At the beginning of the school year, I have my students answer a list of questions. The questions tend to lean towards the typical get-to-know-someone: favorite hobbies, solar birthday, favorite holiday, etc. However, there are three that I ask that help me to understand a student's headspace coming into my class. They are:
1. What are you excited about during university life?
2. Did you want to be an English major?
3. What are two things to you want to learn in Amanda's class?
The first is asked because this is first time most of these students have freedom from parents. I may be teaching at a uni, but the maturity of my students is closer to a beginning high schooler in America. Many of my students struggle with the switch from constant family micromanaging to minimal family micromanaging.
The second gives me an indication of their commitment level to my course. Unlike most of the world, Chinese do not get choices for majors. It is all based on a test called the gaokao, which is way more complicated and convoluted than I want to explain in this post. Let me just say that I had about a hundred students tell me in their first interview that they wanted to study law not English.
The third is an attempt to get their input into the curriculum I plan for the semester. Unfortuantely, I get a lot of "I want to be fluent" or "I want to understand English movies" more than tangible potential lessons.
After so many years, I know my questionnaire will return with a lot of similar answers. However, I do learn some gems. This year I learned one of my boys illegally played football for a high school and got caught, causing him to lose his ability to play in the sports school. I learned about a girl who lost her sister to cancer a couple of years ago (yes, there were tears for both of us.) I learned I have a student who is a twin. I learned I have a student who is really scared to be at this school because she is from Fujian. (There is an idiom in Chinese that Guangdong people will eat Fujian people, a tease at Guangdong people for their notoriety in eating anything and everything.)
Then I get answers that make me laugh so hard and remind me that I absolutely love my job, translation comprehension, and the brutal honesty of students. Here are some of my favorite responses.
I was asking for the Chinese characters of their name.
Number nine was supposed to be the answer for "What are you excited about during university life?"
I did not realize it was a yes/no scenario. But, kudos for being brave and acknowledging the fear.
Whereas, this student has no time for fear and is ready for all the romance.
While this student seemed to have a twinge of existential crisis with the hope that love will be the boost needed. Also, Winnie the Pooh may be a bit tainted for me now.
Number nine was the hopes for university life; number eleven was what two things you want to learn in Amanda's class. I commend the consistency in goals, but I am skeptical that learning to woo a girl in English is beneficial in a country that speaks so little English.
Ah, I so love my job.
