Teaching English in China


Preface
Six of us from our church (Linda, Bob, Sylvia, Vern, Nancy, and I) are in China to teach conversational English as part of the Amity Foundation's Summer English Program. We will be at the Shandong Institute of Education in Jinan, teaching English during the month of July. Our students will be Chinese teachers in their middle school system (that includes what we normally call middle school and high school in the U.S.) who teach English. The objective of the program is give them an opportunity to learn from native English speakers and improve their conversational English skills. English is an important part of the examination that students take to get into the university. Students from poorer parts of China, where the schools are not as good, are at a disadvantage in competing to be admitted to the university. The Amity Foundation established this program to help correct this imbalance as part of its rural development efforts.

The Amity Foundation, an independent Chinese voluntary organization, was created in 1985 on the initiative of Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health, and rural development. A good friend of ours, Judy Sutterlin, is the liaison from American Baptists to the Amity Foundation. She recruited us to the Amity Summer English Program, so I guess we have her to blame for us being here.

The Summer English program starts in July so we are spending a couple of weeks beforehand doing the usual tourist stuff. Sylvia, Vern, and Nancy and I signed up with a tour group (China Spree) to see "China's Best Treasures". Linda had seen most of these on her trip to China two years ago, so she and Bob are doing a separate tour. We will meet up in Shanghai the first of July to go to Nanjing for orientation prior to our teaching assignment in Jinan.

 

Map of China with our route to date, starting from Beijing.

Part 1: Touring China
June 20: Beijing - Day 1 (Tiananmen Square, Imperial Palace (Forbidden City), rickshaw ride, kindergarten)
June 21: Beijing - Day 2 (Jade factory, Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tsinghua University)
June 22: Beijing - Day 3 (Temple of Heaven and the panda bears)
June 23: Xian - Day 1 (Terra Cotta soldiers, Tang Dynasty stage show)
June 24: Xian - Day 2 (Wild goose pagoda, Xian city wall, Islamic mosque)
June 25: Guilin - Day 1 (Terraced Fields, fishing with cormorants)
June 26: Guilin - Day 2 (Li River cruise, pearl factory)
June 27: Guilin to Suzhou (Countryside, embroidery factory)
June 28: Suzhou to Shanghai (Master of Nets garden, silk factory, Tongli)
June 29: Shanghai - Day 1 (Bund, Jin Mao Tower, silk carpet factory, acrobatic show)
June 30 - July 1: Shanghai - Days 2 & 3 (more Bund, Nanjing Road, Shanghai after dark)
July 2 - 3: On to Nanjing

Part 2: Amity Summer English Program
July 3 - 6: Amity Summer English Program Conference
July 6 - 7: Arriving in Jinan
July 8: Jinan - Day 2 (church, welcoming banquet)
July 9 - 10: Teaching in Jinan -Part I
July 11 - 26: Teaching in Jinan - Part II
July 14 - 15: Mt.Tai and Qufu
July 22: Sightseeing in Jinan
July 27: Saying Farewell
July 29: Debriefing with Amity
July 30 - Aug 1: Trip Home

We are now home. This concludes this section of our website. We hope you have had a glimpse of the profound experience we had this summer in China.