Hor! Hor!! Hor!!!

Teaching English to kindergarten students can create some bizarre and hilarious situations. For example, yesterday I found myself sitting in front of ten little kids screaming "hor! hor!! hor!!!!" at me. How does this happen? Let me explain....

I was playing a flashcard game with them as a review of past vocabulary they'd learned. Rather than just showing them a flashcard and having them name it, I gave them clues or acted out the word. The student who guessed a word first got to keep the flashcard, and at the end of the game the student with the most flashcards received an apple sticker. (It's amazing how motivated kids are by stickers!). So there I was, giving clues like, "something you use to cut paper" and kids screaming out "scissors! scissors!! scissors!!!" or pretending I'm a fierce animal and their screams of "bear! bear!! bear!!!" Then came horse, and I acted out riding a horse. And then, to my horror, all the kids started screaming, "hor! hor!! hor!!!!! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! After I managed to calm them down and prepared them to listen to me, I told them never to say this word because it is bad, and then worked on teaching them the "s" sound at the end of the word "horse." I think the Chinese teacher assisting me was just as surprised as the kids were, to learn that they'd been saying it wrong all this time.

Chinese people have a habit of either over or under-pronouncing words. For example, for "ball" they say, "bauh," and I have to work at teaching them to pronounce the "l" sound. But in other cases they enunciate too much, typically with words ending in 'e.' For example, they pronounce "orange" "orangey," and  "massage" becomes "massagey." Funny thing is, after living here for a while we foreigners start speaking "Chinglish," adopting the mispronounced words as our own, just because it makes us smile. I don't think I'll ever pronounce 'massage' correctly again!

It's China's Labour Day holiday this weekend, which means no work on Monday... bliss! I've been at this new job for a month now, and I can't tell you how many times I've felt intensely frustrated, defeated, undervalued and inadequate, but I'm pleased to say that it is getting easier and there are days and moments when I actually enjoy it! It's fun getting to know the kids, and I wish my job was just to hang out with them rather than having to teach them. It's pretty darn challenging to keep twenty-five little kids focused and engaged, but through trial and error I learn what gets their attention and keeps it. Silliness and games, games, games! The kids are warming up to me. Every time I walk through the hall kids yell out my name and wave. It's pretty cute! They are intrigued and curious about foreigners. We're a bit of a novelty, more so here in Huizhou than in Shenzhen where the number of foreigners is ever increasing. Here in Huizhou it's even shocking for us foreigners to see other foreigners, and if we do, Peter and I nudge each other and say, "Look! There's one!"

I wish I had more photos to post of the kids at school. The few below are from an after school class I teach. We were practicing objects and counting. I made the 'happy face' box to use as a tool - there were books, pencils, erasers and balls in the box, all words they'd recently learned. They took turns reaching in and grabbing items out of the box, saying what they were, and at the end we counted them together. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and that's the main thing!

Learning to be a clown

Well, I did it. I survived my first week at the kindergarten. And it was a short week because Monday was a holiday... next week will be the real thing! Eeek! I have to say, I am immensely relieved that it's Friday. It's been a pretty intense few days. I've been trying so hard to make my classes work, to entertain the kids, to discipline them, to get to know all of their names, of course to teach them something, and to basically figure out how teaching English to Chinese kids under five is done. I may have been teaching English to kids for 3+ years, but teaching kindergarten kids is a whole new ball game. They're still learning their own language, for gods sake. Most of the tricks and tools I've been using up until now are not applicable to kids under five. Hence the learning curve. There are many variables with 'kindy' kids that can really effect the way a class goes. They may be tired, hungry, grumpy, sad... they are very emotional little beings, and it's a teachers job to tune in and manipulate the group in a positive way, to keep the kids happy, engaged, and motivated to learn. Sometimes it is just impossible. That's when you say, "Screw it! Let's just have some fun!" And you have to be ready to pull some fun games out of your back pocket. Come to think of it, it's what I imagine being a clown or a magician is like. Maybe I should've gone to clown school after all.

Not only is it hard to get used to teaching this age group, it's hard being in a workplace that is entirely Chinese. Granted, there are three Chinese teachers who teach English, but they don't seem at all interested in practicing their English, (although they sure should be). The rest of the staff don't speak English at all. The other places I've worked have been after school learning centres, and usually everyone who works at learning centres speaks English. Plus, there's a group of foreign teachers, so you have a team to work with. Schools on the other hand, not so much, and at this job I'm the only foreign teacher, which is a drag. It would be so nice to have someone to talk to and confide in and share ideas with. The Chinese teacher who is in charge of me is good at giving suggestions and recommendations, but in a way that makes me feel incompetent and like I'm doing a terrible job. It's very stressful. Anyways, the moral of the story here is that I really, really, really need to work on my Chinese. I am dying to know what the heck they're all talking about! And it's only fair that I learn. It will make life so much easier for everyone.

On a fun note, one morning this week we went for a picnic in the park. It's something they do once a month - a fun outdoor activity for the kids. The school doesn't have an outdoors area, so I think it's a way of compensating for that. We went to a park that had a big green space where the kids could run around and play games. The teachers had a bunch of activities planned... they flew kites and had the kids chase them, blew bubbles and had the kids chase the bubbles, sat in a circle and played 'duck, duck, goose,' drew pictures, made a spinning wheel craft, and of course, had a picnic before piling back onto the bus and going back to school. It was a grand day out, and the kids seemed to have a great time. It was adorable watching them walking through the park to and from the bus, paired up and holding hands to keep safe. I wish I took more pictures of the kite-flying and bubbles and stuff. Oh well, maybe next time.

Story time in the park.

Playing "Big bubble, little bubble."

Lunch time!

Walking back to the bus.

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All aboard the big blue bus.

Tomorrow I become a kindergarten teacher.... wish me luck!

Tomorrow I start a new full-time teaching job at a kindergarten across the street from where I live. It all seems a bit too good to be true, and I've learned that in China, it usually is. Still, I can't help but hope and trust that this is the job for me, that I'll love it to bits, that I'll have swell coworkers and one hundred and seventy five wonderful little students.

That's right, one hundred and seventy five students. There are seven classes with an average of twenty-five students in each class, ranging in age from two to six years old. I'll be the only foreign teacher at the school, and I'll be teaching two classes a week to each class. The classes are 20-30 minutes long. They have another kindergarten that they want me to teach 4-6 classes a week at as well.

It seems like a great place to work. The schedule is pretty relaxed, the people I've met so far are friendly and accommodating. From what I've been told, my work day looks like this: I go to work at 8 am to greet the kids as they arrive. Afterwards, while the kids are settling in and eating their breakfast, I go home to eat my own. I go back to the school at around 9:30 or 10:00, do some teaching and hang out with the kids, and at 11:30 it's lunch time. My lunch break is about four hours long. Enough time to rest and regain some energy for the afternoon. I go back at around 3:30. At 4:30 the kids start to leave, and I hang out at the entrance saying goodbye as parents and grandparents come to pick them up. At 5:30 my work is done. So it looks like I'll be working an average of five hours a day. Suits me just fine! Fingers crossed that it turns out to be as good as it sounds.

Wish me luck!

The kindergarten I'll be working at. It's called 'DWIN.' (I forget what it stands for.)