The China Teaching Web

The Weekly China Roundup from Sino News on TeachAbroadChina.com

The aftermath of Monday’s earthquake in Sichuan continues to hold captive the world’s attention as strong aftershocks, landslides, and possible damage to dams and reservoirs create problems for the rescuers. This week I wrote about the waiting game and the possibility that local officials had been warned in advanced of [...]

“The earthquake happened on Buddha’s birthday,” a friend somberly explained to me yesterday. “I’m afraid that things in China are going to get worse. I have a bad feeling about our country right now.” She went on to explain that while Buddha has no power to create or stop such disasters, she felt that the [...]

The Chinese government’s decision to allow the seemingly unrestricted flow of information out of Sichuan this week in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake has surprised many. However, the general assumption that the Chinese government ‘all of the sudden’ decided to pursue a policy of transparency and openess is incorrect. This decision was in fact made last year [...]

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Even if you are not teaching in China, you should be able to modify this ESL Conversation on mothers slightly to make it work for your particular country.
Warmup: Print off a copy of the article Why Mother’s Day is Extra Special in China and ask your student to take turns reading paragraphs. It is [...]

I recently received the following email from a teacher who has been in China for a very short time. I will call him Daniel.
Dear Mr. Vance,
I am non-native English teacher completing my third day in
China working at ***, the **** based ***** company.
Even though I have only spent three days here, it feels like three months or more, [...]

Click here to watch video obtained by the AP from a Peruvian who was taking a hike in Sichuan on Monday when the earthquake occurred.

“I haven’t been able to sleep,” explained a very tired looking student to me in class today. “One of my best friends is attending university near Mianyang and we have so far been unable to get in contact with her. We don’t think she made it.” Thousands of people throughout China are also going without [...]

My Chinese friends tell me that a report on CCTV  tonight claimed that officials in Sichuan Province were warned in advance of a possible earthquake in their region. The report suggested that they chose to ignore the warnings so as not to alarm people and further darken the black clouds that already hang over the [...]

Followups to this post:

China Earthquake Aftermath: the Waiting Game
Were Officials Warned in Advance about the Earthquake in China?  

TeachAbroadChina.com has been receiving numerous hits from people who are looking for information about the earthquake in China. While TeachAbroadChina.com is not based out of a region close to any of the hard hit regions, I do want to offer my personal condolences [...]

I have many students who have obtained an amazing vocabulary and whose grammar is the envy of other students. It is just too bad that no one can understand what they are saying. As an ESL teacher, your first priority is to help your students develop their pronunciation skills. Without proper pronunciation, other aspects of English such [...]