Early this morning we met Laurie Mackenzie, a retired Canadian professor, outside the post office in Yangshou. He picked us up in a vehicle he called a something Walleye to take us to the countryside where we were going to spend a few hours teaching English to elementary schoolchildren. As we sped through rice paddies, orange groves, and mystical karst formations, he explained that he and his wife moved to China four years ago from Winnipeg. They started VET-China (Volunteer English Teachers in China) to provide financial and instructional assistance to rural schools in the region. While in theory the government here is supposed to fund education, there are still expenses to be borne by the parents, and few rural children can afford to attend beyond the 6th grade. The Mackenzies’ primary objective is to give these children sufficient verbal skills in English that they can come to the city and work in the tourist trade. This in an admirable goal, and even more so, since Laurie is in his ’80’s!
Through a miscommunication with the driver, we ended up at the top-performing school under VET-China’s jurisdiction, rather than the lowest, as Laurie had intended. Even so, the facilities were primitive and the materials minimal. It was clear, however, that despite these limitations the children here were loved and well taught. There was an able staff on hand and we spent a nice hour or so with the principal, a warm, well-dressed young man named Tony. Tony’s English skills were limited, and Laurie explained that even the school’s English teacher cannot speak the language. Read and write, yes, but speak, no…a limitation that makes competency for the kids difficult to achieve.
We split up into two groups and agreed to teach two shifts each. Tom, Asher, and McKane spent the first period with the fifth graders, while Dax, Kieran, and I spent it with the third graders. Though they only began studying English this Read the rest of this entry »
