How are Chinese students different ? - By: gracejones2996

I teach at a major university in China, in a capital
city (Nanchang) of a moderately developed province
(Jiangxi, approximately 400 miles West of Shanghai).

Nanchang University is spread over several campusses
(particularly the old one close to downtown and
the new one in the West across the river Gan
in an area which 10 years ago still was agriculturally used. )
and boasts 80,000 students, about half of which
live at the new campus.

A student starts his or her day latest at 6:30 AM when
they have to sign in at their dormitory to prove that
they slept in their own beds. Lights go off at about 10
when the dorm doors are closed; you better not be late
(try pleading with a communist guard or try erasing
this type of entry from your academic file).

Students share their dorm rooms with 3 to 5 co-students
(each paying about 1000 YUAN per month for rent) but have to
pay for hot water separately. Breakfast in one of the
many student restaurants across campus costs about
6 to 20 Yuan, depending on your appetite. If you divide the Yuan by
7 to get the dollar equivalent, you will see that Chinese
students pay around 2 dollars for a healthy and satisfying breakfast.

Thus, well slept, cleansed (or not depending on the
weather and available personal funds) and fed, about 40 to 50
20 year olds enter your class at 8 o'clock. These students are very
curious about the West: how did you meet your wife
or husband ? Do you like China ? How are Western and
Chinese boys and girls different ?

The students are deeply
interested in your answers even though the topics seem
to be on the lighter side. This curiosity is of course weaker in the
more developed coastal regions where {foreigners| Westerners) are a daily
view.

Basically three types of students exist:
1) the brilliant types who you need not/cannot teach
2) the diligent majority, grinding away day and night
at insane requirements like 30 hours per week of classes.
3) the lazy bottom comprising about at least 20 % of the
class, male dominated.

The lazy bottom is something one does not expect to see from a
Chinese. However, the university will try and produce several
rounds of make up exams to give every student a chance to pass,
despite only moderate academic progress.
One has to understand that these guys basically did not have any youth.
Their parents pushed them each Saturday and Sunday to
Olympic math and calligraphy, English and essays, physics and
a repeat of all of the above. In China there is not a single day of vacation without
homework. These guys could not just go to the movies
on a Friday night, have a girl or boy-friend
(affects the grades and hence is a no-no, all 4 parents vehemently
and unitedly opposed).
University is their time to slack off and play computer games.

Girls are not such a hot topic, but that is another article.

About the Author

Follow the to read more about my experience as a teacher in China.
The author is a full time professor at Nanchang University, China.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/gracejones2996/141501

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