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How to Make Your ESL Class in China Fun

When you signed up to be a teacher in China, you most likely were not signing up to be an entertainer. If you had wanted to be a clown, you could have signed up to work in a circus. No, you just wanted to be an ESL teacher plain and simple, bringing the gift of the English language to a developing country. That is fine. The problem is, if you are teaching ESL in grade school in China, your Chinese students already have an English teacher. These teachers, who are your Chinese counterparts, are expected by the school administration to teach their students English grammar, methodically and tediously preparing them for the numerous exams that they are subjected to. Unfortunately, the Chinese ESL teachers do not really have a lot of time for fun in their classes. Playing games or engaging in fun activities are viewed as a waste of precious time that should be used for preparing for exams.

That is where you come in to the picture. Yes, you were hired to be an ESL teacher. Yes, you do have an obligation to make sure that your students learn proper English pronunciation and are exposed to Western culture. But who said that you could not have fun with your students while teaching them? You have much more freedom in your classes then do your Chinese counterparts so you might as well help your students to relax a little and receive some enjoyment from learning English. Here are some tips to help you make your ESL classes in China more fun.

1. Be an ESL Actor — Some of my most successful ESL lessons were ones in which I acted out scenarios in front of my students. For example, I once taught an ESL lesson on having good manners. I acted out 4 scenarios in which I demonstrated having good manners and having bad manners. I asked my students to decide which manners were good and which were bad. Of course, the bad manners were obvious (such as chewing with my mouth open, etc) but my students loved the acts. I actually did my little performances for 20 classes in one week and everyone including the teachers absolutely loved the lesson.
2. Be an ESL Singer – You do not have to have a voice like Christina Aguilera’s to use singing effectively in your ESL classroom in China. In fact, since music is not usually a strong point in schools in China, no one’s really going to care whether or not you are half tone deaf. Not only have I sung my country’s national anthem on numerous occasions, but I have also taught my students lyrics to popular songs in the United States. I have led my littlest students in nursery rhymes and classic kids songs. No matter what age, I have found that all students in China seem to like listening to music.
3. Play ESL Games with your Students – A little healthy competition can go a long away in helping to reinforce words and concepts in your students’ minds. Your games do not have to elaborate. Simply getting the blood in your students’ veins moving a little bit can help your ESL class to run more smoothly. Believe it or not, I have played the classic game ’Duck Duck Goose’ with high school students and they loved it! Look for an upcoming section on TeachAbroadChina.com that is all about playing ESL games in China.
4. ESL Student Participation – Your Chinese ESL students are used to being lectured for ’hours on end’ by their Chinese ESL teachers. Part of the challenge of being an ESL teacher is to get your students involved in the lesson. How do you do this? Design activities that your students can do with you and do with each other. For example, I have often taught my students how to answer a telephone in English. I will usually call up students two-by-two and have them practice with each other on the telephone. Sometimes I let one of the students use my cell phone and another students uses a chalk eraser. The results are often hilarious! The rest of the students who are watching help ‘make the phone ring’ by making high pitched noises with their voices.

You may be thinking right about now that you are not the right person to carry out these types of teaching techniques in your ESL class. Do not worry! Neither was I. I have always been shy about singing or ‘making a fool of myself’ in front of other people. But when I came to China, I was unable to ‘let go’ of my inhibitions when I realized that my ESL students would learn more if they could have some fun. I also discovered that the more fun I had while teaching my ESL classes, the more fun my Chinese students would have. Using these techniques has also been beneficial for me because the time seems to ‘fly’ when everyone is involved and having fun in my ESL class.

Give these ideas a try and let us know how they work for you. We look forward to hearing your ideas.

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