I was browsing through TechCentralStation website today, and came across an article entitled: 'F No Es Fabuloso?' Beating the Scholastic Odds, by Joanne Jacobs, in which it is stated:

• Twenty percent of California's 12th graders haven't passed the graduation exam yet; most have trouble with the math portion. We're talking about a multiple-choice test with four choices for each question: Blind guessing would produce a 25 percent score. It only takes a 55 percent to pass. Most questions require skills that are supposed to be learned in sixth through eighth grade.

I would heartily recommend you read 'that' article before continuing to read this one, it may give you insight into my story. As I read the article, I was reminded that I should give you an update on a previous story I wrote.

In the middle of November, I wrote a story about one particular class that I teach (present tense), that started and ended with: Exactly 15 minutes before the lesson was due to end, I packed up my gear, turned to the blackboard and wrote: "Goodbye." As I headed for the door, a student pointed out that I had left my "class file" on the desk. I went to the desk, removed the contents from the folder, and throwing them into the air, looked straight at the students and said: "Goodbye." I then left the classroom. I have no intention of going back.

Needless to say, I did go back - after much persuasion. You see, unfortunately, there are no other teachers available to teach them 'oral English' at the moment. English translation, "NO one will go near that class!"

One teacher told me: 'I feel so sorry that you have to teach that class. I am Chinese, so I can't use the words you use to describe them, but I can say that they are not very hard working students!'

So I went back to the classroom, 'sans' my files, photographs and notes, and with no desire to reprint the same from my computer files.

Now before I start, I must provide you with some information I omitted last time, and additionally admit to having made some 'factually erroneous' statements.

Firstly, the class I am writing about, is at a different university from the one within which I am principally employed.

Secondly, I stated that I had been informed that these students, are not 'English Majors'. Wrong! I have since been informed that they are indeed English Majors.

Thirdly, I stated that they were first year university students. Wrong! It turns out that they are second year university students.

I agreed to return to teaching this class, on the proviso, that I had a teacher in attendance, who could act as translator. Not a problem! As it turned out, I ended up with two teachers, both of whom hid outside the classroom and just 'watched'. I spent the first five minutes of class talking to the students in Chinese, demanding to know why it was, that after only four months of Chinese Studies, I could stand in front of the class and speak to them in Chinese, whilst they could not speak one sentence of English after seven years of study.

Eventually class started and we spent both lessons, listening to cassettes to practice our hearing abilities. It was slow hard torturous work, made easier by the fact that one of the teachers came into the classroom and asked permission to join in the work. Not that she contributed anything by way of translating what I said. She had almost as difficult a time as the students, in understanding what was on the tape. No big deal! Class finished, and I went home.

Last week, I turned up to class armed with my Chinese textbook, and before class began, wrote on the blackboard, a few sentences in Chinese, and two small paragraphs in PINYIN (Chinese written with English letters). I figured that the translation of all this would take 10 minutes and then we could do some grammar corrections and then practice saying the correct English sentences.

Well! It took Twenty minutes before Class could actually begin, and then only because two students finally got sick of waiting for me to be 'strict' with the class. They forced the students to be quiet. I instructed the students to begin writing their translations.

The first thing that happened was that the students started asking each other how to translate the Chinese into English. It was really difficult Chinese too! Like: Hello teacher! Long time no see. How are you going? How is your heath? Hello! I'm fine thank you and you?

The next commotion broke out when I was asked what the other writing was.

"You mean these two paragraphs?" I inquired?

"Yes! We don't know what you write!"

"You mean you don't know how to read PinYin?"

"That's Pinyin? What does it say?"

"You don't know what it says?"

"No! I don't know how to read Pinyin!"

One girl began to try saying the words out aloud, and from that, they began to work out what it must be in Chinese characters.

I left! I went to the office and found my co-ordinator, and explained the situation. She grabbed the 'form' teacher, and we headed back to the classroom. The whole time she tried to tell me that the problem is that I speak too fast, they don't understand my handwriting, they don't understand my accent, and that I should be patient and teach 'simple' words.

The other teacher meanwhile quietly informed me that more than half the students were going to fail the Semester Exam. 'They have no ability to pass!' she said with a frown.

As we entered the classroom, students went into a frenzied return to their desks. The teacher quickly spoke to one student and then turned to me and said, 'You are wrong! They can do it! See, this girl has done it!"

"Yes!" I said,"and if you took notice, as we entered the room she ran from 'that' boy's desk back to her own. He is the only one who is any good at English, and the only one who will work.

She grabbed for another girl's paper and said: "This one is finished too!"

"Yes! She copied from this boy (her boyfriend) who borrowed the paper from this good student. And don't bother to look at 'this girl's' paper, cause she is this boy's girlfriend and she always copies from him".

I then told her to go around the classroom and check. I actually pointed out the ones who had not started, including the one with no pen, paper, dictionary or textbook. (Normal situation!)

I then showed the teacher my writing on the blackboard, and asked if she could read my writing. Yep! No problem!

She started to talk to the students and I went outside for a cigarette. The 'form' teacher came out to talk to me. She was uncharacteristically 'honest' with me. (I feel certain that the Chinese are the originators of 'politically correct' speech. They don't lie, they just don't tell the truth. They are just so polite!)

My co-ordinator eventually came out and said: 'They say that you talk too fast and that is why they don't understand you!" I turned to the 'form' teacher and said: "Last week you were in my class and we did two lessons of 'Tingli'. Did I actually 'speak' any English?" She laughed: "I don't think so!"

I turned back to the co-ordinator and said: "It doesn't matter if I speak fast or slow, loudly or quietly, because when you have MP3 earphones in your ears, you can't hear anything. When you are reading the Chinese newspaper, you don't listen to what I say. When you spend the whole lesson talking to your friend, it doesn't matter what I say!"

Finally I returned to the classroom, and spent the rest of our time, writing and speaking Chinese words from my Chinese Textbook, and they gave me the English translations.

Tomorrow morning I will be back in class, doing something. Don't know what yet. Maybe I'll just read to them in Chinese and listen while they correct my pronunciation. Well, at least one of us will be working.

So how does something like this happen in China of all places. After all, it is a very disciplined society isn't it?

Maybe! But the system in place in China (dating back to the Cultural Revolution days), is that the professionals and the bourgeois are to blame for society's ills, and they should all be reported. So in China, students blame teachers for everything. Everything is the teacher's fault! Couple that with an education system geared toward 'passing tests' rather than learning, at the end of the day, 'Nothing matters (except the Grammar multi choice exam result!).

On the matter of 'grades versus learning', may I direct you to an excellent article - Volume 'V' No. 187 page 8 of 10  entitled: MOTIVATION By Doug Taylor and Rabbi Morton Moskowitz.

P.S. Since this article has not gone to air yet, I thought I would add a post script. I finished this week's lessons for this class just an hour ago. I got a student to copy to the blackboard, from my Chinese textbook, and I asked students to translate the passage.

For the next 20 minutes, I concentrated on learning how to write Chinese in Cursive script (which the student had used). It was such an interesting exercise, that I almost forgot that I was a teacher with a classroom of students.

The balance of the lesson was spent with me reading the Chinese, and checking and correcting their translations. The boy who wrote the passage for me on the board, kept correcting my mispronunciations. I had a wonderful time and I learned a lot! I think I will love this class in future!

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Note: Because of the recent Server change, some links may not work. This file was amended September 2007.

R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China.  Photographic Stories can be found at:  http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=128 

 The King's Calendar' is a synchronous chronological presentation of the history of Ancient Israel, as principally recorded in the Biblical books of Kings and Chronicles, and sets forth Apologetics for and the results of R.P.BenDedek's discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Books of the Bible, Josephus and the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls. www.kingscalendar.com