sort of language game. Believe me, games must be made part of your ESL arsenal here. Here’s hoping the bribes, er, prizes are tax-deductible.
Props: Yesterday, I cracked my first beer in class, a can of Shanshui with one of those old pop tops that actually comes off. I wanted to give the students an image of the word “hangover” (sù zuì) that would really stick with them.
The weather has turned cold, and many students are sneezing and sniffling. Hence, this teacher’s edition of show-and-tell, featuring a bag of remedies brought from America (NyQuil, Benadryl, Extra Strength Excedrin, Breathe Right nasal strips, Imodium A-D, Icy Hot patches, etc.) And the can of beer. And a brief explanation of America’s pill culture.
I also wanted to find out what the Chinese do for things like a cold, or găn mào. One student: Dress warmly, sleep a lot, drink a lot of water. Another: “Nothing.” (Where’s the instant gratification? The first student is a friend with a cold, so I corrupted her by handing over the bottle of NyQuil.) As for a hangover, one student’s response on what to do: “Go back out.”
The Breathe Right strips were very popular. I may need someone to send more.
Mock arguments: I’ve had more success lately getting notoriously reticent students to test their English by having teams face off over some made-up issue to which they can relate, such as snoring roommates and shopping for athletic shoes. (We pay the price on the tag. The Chinese negotiate.) Honestly, I couldn’t care less how well they spoke. It’s a major victory getting them to speak.
The China Rog-ect 
