English in the Middle Kingdom

网上指导英语学习 - 囗语、写作、阅读

2009-02-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I am not a school teacher anymore since the English level of the girls at the English vocational school is too low to allow them to understand what is being taught entirely in English. I did not teach English language but Cambridge BEC and trade correspondence (handian).

If you are looking for a coach to help you with your spoken English, reading or writing, feel free to contact me on QQ 86139933, SKYPE/Yahoo Messenger: speakeasyclub
MSN: yaumartin@hotmail.com
QQ: 86139933
Cell Phone: 15818782455 (Shenzhen City)

Currently, I am blogging actively at
http://bbs.oralpractice.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=42
"UncleMartin" is my KouYuTong ID on the www.oralpractice.com site

Are the Chinese teachers too young and small or am I getting old?

2008-09-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

View this article using the following link please:-

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-.iblAcAoeqhBj.9BPRX9UnR.7Y4-?cq=1

What's more powerful - a sword or a pen?

2008-09-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=541894&fpage=1&highlight=%2Bmdoinit

A post I submitted to the English forum of China Daily back in 2006.

Shenzhen City is now showing signs of a genuine autumn season as the mercury keeps finding a lower level in this very first week of November.

The latter half of October found us in quite warm days for an autumn for some reason. I look forward to winter eagerly as I don't have to brave the very strong sunlight and sweat when I go outside.

I have been sweating a bit though these days over a few things. People living in this country may simply brush these things aside. I come from the outside, not that far though, just down south of Shenzhen City i.e. Hong Kong SAR. Well, this SAR is not considered any more as a colony after the once vibrant city was returned to motherland 9 years ago. The people who grow up there cannot be considered as Chinese the same way as people living here in this big country would consider themselves to be.

It's a historical issue nevertheless. Do not attach too much to the analysis should you be reading this. People in China and people in Hong Kong SAR are two different breeds even though the same blood flow in their bodies. The immersion in a truly international setting and cultural influence from the world are forging the disparity between the two groups.

Hongkongers do not think carefully when they like to speak up what they think. Folks in this big country are very restrained and careful in what they say or write, to the extent that they try not to reveal what they are thinking of. This type of self-examination is working on the folks here, so much so that its influence has now spread to the tiny special administrative region of Hong Kong whether you believe it or not.

I said all these for a reason of course. I have been living in Shenzhen City for the last 4 years, having stopped commuting back and forth for almost a year now come end of 2006. My observation and feelings are very real as it's all first-hand personal experience rather than hearsay or screened from the media.

My websites have been blocked from viewing from China and I was told that the instructions were issued by this very metropolitan city of Shenzhen. Who can I go to for an appeal? Was it done out of a published policy and some official guidelines, or simply because some individuals are not happy about what I echo in my webpages?

If I did anything improper at all, it's nothing more than a bit of harsh criticism on how English is being taught or used, as I am only interested in English language education and usage in this special economic zone of Shenzhen City, a blessed place this country is working so hard to turn it to a truly metropolitan or international city.

As a migrant city full of migrant talents, I believe there are amongst them some who do not really understand Hong Kong SAR and the people from that tiny special administrative region. I speculate that there may be an element of envy, jealousy or whatever, some of these migrant population take a very different view on Hongkongers. Local Guangdong folks are very familiar with Hong Kong SAR and they have a much better appreciation of the place and the people. Knowing you are an English teacher from Hong Kong, the local folks do not question you at all on your ability and put their trust in you without a second thought. The migrant lot will put doubt on top of anything else in the same situation.

One country, two systems! Broadly speaking, it's a good concept. When it come to fine details, it's never that simple. This is only a personal opinion and I am not saying this to persuade others to copy my way of thinking. In a democratic society, we simply echo our own opinion regardless. Other people around you are presumed to be mature enough to make their own judgements and follow what they themselves believe in. They can disagree but not to ban you from saying anymore what you want to say.

Well, all these grumbles of mine are not made for no reason. A public forum in which I have been posting messages has my messages deleted for no obvious explainable reasons. To whom can I go for clarification? I have emailed them in the past and of course I have never heard back from them.

Oppressing the opinion of others is to me a crime. Now that reminds me of a saying: "The pen is more powerful than a sword." You can kill someone to shut him up. But give them a pen, you will never have peace thereafter. This will go on even after the death of the writer.

(Written on November 4, 2006)

My First Day at the Wisdom Girls' School, Yangshuo Town, Guilin City

2008-09-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Please view the content here:-

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-.iblAcAoeqhBj.9BPRX9UnR.7Y4-?cq=1

NB: I choose not to paste the content over here for one simple reason. I do go over my quick posts again and again to edit out blunders and introduce improvements where necessary. So, it would be a pain if I have to go to so many different blog spaces to do the same thing over and over again.

Practice, practice and practice!

2008-08-29T15:43:00.001-07:00

发表于：2008年7月10日 17时16分12秒来源：阅读(21)评论(1) 举报本文链接：http://user.qzone.qq.com/86139933/blog/1215681372

One can be reading, listening or watching whatever to learn English or bring up his/her English proficiency.

Yet until the time you can really use that language freely, you are not getting anywhere close enough.

When you are not really that good, it is hard for you to get someone advanced to talk to you (well, unless you retain a coach). Before you open your mouth to talk, step number one is writing.

Keep a simple English journal or diary as step number one.

Always bring along with you a writing pad. When you move around, try to put everything that catch your eyeballs down in the notepad in English. Describe the scene and action of what's going on in English. Anything that you cannot write down, make a note and look it up or ask someone when you have a chance.

Imagine a fictious conversation. Write up the dialogue. If you are not engaged in simultaneous conversation exchange, you should not be that pressed even if you forget some expressions or words. After training yourself drafting up dialogues, you will find that it is so easy to engage in a live conversation with someone in English.

Reading, listening and watching are sort of passive. The active role you can play is to practice, practice and practice using the methods I described just now.

No pain, no gain!

You can share my daddy! (转载)

2008-08-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

发表于：2008年6月15日 8时20分46秒来源：阅读(27)评论(2) 举报本文链接：http://user.qzone.qq.com/86139933/blog/1213489246

You can share my daddy! (转载)

http://bbs1.beiwaionline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=40;t=000032

这是一篇美国人写的心灵鸡汤故事，发表在这个时候，也许可以作为一个特殊的儿童节礼物，安慰那些四川的娃儿们！

Linda L. Kerby

As I sat in the garden weeding, my four-year-old neighbor came over to the fence and settled down to supervise my activities. Since her mother had just had a baby the previous week, she was allowed more freedom to entertain herself and explore her world. She asked endless questions about what this was and why that was, and she finally asked about a metal object that had been fastened on the fence. I told her that I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I thought it was something that my father had put there for some reason or another.

She looked around the yard carefully and said, “Where is your daddy? Is he at work?”

I explained to her that he had died several years ago, and that was how I came to live in the house.

She thought about this for a minute and then asked, “Well, then did you get a new daddy?” I was not sure how to answer her, so I just went with the simple truth and said, “No, I didn’t.”

She thought about that for a moment, as if the prospect of not having a daddy was just too complex to embrace, and then she suddenly offered a solution that made sense to her. “You can share my daddy, if you want to. He is a very good daddy, and I don’t think he would mind.”

Translation from Chinese to English

2008-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

发表于：2008年6月14日 16时6分4秒来源：阅读(21)评论(0) 举报本文链接：http://user.qzone.qq.com/86139933/blog/1213430764

Translation from Chinese to English
I made my own comments on the following entry in HJEnglish's BULO. Oh, my ID there is CYBERPARROT in case you are not aware of it.

http://bulo.hjenglish.com/question/38332/

[已解决问题] 急切求助——中翻英
提问者：Pengyuhui917 - Q籽一级
悬赏沪元：100 浏览 188 次酒店餐饮服务丰富齐全，中西兼有。“新花园中餐厅”提供粤，鲁。川菜及地方风味小吃，品种丰富多样，高，中，低档兼备；“浪漫咖啡厅”提供英式下午茶，法式大餐及各色西菜。酒店每日提供花色丰富的自助餐，气氛宽松优雅。宾客们可享受各种香醇咖啡，晚间的烛光晚餐，在钢琴伴奏的典雅浪漫气氛中，别具格调；独具中国传统特色的“顶层花园茶座”为宾客提供清香的中国茶及各色差点，除此之外，酒店的24小时房间餐食服务随叫随到。

最佳答案
Our restaurant have rich complete hotel catering services,involves both Chinese and Western. "The new garden of chinese restaurant " to provide Guangdong, Lu. Sichuan and local flavor snacks, species richness and diversity, high, medium and low-grade both "romantic cafes" to provide English-style afternoon tea, dinner and the French West colored dishes. Hotel daily patterns of the rich buffet, and the atmosphere was relaxed elegance. Guests can enjoy all kinds of a side of coffee, the evening candlelight dinner in the elegant piano accompaniment by the romantic atmosphere, unique style, the unique characteristics of China's traditional "top-level garden cafe" for guests to provide faint scent of Chinese tea and Colored almost, in addition, the hotel's 24-hour room service meals available on demand.
2008-6-1 17:00:21 回答者：helen1392010

提问者对于答案的评价：Thank U. 其它回答(2)
Rich complete hotel catering services, both Chinese and Western. "The new restaurant in the Garden" to provide Guangdong, Lu. Sichuan and local flavor snacks, species richness and diversity, high, medium and low-grade both "romantic cafes" to provide English-style afternoon tea, dinner and the French West colored dishes. Hotel daily patterns of the rich buffet, and the atmosphere was relaxed elegance. Guests can enjoy all kinds of a side of coffee, the evening candlelight dinner in the elegant piano accompaniment by the romantic atmosphere, unique style, the unique characteristics of China's traditional "top-level garden cafe" for guests to provide faint scent of Chinese tea and Colored almost, in addition, the hotel's 24-hour room service meals available on demand.

1周前回答者：艳艳88373922 - Q果七级
Hotel dining service rich complete, China and the West have at the same time. “in the new garden the dining room” provides Guangdong, Lu. The Sichuan cuisine and the regional cuisine snack, the variety is bountiful, high, the low gear has both; “the romantic cafe” provides the English afternoon tea, the Buddhist ritual procedures western-style food and the assorted western cuisine. The hotel provides the variety rich buffet every day, the atmosphere loose graceful. The guests may enjoy each kind of mellow coffee, evening's candlelight supper, in piano accompaniment elegant romantic atmosphere, other style; The alone China traditional features “the top layer garden teahouse” provides the delicate fragrance for the guest the Chinese tea and assorted almost, in addition, the hotel 24 hour room meals service is within call.
豊かな完全なホテルケータリングサービス、中国語と英語の両方です。 "新しいレストランでの庭"を提供する広東省、リュします。四川省や地方の風味スナック、種の豊かさと多様性、高、中、および低悪性度の両方の"ロマンチックなカフェ"を提供する英語のスタイルのアフタヌーンティー、ディナーと、フランスの西色の料理です。毎日のパターンをホテルの豊富なブレックファースト、とリラックスした優雅な雰囲気だった。すべての種類の楽しみいただけますサイドのコーヒー、夜にろうそくを灯しての夕食会をされたエレガントなピアノの伴奏でロマンチックな雰囲気、ユニークなスタイルは、このユニークな特徴を、中国の伝統的な"トップレベルのガーデンカフェ"のゲストを提供すると広い中国茶qingxiangほぼ、加えて、ホテルの24時間のルームサービスがご利用オンデマンド食事です。
最后修改于 2008-6-6 22:09:02

1周前回答者：kk75 - Q苗三级

评论
2小时前 cyberparrot :
My goodness! This is really translation with unique Chinese characteristics. Please pay attention to cultural differences. If you are familiar with the way westerners promote their business or advertise their services, you should know how to re-phrase your English version to make sure your translated version will not look awkward for the real intended English audience.

I offer my rough work here as a reference:-

New Garden Chinese Restaurant offers both Chinese and western cuisines. We offer a wide selection of local dishes and delicacies from Canton, Shanghai and Sichuan from low to deluxe class budgets. English style high-tea, French and various western cuisines are served at our Romantic Café. Buffets with a very wide selection of food are served at our hotel. Guests will enjoy our fragrant coffee in a relaxing atmosphere. Try out our candle light dinner in the elegant and romantic atmosphere of piano music. Our Roof-top Garden Tea Gallery is offering a unique traditional Chinese atmosphere where you can enjoy the fragrant tea and delicacies. Apart from these, the hotel is offering 24-hour room service. You can place your order anytime for prompt delivery to your own room.

2小时前 cyberparrot :
To me, the last line is actually redundant. Westerners are familiar with the concept of 24-hour room service. No need to emphasize the prompt delivery as it is expected anyway. Chinese standard of service is giving 24-hour service a different definition as they cannot keep up to that promise.

So, "You can place your order anytime for prompt delivery to your own room. " can be removed after all.

English reading material

2008-08-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

[A post of mine originally appearing in my Qzone on 2208-06-14]

Source:- http://user.qzone.qq.com/86139933/blog/1213429629

English learners always complain that they don't have good reading material. So, I will watch out now if there are really good stuff for them to consume.

With the article copied over here, I'm not pushing you to study Spanish. What you will benefit from reading the article is the knowledge of the role of a few major languages in the world and the position of English as a language.

As usual, when you read, watch out for usages and expressions that you can borrow from when you put English to use yourself later.

( Source: http://www.handsonspanish.com/html/learn_catch_up.html )

Why Should You Learn Spanish?

TO HELP THE US CATCH-UP TO THE REST OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD!

Several years ago I heard a joke that, unfortunately, rang true at the time and will illustrate the point above:

Q: What do you call a person who speaks three languages?

A: A trilingual.

Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?

A: A bilingual.

Q: What do you call a person who speaks one language?

A: An American.

Ouch! Fortunately, this trend is changing as more and more people see the value of learning a foreign language. More specifically, "Americans" (referring here to US citizens; all of the people in the New World are American) are seeing the need to learn Spanish in order to improve communication within our own country. We are also now more conscious of the average educational levels of other developed nations and we'd like to play catch-up! English is taught throughout all school levels in most European countries. It is the most commonly learned second language in the world. A student will begin learning English and/or another language at a very young age and continue each year until he/she is out of school. So why have US school systems taken such a comparatively passive route towards foreign language education?

In the past, US citizens did not see the need to learn another language. After all, our nation is vast and spacious. We have oceans as our eastern and western borders. At our northern border, we have friendly Canadian neighbors, most of whom speak English (whether as a first or second language). To our south we have friendly Spanish-speaking Mexican neighbors who have historically been far more interested in our language and cultures than we have been in theirs. Also, the US has traditionally been a political and economic powerhouse. Our government is very influential in world affairs. Capitalism ensures that consumers get exactly what they want here in the US. The stability of our currency is amazing in a world of change. We are a safe market for any exporting nation and a safe supplier to any importing nation. Wow! American consumers pretty much get what they want. We have grown quite accustomed to being a little selfish. It's no wonder that we have not taken greater strides to learn another people's language. We haven't had to…UNTIL NOW.

Thirteen percent of our nation's population speak Spanish as a primary language. You do not have to travel to another land to speak Spanish. You can speak it here everyday, if you choose. Also, more and more business is becoming global in nature. Now even service and financial sectors are playing the world market whereas before it was primarily a market of the importing and exporting of agricultural and industrial goods. Our world is becoming increasingly smaller and more accessible thanks to a multitude of technological advances. The World Wide Web now makes it possible for you to communicate in Spanish without even opening your office or home office door. We have a window to the world propped nicely on our desks. As computers become less expensive and find their ways into more homes, and as the Internet continues to be a preferred source of information, we will see self-education improve. What we did not learn or are not learning in any educational institution can be obtained over the Internet.

Now that we have access to that world, whether it be in a business or a personal context, we should know what language is the most widely-spoken in the world. It must be English, right? Wrong. The answer is Chinese! There are more people who speak Chinese than any other language in the world. So, then, English is second. Wrong again. Spanish is the second most widely-spoken language in the world. English is third. Would you like to learn one of the top two? If you would like to learn Chinese, I can only refer you to other programs. If you would like to learn the language that is spoken in the highest number of different countries, the language that is spoken by the majority of the people in this hemisphere, and the language that is spoken in your own community, I am ready to teach you Spanish.

Common problems with English schools here in Yangshuo

2008-08-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

[NB: I am aware that there are a few bigger and well managed oral English schools here in Yangshuo. My comments here are addressed to the smaller ones which are honestly not properly managed at all. The owners are not dedicated to English education but jump in for quick money.]

I have had 4 years experience interviewing and placing foreign teachers to teach in China universities and schools as I was retained by a language center and placement agency (teacher and student placement) in Hong Kong after I retired from the international financial industry.

I know how chaotic Chinese management is!!! If the person in charge is not around, not the smallest decision can be made. Employee of the school usually are not friendly, responsible, caring, knowledgeable of what's going on, etc.

I am really tempted to name the school located on Shenshan Lu where I had an appointment with an American Taiwanese teacher. The lady there knew nothing and did not care to answer any questions. The headmaster and owner is always hiding. A good friend of mine, a Chinese lady who has lived in Canada for 13 years, taught there for a few sessions and was greeted with grudges from the owner that she had not put in more time beyond what she was supposed to put in. She was so fed up that she quit, but securing the pay became a nightmare.

1) No one knows exactly what's going on?
2) Low intake of students means students of varying levels being pooled together in one class.
3) High intake of students means the optimal class size is broken. Reports of 10 students being put in one class were recorded.
4) If you go to the right school, chances are you will be taught by qualified foreign teachers. Otherwise, you will be taught by foreign teachers who are not trained teachers. Some cannot talk properly and carry with them heavy accent. Many of these backpackers come from very low social background in their own country so you know too well what to expect. They are not stable as well.
5) These foreign teachers are not necessarily from native English speaker countries. Many are from Italy, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Africa, etc. You name it.
6) Teaching assistants often make incorrect interpretation of what the foriegn teachers say. (I experienced this myself and found myself in an awkward situation. If I let the class know that there is a problem with the teaching assistant, I will upset the teaching assisstant. If I don't correct the teaching assistant, I am doing a disservice to the students. I don't want to make enemies out of these unqualified teaching assistants.)
7) If you have a Chinese face, you will normally not be accepted even though you are a great teacher. The students simply blindly believe in the magic of a white face.

[This post entry was originally posted in a Yangshuo English Schools Alumni Forum:-
http://yangshuoalumni.uu1001.com]

Check your readiness before coming to Yangshuo

2008-08-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

来阳朔前，你准备好没有？

[Introduction: Yangshuo is a scenic town 90 minutes (Y15) bus ride away from Guilin City, Guangxi Province. The West Street (Xi Jie) there is lined up with western restaurants, coffee shops, pizza shops, drinking holes, discos etc. The high number of foreign tourists make people believe this place is a natural English corner and upon this oral English schools flourish. ]

Many students are lost in their attempt to sharpen their English and they believe the foreign teachers in Yangshuo may be able to help them.

Take my advice! Before you hand over the fee to any school, ask yourself these questions.

1) Is my vocabulary large enough to conduct a meaningful conversation?
2) Have I been able to produce pretty accurate English sounds?
3) Am I able to speak in complete sentences which are grammatically correct?
4) What am I going to learn specifically?

I have encountered students who simply enjoy mumbling something in English, with the full knowledge that it is broken. They don't care as they just enjoy talking in broken English.

Oftentimes, I cannot follow what they say due to incorrect pronunciation and lack of structure in what they utter. Asked to come forward to write it on the white board, they will find it boring and unnecessary. They don't like to visit the basics again. So, what can an oral English teacher do to help them? To me, I am not doing my job.

Bear in mind that a few weeks or few months of training in Yangshuo will not do you much good if you are not prepared. Most likely, you will go away unhappy, blaming it all to the school or teacher.

So, check your readiness before you start off your journey to Yangshuo. The scenic Yangshuo town is worth visiting but your main purpose may not be fulfilled if you come unprepared.

Moderated Posts in Public Forums

2008-08-29T13:38:00.001-07:00

I must tell you folks that I hate posting in the English language forums of China Daily as every single post has to be scrutinized by a moderator before it is released to the public.

I am a serious English user who always write something up quickly. It's human to err. Yet you don't know when your post will be released so you have a chance to rectify your blunders. A lot of times, your posts will simply disappear and unapproved for reasons you never know.

Having made it known that I am an English coach or teacher, some forum members like to pick up flaws of mine to disgrace me as if they don't know the word BLUNDER. We judge a person's competency on the overall presentation but not the silly mistakes due to blunders.

Most forums in China are moderated anyway. This certainly makes me sick. I abandoned writing in my own Qzone simply because I have experienced a lot of these "illegal words" situations. In one of my posts, I used words like Jesus Christ, preacher, God, etc. I tried very hard to get the post approved by the Qzone blogging software control. I have to put Jesus Christ as J-e-s-u-s C-h-r-i-s-t to get through the system check.

This is why I am now blogging actively only on 360 Yahoo and Blogger here. However, at one point, Blogger was also blocked inside China. I just hope that my freedom in blogging will not be unduly restricted in this new world super-power (formerly known as the Middle Kingdom).

I have a dream!

2008-08-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Whilst tidying up my blogs to direct my supporters to one place to view what I have written so far online, I was also listening to the Commercial Radio Hong Kong station and heard an artist relay how a dream had helped him launch a muscial.

It reminded me of a dream which I had carried for a long time. I was thinking of something along the line of a finishing school. If you don't know what a finishing school is, it is popular in the west when young school leavers will attend to learn how to dress and present themselves at work.

And that finishing touch is like a preparatory course as well. Surprisingly I am about to start with a preparatory school - a business preparatory school exclusively for girls here in Yangshuo, Guilin, Guangxi Province. I wonder what's waiting for me there as one cannot expect much information from a China school. I don't have a teaching contract and instead an exchange of email was used to leave some evidence of a contractual relationship. I am not even sure what date and what time I am expected when I report to work in September. Anyhow, I will just have to walk across the street to get that piece of information from a lady teacher who happens to speak Cantonese.

Another dream I have is to end up in a writing career of some sort as there is no guarantee that a Chinese face can stay on a teaching job in China forever when white faces are always the choice of schools, students and parents. My Chinese English head teacher friend in Guangdong just told me that he had seen in his own eyes the termination of a Canadian-Chinese lady teacher most liked by the students. Well, having placed foreign teachers in China universities and schools for 4 years myself, I am not unfamiliar with this sheer stupidity and mis-conception.

So, this is why I have to prepare for another career just in case. When I get too old to present my face, I can still hide myself behind an LCD monitor and pound the keyboard to generate some cash to catch up with inflation. On this, I must thank this lovely and cheerful lady member at my Wednesday Midweek Evening Club (Shenzhen City) who reminded me that I should take writing as my career perhaps.

Listen up, I am heading for that dream career now even though my English is not of a flavor that fits native English readers. I'm working hard on it though.

Human Development in China

2008-08-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

China is a country which has grown strong and powerful by favoring the growth and expansion of large scale businesses when medium to small size private enterprises are being left to struggle on their own.

On the development of human resources, there is evidently a gigantic gap to patch up if the international standard is targeted.

Everywhere we go, we can see the hardware readiness of China. Take a closer took, we realize that the software is not actually in place.

Very often, we can see a marvelous office building with an exterior that looks modern and up-class. Alas! If you go inside and look around you may be greeted with office employees walking around between the office premises and the washrooms with their lunch canteens. The sight is not expected in an up-class office building say in Hong Kong SAR.

The people operating in an international city are expected to observe certain conventions. Yet we find the bigger cities infested by low quality migrants. They outnumber those in the higher quality brackets and thus drag down the image of the city.

Whilst businesses are hiring college graduates from the smaller cities or remote provinces as the latter are trying their luck away from their hometown, we see the offices filled up with manpower which have received none or only rudimentary training for what they are being hired for.

With few exceptions, businesses are not paying much attention to on-the-job training for the employee. There is certainly a reason employers are unwilling to divert resources to training. Employees are found to be job-hopping once they think they know how to get by and for only a marginal rise in salary. The smarter employees are eager to try their own luck running their own show once they have learnt the ropes in the business.

One other major issue is the guan xi (关系) or relationship upon which Chinese people are conducting themselves as a race. Unfairness is created by the operation of guan xi. Your success in your career pursuit or a business venture is hinged to your strength in guan xi. Those without good guan xi may work and struggle very hard but can be getting nowhere. The weaker minded ones will soon surrender and lack any drive to upgrade themselves. Investment by this group on self improvement and work skills are considered unworthy.

These underlying factors explain why employers are reluctant to invest on human development.

Why everybody in China is rushing to learn English?

2008-08-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I can only say it is crazy for so many Chinese to rush to learn English when a lot of them will never have a chance to use it or even meet a foreigner.

Surely I know the psychology and the reality which put them on the long journey for the learning of English.

I can't control myself but give a salute to these struggling English learners having taught some of them myself and will continue to teach many more in the years to come.

I'll be back telling you guys my experience in teaching the world's most popular international language in China.

Sit tight!