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Letters from my Students
(Just so you know what kinds of people I get to play with.)

 
March 15, 2009

Subject: Hello, I'm Allison

Dear David,
I hope you don't mind my disturbing,i just want to express my gratitude for giving me so much courage and confidence to study English.
As a matter of fact,I am a girl who come from a deprived area,Guizhou province,which lies on southwest of China.I love my hometown,but it is so poor that child there can not share the superior education. So ,when I came here as a freshman,I found that my English was the poorest one.No one can understand what I said,I felt so shamed.
You know,I never have such strong passion to overcome it for years.But now I finally recognize that better later than never. No matter how the situation changes and how difficult it is,I will try my best!
Thank you for your meaningful classes and interesting movies,I really enjoy them~! ^-^
Please accept my sincere thanks and best wishes!
Sincerely,
Allison

Dear Allison:

Thank you for your letter. A letter like yours is what makes teaching
here so satisfying for me.

I don't know whether I've talked to your class about the concept of
"driving needs", those things we need emotionally which must be
satisfied in order for us to be happy. Everybody has different
driving needs, and gives different importance to each of them. For
example, some people have a driving need to feel safe, and will do
anything to avoid situations where they don't feel protected. This
isn't one of my driving needs. But one of my most powerful driving
needs is to be appreciated. So a letter like yours is really important
to me.

Thanks you very much. I hope you enjoy the rest of this term, and
continue to make great progress with your English. In fact, I'm sure
you will make great progress, simply because you want to.

Warmest regards

David

 

March 10, 2009

My News Reading class has just watched the movie,  "Wag the Dog",  in which a professional spin doctor is hired to save the election after the President of the United States is accused of sexual misconduct with a Firefly Girl who is touring the Whitehouse.  The PR man does this by hiring a Hollywood producer to create a fake war.

My assignment for the class was to send me an email answering the question:  on a scale of 0 to 10,  with 0 being totally impossible and 10 being happens all the time,  could this kind of thing happen in real life.  Below is the first response:

zhang peipei
Amy
0807070109
 

Dear David,
Thanks for your edifictory letter first, you explain your idea so concretely to me, it is really beyond my imagination.  i admire your deep and insightful thought from the bottom of my heart.

Then, answers to today's question. i choose the number "3".  art is higher than reality, but it always come from the reality. we can't deny the whole possibility of the movie. No matter how unthinkable that kind of things are seemed. but i believe that people should not say "impossible"to all the things they don't know.
it's true that many of our common people can only grasp a little information concerned the fantastic world.
so, in my opinion, that kind of cheats can really exist somewhere.

On the other hand, life is life.movie is movie. I still hold the confidence that our world can't be such absurd and lamentable. DEMOCRACY is not just said for fun. it is a serious issue.about policy system ,and the development of the civilization.
if our world is made up of fictions and tricks,there is no possibility that it can become such a marvelous place as i have known.  the world therefore is accessible as a whole. justice and positivity are the leading actor in the world.
contradiction exsits everywhere . but the mainly contradiction determine the nature of things. the 3 parts in the whole 10. is only a small part.  we haven't to worry too much. our world still deserves our respect, dependency and passion.

at last, i want to talk something about your life. i have landed (i am not certain of the word) your personal website several time. from the points of my view, your life is colorful and passionate because you have a very zealous heart.
but today, i get a shock after knowing that you skate as well.
because i like to play it too. and the students you play with are my friends.
they live in the northern region in our school yard, we live in the sourth. so we don't play together.
they play it better than me, but i am working on it too. perhaps next time i can see you when you are in the roller skator , not in your cool bicycle.
and i am looking forward to playing with you. hoho...

can you figure out where am i? in the middle of the picture, wearing the orange gloves. yeah ,that's amy!

May you happy everyday!


 

Dear Zhang Peipei:

What a great letter, and picture. Way cool that you skate too. It's a great sport, and I'm looking forward to getting a lot better at it. I'm really a beginner, and totally self taught. So it's wonderful to have some people showing me how to do things.

Already they have made a big improvement, by telling me that I need to have smaller wheels on the front and back of my skates, so that they will swivel in the middle. That has made a huge difference.

The group I play with meets behind the library building, beside the canal, every Wednesday and Friday afternoon if it isn't raining. So unless it rains tomorrow, I'll be out there with them. They meet about 3:00pm. Maybe you can join us sometime.

Thanks again for your letter. You are the first to send in this assignment, and I agree with what you said completely.

Warmest regards

David

 

On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 7:28 AM, <email address omitted> wrote:

Subject:  Wag the Dog

张佩佩 zhang pei pei
amywent
0807070109

 

Dear Mr David,

Firstly, I want to talk something about my favourate television drama—Prison break. Not only it let me know a famous star who I consider worthy to be respected, but also it gives me an original view to see the world. The conclusion sentence of the middle of fourth season is that “not everything is as it seems”. That is to say, we may finally find out that the things and people around us are not what they appear to be on the surface. We may get a shock!
Then a book named huo bi zhan zheng(the currency war ) in Chinese gives me another lesson about this issue. The world(mostly in Europe ), our policy, our economic, the public’s treasure are under control of few people in the world. Their powers are even higher than the government. But most of us can’t realize it.
Since then, I began to doubt the reality. What can be trust?
The movie “wag the dog” put me in this confusion again. The soldier been respected by the all nation turned out to be an indelicate rapist. So ironical! In the end, the “great” war producer put a complete end to the black humor by sacrificing his own life.
Are the general public born to be cheated? Do the few people on the top of the pyramid have the right to dupe us?
How can we identify the truth in the complicated world?
The truth is relative. We always believe in what we want to believe… but I can’t make it completely clear.
What kind of attitude should we take in the face of so many informations? All in all, we are not the group of people let crucial issues happening in the world. Nobody except themselves is really aware of the essential matter. We only step in the trap which the media designed for us.
Our eternal pursuit are the quests for: truth, honour, justice, purity, love and grace.
We have to think ,identify.
But , how?
Can you give me some suggestions? i'm confused about this.


Blessings
 

Dear Amy:

Thank you for your interesting and insightful letter.

Your confusion about reality is actually a good sign. You already
have noticed that much of what we are told is either not true, or is
slanted to support the position of the "status quo" (the situation as
it exists, or those in power at the moment.)

We all want clarity. We all want to know for sure what we should
support and what we should oppose. I don't believe this is possible.
But when you start to doubt everything, you become vulnerable to
conspiracy theorists. It sounds like the book you read, "huo bi zhan
zheng" ("The Currency War" in Chinese), falls into this category. We
just find it impossible to believe that NOBODY is in control, so we
invent some elite of super powerful people who are running the world
and keeping us all in the dark about what they are really doing. This
may or may not be true. Certainly there are powerful people in this
world. I don't happen to believe that they are actually in control.
I don't think ANYBODY is in control. But we find this very hard to
accept. Human beings are programed by evolution to want certainty.
If we can't explain something, we invent an explanation (God,
spirits, a super powerful elite controlling the world).

I think that our society is a very complex system. There are many
forces and counter forces that all interact to create the world
economy and social structures. Be very wary of anybody who claims to
understand it all.

So, to get to your question: You wrote...

> What kind of attitude should we take in the face of so many informations?

A difficult question. A great question. For me, the answer comes
from my belief that I create my reality. If there is something in my
reality that I don't like, it is because of one of three things - my
beliefs, my thoughts, or my actions.
So if somebody is trying to convince me of something, I automatically
ask myself this question: Will accepting this belief, this attitude,
make my world a better place? Will it improve my reality?

I define "a better place" very simply. A better place is a place that
I would like better.

Here's an example for you: Recently a concerned friend forwarded me
an email with a number of pictures attached. They were very
frightening. They showed fanatic Muslims in London, holding protest
signs that said things like "911 was just the beginning" and "Death to
All Infidels" (Death to all Non-Muslims). The letter that accompanied
these pictures was almost panic stricken. It warned me that the
Muslims want to kill me, and everybody in Western society. It said
that a religious war is coming, and that we must get ready to defend
our way of life.

Presented with this information, I saw three clear choices. I could
believe it, and support anti-Muslim groups and try to get ready to
defend myself, or I could look more closely at the information and
perhaps do nothing, or even better, I could try my best to counter
the frightening information with a more positive attitude.

This brings me to the subject of polarization. To polarize a
population means to take people to the extremes, to the poles. You
can't have a war unless the population of two countries is polarized
in opposition to each other. So those who want war, or who want
conflict, are always trying to polarize us, to make us move toward
the extreme position.

So I gave that letter, and those photographs, a lot of thought.
Below is the reply I sent to the sender. I hope you will see that it
goes a long way to answer your question to me:

Dear _________::

Thanks for sending me these photos. I'm sure you consider yourself a
good Christian, and would never think that you were spreading poison.
But that's what you seem to be doing.

To think that these demonstrators represent ALL Muslims is simply
wrong. I'm not a fan of fundamentalist Islam, but I also don't want
to see this world polarized into a religious war of extermination.

Sending out these pictures makes you into exactly what these people
want you to be - a fellow terrorist spreading terror.

So, please think about these thoughts:

1. There is a small percentage of the world, estimated at point one
or point two percent of the population, that is pathologically crazy.
This means that in a city of the population density of London there
are four totally dangerously crazy people on every street corner
during rush hour, on average.

2. It is possible for large numbers of these totally extreme and crazy
people to find each other, especially when we have the Internet to
help them. Once they find each other, they can get together and wave
placards saying totally crazy things. This makes them look very
impressive, but it doesn't mean that they represent the majority view.

3. If we like the idea of freedom of speech, we must accept the fact
that there will be people who will say things we find offensive,
disgusting, and frightening. This is unavoidable unless we want to
admit defeat, give in to the enemy, and shut down all our freedoms
in exchange for security. Personally I would shut these people down
because they are inciting hatred, and if they were inciting hatred
against a more easily identifiable group, like the Jews or the Blacks
or the Chinese, they probably would be shut down. They may be shut
down anyway. But I for one am happy to live in a world where crazy
people can get together in fairly large numbers and shout out their
craziness. It gives us an appreciation for the depth and breadth of
humanity.

4. The first response when somebody says "You should all be
beheaded." is to be frightened. That's what these people want us to
feel. That's why terrorists are called terrorists. And if we are
frightened we will play their game. That's what many people on "our
side" want too, because then they can manufacture more riot shields,
batons, guns, tear gas, video surveillance equipment, and all the
other products of fear. They can also justify more repressive laws,
protecting our freedom by taking it away from us. If we feel fear
when we see these pictures, we have already lost. The terrorists
have accomplished their objective - creating terror.

5. The only sane response to this kind of thing is to insist on
remaining sane. Insist on seeking balance, understanding, and a
fearless attitude towards life. My favourite sane response is to
laugh at these people. They are idiots. They are fools. Most of all
they are totally barking mad crazy. They live in a bleak and ugly
world that I wouldn't inhabit for all the virgins in their idiotic
concept of heaven. Can you imagine being more ridiculous than these
people. Let's keep things in perspective and laugh at them.

And please please please don't join them by spreading this kind of
lunacy around.

I would very much appreciate your thoughts on what I have written.

Warmest regards

David in Wuxi

Amy, this has probably been a lot more English than you wanted to
read. Thanks again for writing. Let's continue this discussion with
the class.

David

--
David James Scott
Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
http://www.themaninchina.com

 

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 6:21 AM, 宋波 <email address omitted> wrote:

Dear David,thank you so much for not only having accepted my request but repling me so soon.you know what,it is amazing,really!speaking of rollar skating, i am also a greenhand at it.but now i drop it down and pick up something else. it seems that i am not a guy with such persverance and patience.my life on campus as a sophomore can be dull and routinelike.i am a basketball guy,and i like sports.what about you, have you ever do any sports like baketball, soccer,or even baseball?i like reading comtemporary novels, affected by jinbo, a learned man.have you read john grasham's novels, i bet the answer is yes.what do you think about his works, can you introduce some other famous novelists to me?i will be glad if you do me such a
favour.warmest regardsgrasham.m

Dear Grasham:

I'm afraid I have never been a sports person, especially spectator sports. I can just never figure out why I should care who wins.

But I am a passionate reader.

Yes, I have read John Grisham. I'm pretty sure you have misspelled his name. His name is John Grisham, not Grasham. But I could be wrong, or maybe you are talking about a different novelist.

I greatly admire his work, especially "King of Torts", "Runaway Jury", "A Time To Kill", "The Client", and "The Appeal"

All are great books. Each one is an education about the American judicial system. I particularly recommend "King of Torts" and "The Appeal" I think Jinbo has those. Great books.

I think John Grisham is my favourite American novelist. But if you want to read something incredible, read James Mitchener's "The Source". It's a big thick book, but just amazing writing.

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., but particularly "Mother Night" or "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater".

I'll give your reading list some more thought and make more suggestions soon.

Warmest regards

David
Dear david(hope i donot spell it wrong)
thank you for pick up my errors, IT IS GRISHAM.I should not have maken such a big and silly mistake, anyway,he is my idol and will be. 
i am reading grIsham's novel,"the rainmaker", as usual,it is full of grishamish humor and a work about american judicial system, no doubt it again is a page-turner.i will try those you have recommended to me.
warmest
gr (to be A or to be I, that is a question)sham
Grisham:

See if Jin Bo has "King of Torts". That one was the most fun, and as you said, a page turner. I also thought it was a real eye opener about how tort law works in America. Amazing.

Also, "The Appeal" is incredible. It really shows how and why some people get a lifestyle beyond anything we should want, while others suffer for their greed. A great story.

Jin Bo tells me that the latest Grisham he bought is not very good, and suggested that I not even bother reading it. Too bad. I suppose it is a "pot boiler", a book written in haste to make money, to "boil the cooking pot". But if Grisham never writes another book, his place in my library is secure.

Enjoy. It's wonderful that you are reading those books. So many Chinese students read English novels which, while excellent and justifiably famous, are hundreds of years old. "Wuthering Heights", all the works of Dickens, "Pride and Prejudice". The language in those books is archaic. They are not a good guide to writing
contemporary English. But Grisham's use of language is lean and modern and extremely good.

I'd also recommend John Steinbeck. Especially his "Tortilla Flats" and "Cannery Row". Great books.

Oh yes, and anything by Mark Twain. You should start with his criticism of George Fenimore Cooper.
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/rissetto/offense.html

This is perhaps the best example of sarcastic writing in English literature. It's also a very good explanation of some basic rules of fiction.

Let me know what you think of this, okay.

Warmest regards

David

 

Here is a charming example of the consideration and courtesy with which students treat us here:

 

Hi, David, no time no see. I was very happy to see you this morning in the teaching building. But I was really embarrassed after I said "hello" to you because I hadn't thought out what to say next. What I could do was only to smile. I meant to say "it is a pity you don't teach us this semester" but what would Ruth have felt if I had said so? She teaches us this semester. If she were Chinese, I'm sure she would have been unhappy if I had said so. Perhaps it is Chinese customer. I wonder whether it is the same in Canada.
Later on I realised I could have talked about the weather and the winter holiday or even introduced my boyfriend, the boy standing beside me, to you. I feel I was a little silly at that time. Or does it mean I my oral English is declining?
Did you have a good holiday? Could you tell me how you spent the days in Spring Festival?
Recently, I'm very fond of Chinese tea, especially Pu'er tea and Wulong tea. I'm thinking about learning the art of tea. It is a Chinese tradition. Are you interested in Chinese tea? We can share some ideas about tea if you're interested in.
 
                                                       Catherine from English 0502

Now,  isn't that sweet?  I'm constantly impressed with the concern that Chinese people show for the feelings of others.  Oh heck,  I might as well post my reply to her.  Just so you all know:

Dear Catherine:

Thank you for writing.

It was a pleasure to see your charming smile in the parking garage of the teaching building. You wrote...

> Hi, David, no time no see. I was very happy to see you this morning in the
> teaching building. But I was really embarrassed after I said "hello" to you
> because I hadn't thought out what to say next. What I could do was only to
> smile. I meant to say "it is a pity you don't teach us this semester" but
> what would Ruth have felt if I had said so? She teaches us this semester. If
> she were Chinese, I'm sure she would have been unhappy if I had said so.

Ruth says she's happy to hear that students liked having me as a teacher. If you had said something like "It's a pity we have Teacher Ruth this semester instead of you," she might have taken it personally. But otherwise your concern was misplaced.

> Perhaps it is Chinese customer. I wonder whether it is the same in Canada.

This varies. Some people in Canada are very considerate of the feelings of others, most people less so. I find that the Chinese are very thoughtful, and very careful not to offend. Sometimes I think this gets in the way of communications with Westerners, as it did when we saw each other in the parking garage.

> Later on I realised I could have talked about the weather and the winter
> holiday or even introduced my boyfriend, the boy standing beside me, to you.

Yes, that would have been nice.

> I feel I was a little silly at that time. Or does it mean I my oral English
> is declining?

You may be a bit rusty, after the holiday. I've noticed that some of my students seem a little less confident and fluent after six weeks of speaking only Chinese. But don't worry that you are really losing anything. It will come back to you quickly. Especially if you continue to write letters to me.

> Did you have a good holiday? Could you tell me how you spent the days in
> Spring Festival?

We had a wonderful holiday. Ruth and I went to Kunming for a month of Chinese lessons, and we took our dog, Gou Gou, with us. Of course, a month isn't enough to do very much, but we did make a little progress, especially with writing Chinese characters. We are more determined than ever to become fluent now.

> Recently, I'm very fond of Chinese tea, especially Pu'er tea and Wulong tea.
> I'm thinking about learning the art of tea. It is a Chinese tradition. Are
> you interested in Chinese tea? We can share some ideas about tea if you're
> interested in.

I would like to learn about Chinese tea. I grew up drinking tea, and didn't even taste coffee until I was a teenager. But the tea we drank when I was a child was all what you call red tea, and we call black tea. I do like liu cha. Last semester a friend who works at a restaurant made me very special tea which involved a long ceremony to prepare. It was the best tasting tea I have ever had. So whatever you learn about Chinese tea would interest me.

Again, thank you for writing. Please do keep in touch, even though you aren't in any of my courses this semester. There is always next year, I hope.

Warmest regards

Teacher David

P.S. - unfortunately, Ruth has had a schedule revision and you won't be getting a class from her either this semester. You will just have to come and visit us instead. We are in Teachers Apartment Building 4, Apartment 202. Your boyfriend would also be welcome, of course.
 

 

All I can talk about these days is the work,  because that's all I'm doing.  What a stack of student papers to grade.  But every once in a while I find one that makes reading them all worth it.  Here are two essays written by a student (not) named Wang Hua.  These express typical student attitudes toward foreign teachers.  We read of essays on this subject,  because it's one of the topic options on the final exam.  Keep in mind as you read this that Wang Hua's experience with foreign teachers is very limited,  probably to me and a couple of other foreigners, and that she is generalizing about my Chinese colleagues.  The most popular teacher here seems to be the Chinese woman who teaches an oral English class,  which sounds anything but dull.

So here's Wang Hua:
 
Exam question (30 points): Use development by comparison and contrast to write about your Chinese teachers and your foreign teachers.

I find it is so different between Chinese teachers and English teachers on teaching.  Firstly,  my Chinese teachers usually keep a stern face without a little smiling in the whole class and can't bear that any student discuse or speak a lot.  All the students may keep silence,  the teacher is the most important.  But foreign teachers don't like this at all.  Their smiling always makes you feel comfortable and relaxed.  They communicate with you honestly in class and the students are brave to speak out their perfect ideas.  They bring different feelings to students.  Secondly,  they use different methods to teach.  The Chinese teacher must bring a book under his arm,  when class begin, he open the book, and then read the content on the book slowly.  What the student need to do is making the notes hurrily without thinking.  On contrast,  the foreign teacher don't need the book at all.  They bring nothing with them or a lot of strange and beautiful things we have never seen.  What he wants to teach is in his mind fully.  The students only play with him happily or watch his funny show carefully, the things they have learned have carved in mind not on book.  On the whole,  the foreign teachers give students more freedom and happiness than Chinese teachers.
And again,  from the same student:
 
Exam question (30 points): Use development by cause and effect to write about being taught by foreign teachers.

I have learned a lot from my foreign teachers in university.  Firstly, good manners which I ignored before become important in my life.  All of my foreign teachers take good care of their students.  No matter when and where,  they happen to meet you, they look very happy and talk with you about some interesting matters.  Secondly,  I know I should keep my good temper.  Sometimes, we may make our foreign teachers angry and sad,  they only let you know they are not happy about our bad behaviors,  but they never shout at you loudly and rudely.  thirdly, you should find others good points.  When one of my foreign teacher call me at the first time in class, I stood up,  he laughed happily and said, "Oh, you're so tall,  don't you think she's very tall?"  I can't help laughing too.  He also appreciate the students' beautiful costumes,  fashion glasses and so on.  If you like some graceful and wonderful things owned by others, you should speak it out, appreciate its value.  In other words,  you should share your happiness with others.  The foreign teachers take the lead to show us what a gentle man looks like.  In short, I have found many bad manners and threw them away already.

So there.  If there is any kind of popularity contest going on between the foreign and Chinese teachers,  we are winning hands down.  I thought at first the kids were just telling us what they think we want to hear,  but the comments are too consistent.  Virtually all of them say the Chinese classes are boring,  and that foreign teachers are more relaxed and "vivid".  Anyway,  it makes me feel good to read it. If I'm pushed into the roll of being a roll model,  I'd like to feel like I'm being effective.

For balance:  Here's part of an essay about a Chinese teacher:

My favorite class is Oral English Class.  I love this class for many reasons.  First,  our Oral English teacher ,  Betty, is very lovely and humourous.  For she gave birth to a baby not long ago, she looks a bit fat, but she looks quite cute,  especially when she smiles.  And she often tells interesting stories that once happened to her friends.  These stories are so funny that they make us all laugh to tears.  Secondly,  Betty is very good at teaching.  Her classes are quite exciting.  We often have topic discussions and story retelling.  what interests us most is our funny role-playing in each class.  We play different roles in our drama, and it is really quite interesting.  Thirdly, our relationship with Betty is very good.  We are just like friends.  We often talk about girl things after class,  such as fashion, new hair style and cosmetics.  In a word,  our Oral English class is quite exciting.

And yet another student writes: 

Oral English class is my favorite class.  The teacher Betty is a cute lady who always smiles.  She is so smart that she gives her classes in various ways.  She asked us to do short plays in almost every class.  It was always very funny,  because all the short plays were quite imaginative.  At the end of this term,  she asked ups to play dramas.  It was much more formal than the short play.  All of us found great joy.

And a last word about Chinese teachers from another student:

Though our Chinese teachers and foreign teachers have different cultures and education backgrounds,  they have a lot in common.  First,  their devotion to teaching gives me a deep impression.  They both work hard and all of their classes are well prepared. They read and correct our homework carefully, though it's boring.  They are both happy to help us whenever we send an email to ask questions we'll get answers immediately. Second, they are all helpful and willing to make friends with us.  Sometimes we find difficulties studying and loving,  the teachers will be our listiners.  Third,  they have the same chief purpose of teaching.  They both have the purpose to improve our abilities instead of just passing exams.  Another one is they are both very modesty and good-mannered.  Whenever they make mistakes, they'll correct them at once and say sorry to us.  They never get angry in classes even someone is rude.

 

Hi David,
 
I just finished the essay for movie appreciation class. Actually, in the first year, we had a class called Media English which is somehow similar to yours. We also watched some English moives.  So I remember when we saw you for the first class in September last year, we just thought ,"Woo, the school hires a foreign teacher to play movies for us. " However, the movies you selected are so special to us. And I have learned a lot of knowlege about real movies. You make a difference. You was not only playing the movie, but teaching the movie. When I took Media English Class, I skipped so many "Harry Potter"s or "Princess' Diary"s which I had watched in high school, I guess that was the reason I got a D for my essay. But the teacher said it was because my view was unacceptable, and she said sorry for destorying my straight As. That is my painful past about movies, full of sound and fury. Just kidding, with tears.
Well, this time, I behave myself. Since I finished my essay far before the deadline, could I have your comments in advance? You'd like to do me favour, right? Thank you for reading it and I will modify it if necessary. 
 
Best wishes
Zhang Mei (not her real name)

Now isn't that a great thing to be able to post to start the new year,  and the blog.  Makes it all worthwhile somehow.

Except I read her essay.  And here is my response to it:

Dear Zhang Mei

     I don't know whether you can really appreciate how much I wanted to give you an A plus  mark for your essay after reading your email message.  It means so very much to me to hear from one of my students that I make a difference. 

     In fact,  I was going to ask your permission to post your message and essay on my website. But whenever I get anything from a student,  I always check it for plagiarism.  Unfortunately,  a random sentence selected from your essay,  a sentence which did not include the title of the movie,  plugged into Google yielded the result below.  It's obviously a cut and paste directly,  word for word,  from a review that is up on the Internet. 

       Can you imagine how embarrassing this would be for both of us if I had posted your essay on my website as an example of my students' work?  It might go unnoticed.  But if it were discovered by one of the writers of the reviews you copied,  I would look very foolish and you would look like a thief.    

      Normally under these circumstances I would give my student a zero for the course.  In a North American university,  the student would be expelled,  and his or her name would go on a list which would prevent registration at any other university for a year.  But since you asked me to give you a pre-read,  and haven't actually submitted this paper,  I won't do that.  What I must do is ask you to go through your paper and put anything that isn't your own words in quotes and footnote the source.  This may be difficult for you to do now,  since you looked at a number of reviews and,  I assume,  chose sentences from several of them.  If in doubt,  think about what the sentence says and then put it aside before re-writing it in your own words.

   Zhang Mei,  I know you didn't do this on purpose.  You probably just don't understand the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarizing.  I'm going to send you a PowerPoint presentation that should make it very clear. 

     Finally,  let me say that I was really moved by your email message.  I'm happy to have a student like you,  and very pleased with your work.  So let's get our relationship back on track.

      I look forward to hearing from you. 

Warmest regards 

David Scott,
Foreign Teacher for the Movie Course at SYU

Here's Zhang Mei's response:

Hi David,
I am very glad to receive your reply so soon.  Do you know why i asked for a pre-readBecause we used to write essays on movies we watched, I always got pretty low score as I told you, and my teacher said my views were not acceptable. And some other students just got high marks by downloading the acceptable passages from the imdb written by native speakers. I don't mean to bring any trouble to any student, but I feel the teacher was so unfair. And this time, I tried that, looking at a number of reviews and, choosing sentences from several of them, and I sent it to you in advance, if you had said ok, I would have just let it be, typed and submitted it.
You really make a difference.
In fact, my view about American History X is on immigrants. You know, my aunt married an America-born Chinese, and she and her family are living in America. But I am afarid that what I wrote will be an another unacceptable view. I am a bit confused. Anyway, now I send you the original version I wrote which my roomate said it should need huge modification with the references on line. I am so happy that now you can read it.
 
Warmest regards
Zhang Mei

 

 

The Movie Course Essay fiasco:

If you read the post below this one,  you'll get an introduction to the plagiarism problem at Chinese universities.  For my Movie Appreciation Class,  I asked all of my students to write a short essay about any subject to do with the class that they wanted - comparing movies,  talking about their favorite film, or talking about the class in general.  Posted below this is a submission from Zhang Mei with a request for a pre-read.  I gave her a good beating for submitting plagiarism,  she thanked me and submitted original work.

Yesterday morning I picked up the remaining student essays,  which were delivered to the classroom by the class monitors.  I have one hundred and forty-seven students in that class,  so it's a stack of essays.  So far I have looked at  91 of them.  Of these, only 29 seem to be original writing by the students.   The remaining  62 are obvious and blatant cut and paste jobs straight off the IMDB reviews or DVD user comments. 

Zen ma ban?  Zen ma ban?  What to do?  What to do?  Well,  every cut and paste ripoff paper is getting a C minus mark,  the lowest I can give students without actually failing them.  In any north American university they'd be expelled and blacklisted for a year,  but this is China.  Obviously I didn't give them adequate warning,  or instruction,  and apparently they have never been taught how to correctly attribute a source,  even though they are graduating English majors.
Handing out a C minus to most of the students is going to make them very unhappy,  and my popularity at this university is going to plummet.  They are all looking for jobs,  or wanting to go on to "further study", and this is really going to clobber their grade point average.  I really hate to do it.  This is not my country,  and not my culture.  But I can't see giving students a decent mark for handing in something written by a native speaking teenager in North America,  or a professional film reviewer working for the Washington Post.  That wouldn't be fair to the students who did do original work.
I'm not marking down any paper unless I can actually find the source of the cut and paste.  In most cases this is easy,  and only involves an entry into Google.  Sometimes it takes me a few minutes,  even when I just know the work is stolen.

Here's a letter from one of my students in response to this policy:

Subject line:  I want to rewrite my paper on "Searching for Bobby Fischer"

Dear David:
 Since you said that if we send you a movie review downloaded from
Internet,you wil give us  a mark of C,so I want to rewrite the review by
myself.
 Please tell me when and where should I give you my second revie.Thank you.

Dapper

English 0301

No.0343xxx

Class No.:21

To which I replied:

Dear Dapper:

To be fair to everybody,  I cannot accept your second review.  You
handed in a review.  If it was plagiarism,  you will have to live with
it.

So far I have looked at 55 papers.  Of these,  only ten were not
obvious and glaring downloads lifted word for word from the Internet.
Some were very difficult for me to deal with, because the student
wrote touching and original paragraphs and then did a cut and paste of
material from the Internet as part of the film description.  Much as I
want to give those students a high mark, they are also getting a C
minus mark.  A little bit of plagiarism is too much.

I cannot believe that so many students are about to graduate as
English majors thinking that this kind of thing should be acceptable.
You are all supposed to be able to write English,  not cut and paste
it from the Internet where it was posted by native speakers.  I also
asked you for your opinion.  Did you think I want to read what some
North American teenager had to say about the movies?

I expect to lose a lot of popularity points for this,  but you should
all be happy that you don't get a zero for the course.  In North
America you would all be expelled,  and blacklisted from attending any
other university for a year.

Sincerely,

David Scott

Dapper's response:

Dear David:
  I've read you email. First,maybe I should apologize for what I have
done. you said that most of the students just downlod the articls from
internet, I think this is because now we are senior students, we have to
take a lot of time on looking for job, And sometimes we don'take the
student's work seriously.

 I remember that when we are freshmen,we also had a movie-watching
class.And the finanl examination was to write a movie too. My roomamtes all
got about 70 marks,I got 80. Because I wrote it by myself. The content, the
things I learned from the movie, I wrote every word and it took me a whole
night. It's a french movie maybe named Bear. I like it very much.

 Well, to be frank with you, I think most of your movies are  violent and
erotic which I don't like. Maybe it's too late to tell you this. In fact i
like the movies about commom people juse like the first one. And I think
that sometimes we cannot get the actor's lines and make some
misunderstanding about the movie. So my suggestion is that next time you
can tell the students what movie you'Ll show a week before the class to let
them have time to know something about the movie they'll watch.

Sincerely, Dapper

A Shot Across the Bow?

Does this mean that the students will trash my course and my teaching in response to a hardass stance. After sleeping on all of this,  I woke up with a feeling almost of dread.  Was I making a terrible cultural mistake,  causing problems where a Chinese teacher would just turn a blind eye. Here's one last letter from a student:

Dear David:

Thanks a lot for your reply. 
Though you have said that to be fair to other students,you will not accept my resubmissiom, I still would like to send it to your email. Just to show my sincere sorrow.Because this essay is written on my owm, witn no single word copied from the Internet.
I know you feel very angry about this. To a lot of Chinese teachers, they will not care at all. Beause they know Chinese students quite well. They get accustomed to the cut and paste. You are the first teacher to show your angry over this issue.

Thanks for your responsibility, and thanks for your reply.

Once again, I am sorry for my copying material from the Internet.

Sincerely,

 Breeze

I ran this whole situation past Jin Bo, our administration liaison.  He took it to Linda,  the head of the English department,  who said go with the C minus marks.  No doubt this will not be the end of this issue.  Sigh.
 

 

Misunderstandings Caused by the Language Problem

One of my great fears here is that I will say something in class that will get misunderstood,  misinterpreted,  or taken as criticism of my host or host country.  I received this email:

Dear David,

Merry Christmas!
I attended your class again last afternoon and I appreciated your kindness for offering to help some students in poor economic condition.
Still I wonder that why you talked about something like"In China ,things like husbands beatting their wives are very common",I don't think it's the condition in China nowadays,I checked some news reports on the Internet and found that "family violence" takes about 20% to 25% among all the families in China. So it's not as sreious as you think ,let alone it's not a problem exists merely in China.
I really think your kind of view is not appropriate and not consistent with the true fact.

Jeniffer

My Response:

Dear Jeniffer:

Ah me, I'm afraid the language problem has cause you to misunderstand what I said. I have no idea how many husbands beat their wives in China, or how many wives beat their husbands. I WASN'T saying that I think there is a lot of family violence in China. Not at all.

I was talking about, and giving an example of, "soft" numbers (numbers which we can't know exactly) and how difficult it is to get "hard" numbers for some things SUCH AS the number of wives in China who are beaten by their husbands, OR the number of husbands who are beaten by their wives. Such numbers can only be guessed at, because
neither the wives nor the husbands will tell the truth even if somebody takes the time, trouble, and expense of asking them. Police or hospital statistics don't really give us exact numbers, because so much family violence is unreported. So our numbers are necessarily "soft".

There are many other "hard numbers" which are difficult to get. For example, how many people in Canada cheat on their taxes? We only know about the ones who get caught, not the actual number of cheaters because those who cheat and don't get caught don't tell anybody, and won't admit it to anybody who asks. So any statement about the actual number of cheaters is a "soft" number, an estimate or educated guess.
Another example: How many homosexuals are there in Iran, where a homosexual may face a penalty of death by stoning? This number can be only an estimate, because homosexuals in Iran have very good reasons to keep their sexual orientation secret.

I hope this clears up the confusion, and I am sorry if I offended you. But please believe that I meant no offence, and do not hold the opinion you ascribe to me.

I am happy that you are paying attention in my class, and that something I said caused you to check up on the facts. This is a very encouraging sign, and I think you are a very good student.

Warmest regards and Merry Christmas

David

 

     Jeniffer responded with advice that I should watch what I say in class.  Good advice,  but not particularly helpful.  Communication between languages and cultures is always perilous.  No matter how careful I am with my words,  they can always be misunderstood by a non-English speaker.  It's impossible to stick to bland and harmless subjects in a class teaching news reading.

 

Dear David:
Merry Christmas!
I regret that our classes have already been over .though i speak little in your classes, but i like you very much, you are tolerant, kind ,energetic and you are not critical. lol
Please don't be disappointed at the few responsese from us students. And i believe you never will, because you've done so much, and you're still going on. I'm sad to say that Chinese people always like this. but i believe that everyone desires changes and passion in their hearts. Maybe you can help us a little. My boyfriend and I want to give away 100 yuan to your bursary, but he is working out now. And he won't come back until tomorrow.
we all love you ,David.
(name removed pending permission)

And here's my response:

Dear (name removed):

I am very moved by your message and all your kind words. It's people like you and your boyfriend who make me feel like I can never leave China.

I'll put an announcement on my website about your intention to contribute to our bursary fund. You are so generous, and maybe it will be the beginning of something. There are many students here who come from quite wealthy families, and who don't have any problem with spending thousands of yuan on a fancy new mobile phone when the one they have is perfectly usable. Maybe some of them will follow your example. Maybe some of the other foreign teachers will follow our example. Maybe the bursary fund could grow into something really significant. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Don't worry about me getting discouraged by the lack of response from some of the students in class. I feel I am of some value just by giving them a chance to hear a native speaker, and the students who do respond, like you and your boyfriend, are well worth any effort I'm putting out. I love being here. I feel like I am surrounded by the leaders of the future, and who knows what my students will become in ten or twenty years.
If you love me, please know that I love you back. All of you.

Merry Christmas

David

How Can I Improve my Oral English

This question just came in,  again,  this time in an email from my friend Fly.  Here's my answer:

Dear Fly:

Thanks for writing. You wrote...

> I have a question to ask you. How can I improve my oral English? Give me a
> few ideas.

I'll tell you a big secret. The way to get really good at English is to DECIDE that you LOVE to speak English. If you love to speak English, and are always trying to find better ways to say something, or more interesting English words and expressions, more English magazines and books to read,  songs to sing or videos to watch, then it stops being work and becomes fun.  And once it becomes fun, it's amazingly easy.

If you said I had to learn to play basketball, it would be very hard for me.  But those boys I see out there practicing every day don't think it's hard. They think it's fun. They love it.  That's why they are doing it all the time.  And that's why they are getting good at it.

If I WANTED to be good at basketball, the first thing I would do is decide that I LOVE practicing and playing basketball. Then I would want to be out there practicing all day long and into the night.  And pretty soon I'm sure I'd be good at it too, or at least a lot better than I am right now.  Not only that, but pretty soon I REALLY WOULD love to play basketball.  Do you see what I mean?  This is the big secret to getting good at anything.  Decide that you love it.

I hope this helps.  I know it has helped me learn all kinds of things that seemed difficult at first.

Good luck,

David

Overcoming Fear (originally posted June 4, 2008)

One of my students wrote to me today.  She's in an emotional crisis. "Recently,I am in a gloomy mood. As English major, I know that it's important to be an extravert student and I try every means to overcome it, but every time I failed. I fear to think about the future; actually I have little confidence now. I fear to speak in front of the public even my own classmates. At that time I always became very tense, and couldn’t speak a word.  According my present situation (poor spoken English), I dread to think about giving better life to my family.  I wonder if you could give me any suggestions. "

It's easy take this kind of invitation and run off at the mouth with a bunch of platitudes.  But this is a common problem with my students.  There must be something I can say that would help.  Here's my best attempt:

 

Dear Student Friend (and all my students who feel like she feels):

     It sounds like you are having a crisis of confidence. Unfortunately, the more you dwell on this, the worse it will get because, after all, it is all in your head.  The thing you need to understand is that you are causing these feelings.  They are all yours.  Nobody else is making you feel this way.  So you need to ask yourself why you have chosen to feel the way you are feeling.

     What?  You don't think you chose to feel this way?  It isn't a choice?  These feelings just happen to you,  and there's nothing you can do about them?  Children think that their emotions are beyond their control. They think that emotions just happen to them.  Part of becoming an adult is realizing that your emotions are your own. They are the result of decisions you make.  You aren't a child anymore.  Why are you making the decisions you are making?

     Here's how it works: Your mind is created by your brain, which is an organ that was given to you by evolution to help you survive in our ordinary, every day reality. Your mind does this by reviewing memories, and creating fantasies about the future. These memories and fantasies are like television dramas that play in your head. Pictures. Scenes.  Voices. They generate emotions, which are the basis for every decision you make. Without emotions it is impossible to make ANY decisions.  You need your mind,  but it's there for you to use.  It shouldn't be causing you the problems you are having.  And make no mistake about it,  your problems are all being caused by your mind.

     Very often we make the mistake of thinking that we ARE the pictures, thoughts, voices, and dramas that are playing in our minds. We accept these as real, and we accept our emotions that result from them as real. We think that these things are beyond our control. But in fact they are not real at all. They are only memories (and the past is gone, so it isn't real) or projections of the future (and the future is only a guess at the best of times, because we don't know whether we even have a future.) The only thing that is actually real is this present moment, right now, and the physical things that surround you RIGHT NOW.  Understand this and you can stop taking your mind so seriously.  You can watch what it gives you with amusement,  and laugh at the foolish scenes it creates.

     If your mind is creating fantasies that are making you feel gloomy, robbing you of enthusiasm, imagining a horrible future, then it is time to take charge of your mind. Your mind is setting you up for failure. You must ask yourself what you are getting out of it, and figure out how to set your mind on a better course.

     You say that you are afraid. You must ask yourself what you are afraid of. What are you afraid of that could possibly be worse than what you are creating by being afraid? By being afraid you are creating failure, loss of opportunity, loss of growth, and possible disgrace. What are you afraid of that could be worse than that?
     Are you afraid that others will have an opinion about you? They will. This is something that you cannot help. Others will judge you. They are already judging you now.  Whatever you do or don't do they are judging you. You must ask yourself why this is so terrible? Why is what they think so important to you?  After all, their opinion is really nothing to do with you.  It's only their opinion.
     What would happen if you decided to purposefully create a bad impression? What would happen if instead of being afraid, and refusing to take your turn to speak, you actually spoke in a very loud, strong voice? What would happen if you shouted? Is what would happen worse than what you are creating for yourself?
     You can give in to fear, wallow in your self pity, and point outside yourself to find excuses for your behavior. But really you should grow up and develop some guts. Go crazy. Decide that you don't give a damn what anybody thinks about you. You don't even give a damn if you fail. But you are NOT going to live in fear. Then take action.

     By taking action I mean, make yourself do things you are afraid to do. Sign up for the next speech contest.  Stick your hand up in class and volunteer an answer.  Don't think about it.  Just put your hand up without even knowing what you will say.  If you "can't say a word" then laugh at the predicament you have put yourself in. This is the only way to overcome fear. You must feel it, and act as if you don't feel it. Just do things that you know will help you. Tell your mind to shut up.

    You should take a lesson from Li Yang,  the man who invented Crazy English. He was just exactly like you. Then one day he decided he wasn't going to be like that any more. He got so angry about the way he was feeling and acting that he went crazy. He started to shout. And he found out that when he shouted he felt strong. So he shouted some more. And pretty soon he wasn't afraid anymore.

     I don't know whether you have noticed, but I am a little crazy. Many people have told me this. I do outlandish things that people laugh at, things no "dignified" teacher would ever do, like putting on a clown nose and acting goofy.  I try to speak Chinese when I hardly know any words and my pronunciation must hurt your ears.  But the truth is, I don't really care what anybody thinks about me.  I am trying to achieve something, and I think I am going to do it.  Then people will change their opinion.  Or maybe they won't,  and what does that matter to me? I invite you to follow my example.  Be a misfit.  Stand out from the crowd. Go crazy.  What's the worst that will happen?  What do you have to lose that you aren't already losing?

I hope this helps.

Warmest regards

David

Marking the News Reading Exam (originally posted December 22, 2008)

It takes me 4 minutes and 54 seconds to mark each paper,  and there are about 90 students in the course.  So we're talking 7.5 hours of marking.  That's not counting time spent brewing coffee,  or practicing the violin,  or stretching and looking out the window,  or playing with the dog.  That's solid time in,  if I really motor through each paper.  And that doesn't count data entry.  I'm just over three quarters of the way through it now. Whew.
     The thing that saves this from being just torture and tedium is my last exam question: What did you learn from this course? 
     Unless these students are really blowing smoke up my dress (to use an old biker idiom) so far I have a 100% approval rating.  It is just so gratifying to read the answers.  Almost all the students "got it".  They don't get full marks for this questions unless they make some mention of critical reading,  of the fact that each and everything that has been published was written for a reason - to attract readership by being entertaining,  attract advertising,  or make an ideological point. Knowing why something was published is important.  Here's a sample answer from a student, selected at random:


Long Answer:  Write a paragraph explaining what the most important thing you learned in this course was. (20 points)


I'm so lucky to choose this course.  I learned many things.  At first,  my vocabulary is enlarged.  I can use many words which I didn't know before to express my opinions. The vocabulary is very important for me because I'm an English major.  Secondly, I know how to read newspapers and magazines effectively.  When I read an article I know I can't believe it all.  The truth is always changing.  Different for people or groups.  Then, from the course I learned how a foreign teacher do to make his class live.  David deserves my respect.  He put a good example for me when I become a teacher after graduation.  Last, I want to say I learned that the world can change and dream can become true.  When teacher David want to sell his helmets and make all the students,  even all the people to wear helmets, in order to keep safe, he taught me a deep lesson.  In the following day of studying, I know how I can do, because everything can become true and David said "The world can change."

                        - word for word from the first paper I picked up off the pile

 

If I had any modesty at all,  I'd be blushing.  And I'd feel like I was misrepresenting myself if this response were not so typical of the paragraphs the students have written.  This takes the drudgery out of marking papers.  If I have to sit for eight solid hours doing tedious work,  it's sure nice to have an indication of success and appreciation at the end of each exam paper. No wonder I love these kids.

 

 

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