Just a brief note from me tonight, I'm not sure quite how I feel about this summer schedule at the moment.

I decided after teaching quite an interesting class on music to my new summer students, to integrate this topic into some of my other, more advanced classes. I figure that there's nothing quite like having an in-depth discussion about the bridge of music across cultures.

Tommorow night I plan to use 'I Still Call Australia Home' as a listening exercise with my upper-intermediate students. Believe it or not, it's pretty easy to find a copy of the Australian Children's (or Qantas!) Choir's version on the internet, so too the original! And there's nothing else quite like the Aussie tenor tones of Peter Allen; "I love being free/and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea/but my heart lies waiting/over the foam.."

Mmm. We've so succumed to the idea of being away from home for some time yet. But nonetheless... it is a homely feeling.

Australia... women de jia... stay just as you are!

好久不見

So it has been a while since Simon's mutterings appeared on this blog. Partly because teaching has left me with little to no (creative) energy. Things, however, have fallen into place in the past week and a half following the securement of a new place for Leese and I. The serenity of our new home has gone a long way to revitalizing our spirits. It could not have been better timed. As of next week our schedules will accelerate to 45hrs p/w with no brakes (pun intended.) So whilst we will be spending precious few hours here in our apartment, they will be worth their weight in gold, vis-a-vis the hours spent in a convenient but dank youth hostel; the creature comforts that hard earned money can buy.

So the teaching machine still retains it's glean, although under the hood a bit of tinkering is needed. I know the car analogy is cliche but I'll keep the stream of consciousness going. One mechanical problem is being able to stop momentum; a proper brake system or better yet gearbox. Many of the classes I currently teach are of an advanced level. With particular private students (mano e mano) I can carry a conversation without the need of material (although I always have it handy.) For example, with one young student I talked about the problems associated with emancipation. We talked about her Bhuddist beliefs and how they provided her with a different centre of gravity to that of to her peers. The student talked about the reconciliation of her vocational goals with those of her spiritual life and the strength that she garnered from her strong sense of self. The conversation flowed freely from topic to topic with the constant injection of new vocabulary into her lexicon. The critical thinking she applied to her experiences and her general ontology was/is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise claustrophobic Taiwanese environment. Don't get me wrong, this kind of student is rare in Taiwan. The ability to speak English at an advanced level, although immensely difficult for the Taiwanese learner and by which I am humbled, is not entirely rare. The ability to converse about one's life without being overly concerned about 'face' (面子) is, however, as the Chinese ESL speaker would say, seldom found. Nor am I being overly caviling of the Taiwanese learner in regards to critical thinking (If anyone wants a greater insight into this issue, you will need to ask Lisa about her conversations with a Taiwanese professor and the difficulties they face, both professionally and conceptually, in teaching critical thinking to their Taiwanese students.) Critical thinking is not a large part of Taiwanese/Chinese culture; from my understanding, the rigid, Confucian teacher-student relationship makes it difficult for Taiwanese students to engage their teachers critically. And again, for some (particularly men), the idea of losing face will further discourage students from speaking publicly (this will be emphasised if their boss or superior is in the same class as them.) Hence even advanced learners of English will be muted by the concept of 面子.

Last week I took a risk with some of my upper-intermediate, corporate students by discussing the issue of 'ethics'. The textbook from which this lesson was taken is fantastic: it incorporates a nice balance of grammatical exercises, listening/reading comprehension, conversational questions, language utilization, and problem solving. The rhetoric or ethical framework used by the authors is, however, somewhat universalistic (or Western-centric.) This becomes particularly clear in regards to ethics, which is, like it or not, culturally bound - a system of moral principles in regards to a particular group. Hence while the material discerned that nepotism, labour exploitation, and intellectual theft was unethical, my students thought quite the opposite. In the hope that my understanding of Taiwanese/Chinese culture increases, perhaps these arbitrary opinions will form part of a larger system: a Taiwanese/Chinese ethical system that has rather profound implications for universalists and international governance. Now I know this previous sentence may sound rather artless or virginial, but experiencing the weight of this difference is very different to the conceptual understanding I received at university - abstract versus experiential.

So once upon a time when this waffle began I was talking about momentum. Now, irregardless of whether students are inhibited or unwilling or to discuss their lives with a degree of humility or openness, or whether the teaching material acts as a cultural anesthetic, at an advanced level, the conversation can continue with relatively few conceptual or methodical speed-bumps. Changing gears in order to compensate for obstacles and speed-bumps, however, can prove to be the most difficult part of a teaching week. It is difficult to slow the momentum, to pump the brakes, so to speak, when oscillating between advanced students and elementary students. Without sounding paternalistic, it's hard changing from fourth to first (not healthy for the teaching engine, God help me with these metaphors!) Part of this is difficulty is selfishness: my inability to conduct little cultural experiments with enough penetration. My mind has a lot of momentum, but in practice I need to slow down and meet the needs of my students. This has positive and negative consequences for both parties.

So the problem of momentum will only accentuate as Lisa and I's schedules accomodate the demands of holidaying students. At least we now have the privilege of learning, reading, cooking and conversing inside our own home, whilst somewhat unknowingly the streets of Taipei bustle around us.

- SS

Teaching - Musings - Week Two

It's so strange to be getting into the swing of a full-time teaching career. We're both working 20 hours this week, with at least another 10-15 hours preparation time, plus travel time, which all adds up. I have two twelve-hour days in which I have to travel between the branches, which is tiring and a little frustrating. I much prefer being at Shilin, the northern branch, where the majority of my classes are. The vibe there is pleasant and the other teachers are really lovely.

Most of my classes are really fantastic. With my advanced students, I can choose any topic that I feel is relevant/interesting to both the students and I, and prepare material on it. The freedom on not having to work to mostly mediocre English language lessons is great; the more we find out about the students, the more "tailoring" can be done, and the more we enjoy it. Mostly, though, its the freedom to speak in a complex manner, explaining concepts and ideas, that we love. For example, yesterday my topic was 'job fulfillment' - instead, we ended up musing over definitions of "fulfillment" and "contentment" using Maslow's theory of hierarchical needs. Since most of the students are university-level psychology students, it was great!

We also have private students who we see either in small groups, or one-on-one. Twice a week I have a group of three housewives who are absolutely lovely, and we talk about children, child-rearing, parental expectations, and Taiwanese husbands! Fascinating stuff! Likewise, I have a class with a senior lawyer at one of Taiwan's biggest law firms. Talking about his expertise is also really interesting and keeps my brain ticking over.

I'm ranting a little from the fatigue of it tonight. I have one particular class in which I'm not sure how much the students are enjoying it. They seem fine, but really, it's so hard to know! Because they are intermediate English students, its takes more time to explain everything (which is a little tedious) and it generally takes more out of me. At this stage of their language learning, students require far more from their "role-model" and confidence-building exercises. Afterwards, I feel like crumbling into a heap from the sheer energy that it takes to muster these students into a comfortable space with their conversational English.

Also, I feel that the risk that the materials/exercises/games are too difficult for the students is much higher with the intermediate level. I'm told that at this level, students require a set structure of the class above all else. This makes me feel somewhat hesitant about trying new methods of engaging them - something I'll have to work on.

So it takes time. For the minute though, we'll keep taking deep breaths and throwing ourselves in head-first.

A day in the life

How a week is a long time in politics... Things have changed for us so dramatically in the last few days!

Firstly, our jobs have stepped into full swing. We've both now done the teacher training sessions, the mandatory observational classes and our first real teaching classes (as emergency substitutes.)

Ohh, it's strange stuff. It's weird for me personally to have gone from being in a 'backpacker', observational mindset to realising - hey, I have a career here! It's odd walking into the centre and realising that I'm a TEACHER, not a student. The authority of it is strange, and being an employee in a big company - also odd, but good!

One of the most interesting things about our school so far has been the secretaries who run each of the school's branches in Taipei. Firstly, when you walk in, there are about 4-5 secretaries who organise class schedules and new students, etc. They are all locals, and are totally equipped to deal with anything that we need! They also deal with various complaints from the students, so it's been interesting realising just how much influence they hold in the successful running of the entire company. And we've been told to keep them on side, as the number of hours we receive totally depends upon them - they decide who receive the new classes and any new students that sign up! :)

So.. our school is one of the biggest 'chain' English schools in Taiwan. It's all over the internet, the TV and radio channels, so it's very well known. They have four branches here in Taipei - Simon has been allocated to the Fuxing branch, and I the Fuxing and Shilin branches. We've been allocated specific intermediate and advanced classes, so too private one-on-one/three-on-one student classes (which are more expensive and mostly held on Saturdays.)

Also, next week Simon will undertake his first corporate class (!) teaching business English at the offices of Far Eastern Airlines. Incredible stuff! We're earning over $20AUD per hour teaching the groups and private classes, and about $22AUD + transport for the corporate classes (which sound kind of intimidating!) so it's a great wage over here.

I can't leave a post without mentioning that today, just as we were leaving work and about to jump onto a bus... Sim really hurt himself! We were about to get onto the bus, so we hurried a little, dodging the crowds. In the process, Sim didn't see the large rear-view mirror of the bus and smacked head-first into it... Ouch! The crunch sound was absolutely horrible, and I looked over to realise there was blood on his face, I thought he'd broken his nose. Instead, he's got a slight gash on the top of his nose and a rather sore forehead... But he's okay, no headache even, which I think is amazing. I guess if that's the most dangerous thing to happen to us so far... ?!

Tommorrow is Simmo's 24th birthday, of course... And how excited we are! We're teaching tommorrow night (Sim - 2x advanced classes to whom he taught about 'religion' and 'civilisation' yesterday, and I'll be teaching the first lesson of a class that I'll hold for ten weeks!) so we went out tonight for dinner and drinks. We found this AMAZING place called Sababa which is a tiny hole-in-the-wall place serving amazing Moroccan and Iranian food! So we had pitas and falafel and hummus and moroccan style-chicken (for Sim)... So so so so good. Totally on par with Moroccan Soup Kitchen (though I would argue better, no?) Way to go, we love you multicultural Taiwan, you are amazing!

Then off for cocktails and beers at the local expat hangout, which could be likened to a Hard Rock Cafe. Shitty music and old guys hanging out with women far too young to be drinking booze! Either way, we loved it, bopping around to Prince's 'Cream'... and so the birthday celebrations begin!

First Classes

Cancel that! Jobs started... tonight!

Just a quick post. We got a phone call this afternoon from our school asking me to be a substitute teacher for some advanced classes this evening. It was a fantastic experience though fraught with a few obstacles (as to be expected). I taught two classes to separate groups of students. Though I'd been told that they were both 'advanced' classes, they seemed at very different levels in terms of their vocabulary and their confidence to speak up.

The first group I felt I'd overestimated their level of advanced English and perhaps the material was a little too difficult, at least, explaining 'emotional intelligence' wasn't as straight-forwarded as I'd hoped. I was using the material that the regular teacher had provided, which has its drawbacks, as it feels rather foreign. I'd expected to have access to the internet at work so I could cover a little more about Gardner's '7 intelligences' (thank you, year 12 psychology!) but it was down when I got there, so materials were a little short on supply. That said, I think it went okay.

The second group had a better grasp on idioms and the like, so too were they much more confident to speak up. They were largely business students who had years of English language training under their belts; all of whom sought to improve their English in order to take advantage of broader job opportunities. Following the absent teacher's instructions, I was all set to teach another round on 'emotional intelligence' - only to find that it had been taught a few weeks earlier! So... rather embarrassing, though I guess being an emergency substitute is not an ideal situation in the first place. So instead I offered to do a review of their earlier topics, or have a general chat (remembering that its a coversational class) which was actually really great. Everyone had travelled widely so we had a good chat about cultural awareness and bridging cultural barriers - good stuff.

That said, I'm absolutely knackered - all that talking and consistently thinking on your feet! So the lovely Simon took me out afterwards for beer and a gorgonzola pizza (which is honestly one of the best things we've ever eaten - it's amazing!)

Simon got an email back from the Hess Educational Institute (the largest English chain in Taiwan - they're just everywhere!) saying that he'd been hired! So the next few days will be interesting as we decide whether to take on both major language chains. Either way, it's great to know that we're getting started... hooray!