I’ve spent the last four years of my teaching career in China, and the experience has been nothing short of exceptional. One event I’ve come to expect each year—no matter the school or city—is the parent-teacher conference (PTC). It’s a global constant for educators. PTCs come around at least twice a year and are always full of surprises—it’s like a surprise two-episode season of your favorite drama series, just with more data and fewer plot twists.

At nearly every PTC I’ve attended in China, one concern rises to the surface again and again: parents are worried about their child’s English language development. Some are especially determined for their child to speak English like a native speaker or read at or above grade level. I understand and respect those expectations. However, one question I always find myself asking is: What does the child’s English environment look like outside of school?

See, native English speakers are immersed in the language daily—at home, in school, on social media, in stores, on signs, through casual conversations. The language surrounds them, constantly feeding their development without deliberate effort. In contrast, many students here in China only encounter English for about 90 minutes during their school day. Once they go home, the exposure often stops completely.

If we want students to develop like native speakers, we have to be honest about one thing: language growth comes from consistent input and output. If your child spends 22.5 out of 24 hours a day hearing and speaking Chinese, guess which language they’ll naturally improve in? (No, not Spanish—just kidding—it’s going to be Chinese, of course.)

So, what can parents do? The goal is to create an English environment at home—one that simulates the kind of daily exposure native speakers enjoy. Here are some suggestions to help you get started:

• Watch English-language cartoons or shows that are age-appropriate. This strengthens listening and familiarizes children with natural expressions.
• Give simple instructions in English, such as “Please close the door,” or “Turn off the light.” This introduces routine phrases.
• Create a sight word wall at home with commonly used words that your child will see and use daily.
• Read books together and discuss them. Ask questions about the story to build comprehension and vocabulary.
• Set a daily “English Hour” in which only English can be spoken at home. Be ready, though—kids will get clever and try to stay quiet to avoid speaking. When that happens, ask them silly questions or play interactive games that require a response, like charades or “Would You Rather” questions in English.
• Start a small English book club with their peers. Reading and talking with friends make learning more engaging and social.
• Find a language buddy—and if you don’t speak English yourself, you can always call Mr. Solomon, your favorite teacher’s favorite teacher.

Creating a home environment that supports English doesn’t mean replacing your native language—it means giving your child the tools to thrive in both. With a little intentionality and a lot of encouragement, your home can become one of the most powerful classrooms your child ever steps into.

Check out Malcolm Solomon’s book Choosing the Best International School for Your Child, where he dives into the world of international education in China and how to find the school that’s the perfect fit for your child.

Images: Malcolm Solomon, Freepik

Whether you’ve just arrived in Beijing or been living here for a while, you may be feeling full of gratitude about the exciting opportunity of living in China – but still get the feeling that there is something fundamental missing in your life: friends. Even for extroverts like myself, it takes a big, deep breath to walk into a room full of people you don’t know and take that all-important step that’s required in order to make us thrive – so here are a few tips to meeting new friends in Beijing.

Sign up for a language course
Joining a Chinese school may very well be one of the best decisions you will take. If you sign up for group lessons, you’re likely to not only become friends with your classmates but also to increase your chances of finding Chinese friends. Win-win.

Use your hobby to meet likeminded people
One of the best ways of finding like-minded friends is through your hobbies. In my case, music is my passion and we had barely landed in Beijing before I started looking for a musical outlet. At first, I went to open mic evenings and later joined the fabulous a cappella group “Jing Sing”. Similarly, my husband found running groups and gets to explore the trails and mountains of China with newfound, likeminded friends.

Hope that someone will invite you in
When you’re new to a place, you rely not only on your own proactiveness but also on other people’s friendliness. You will likely be invited into several groups shortly after you arrive in Beijing – and joining a group of people with the same nationality as you can be a good place to start if you’re looking for that “home away from home” feeling.

When good neighbors become good friends
Did you recognize that phrase from the title song of the Australian sitcom Neighbors? If you, like me, are lucky, you will find a great compound with a close-knit community. Should your compound not yet have a WeChat group, why not start one?

Meet other parents
If you have kids and they attend an international school in Beijing, chances are that there is a wide array of activities for parents on offer. Whether you become involved on a daily basis, volunteer for events or choose to show up to the occasional coffee morning, you will have plenty of chances to meet other parents and make friends with them.

Go local if you can
Due to the language barrier, it is difficult to find Chinese friends unless they speak English (or you speak Chinese) meaning that your potential Chinese friends are likely to be young and with a good understanding of foreign cultures. I appreciate my (few) Chinese friends very much and I want to thank them for letting me bombard them with questions about Chinese culture (and language) and for occasionally letting me use them as sources for my blog posts and articles.

Give it time
Making friends takes time. But once you make it beyond the small talk at coffee mornings, parties or outings, you will soon find out whom you really click with. I often find comfort in the feeling that we are all in the same boat. Most of the people I meet and interact with in Beijing are foreigners who, like myself, have started from scratch here. Chances are that we have more in common that meets the eye.

Photo: catholicmatch.com, edithmyrant.blogspot.com, walesonline.co.uk

When we think of a classroom, we probably imagine rows of kids sitting quietly, and a teacher at the front talking. If we walked into a room where the students were walking around, making nonsense noises, shouting, or even dancing, we might imagine that the class is out of control.

In two Beijing kindergartens though, we might instead be witnessing inspirational teachers using innovative techniques to teach English as an Additional Language (EAL).

Daniel Rothwell

Daniel Rothwell (pictured right) freely admits he was a disruptive influence in class even as a student.

“I was at an all-boys grammar school, and I was always in trouble,” he told us. “Then one time, instead of punishing me, a teacher suggested I try out for the Public Speaking team. When I protested, he said, ‘well, you like the sound of your own voice, and you like to argue!”

Rothwell went on to win a prize at his first attempt, and so began a lifelong love of performing, as a musician, public speaker, and actor. He is now Head of Drama at Etonkids, where he’s rolling out a new drama program and training teachers to incorporate dramatic teaching techniques in EAL.

“Calling it drama is a little bit heavy,” he explained. “It’s more a kind of applied practical linguistics. The focus of the teaching is not what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it. Part of my job is to teach the speech patterns of English. Mandarin is a tonal language, and so is English: tone of voice, and pitch are important. Playing with that is a great way to teach a sentence or a phrase. How would a sad person say this? How would a donkey say it? Or a ghost?

“So we start with sounds first, no words. They have an emotion to express, but can only say ‘blah blah blah’. So, for example, they might express agitation with a rising tone. It’s amazing how quickly the kids get into it.”
The students walk around for this exercise, holding conversations with each other in nonsense words, and getting them up out of their chairs is a key part of Rothwell’s approach.

“They’re constantly on the move,” he said. “We have 15 to 25 kindergarten kids, all active, roleplaying conversations, acting as animals…”

But it’s not as chaotic as it might seem.

“Every month has a theme, and a book,” Rothwell said. “Currently we’re reading The Gruffalo, and the theme is ‘Imagination’. If you had the wings of a bird and alligator legs, how would you move?”

Rothwell brings his musical skills to the classroom too.

“Rhythm is the buzzword here,” he told us. “For The Gruffalo, I use a djembe [an African drum]. The snake is a rapid patter on the edge of the drum, the fox prances through, the owl has a slower beat like wings, and the mouse a fast beat. And the Gruffalo himself – ”

He mimes the monster’s pounding footsteps.

“The kids learn to associate the drumbeat with the character. By the third lesson, they can hear the beat and transform into the animal.”

Rothwell uses his own experience of being the class troublemaker to keep the class in line.

“I always say they’re not naughty, they’re just over-inspired learners!” he laughs. “I can recognize what a kid is going to do before they do it. Often they’re bored and want to get on because they understand it, so I get them up to the front to demonstrate. With natural leaders, I try to train them to be more team players, and I try to draw introverts out of their shell, but never forcing anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.”

It’s an approach that can be challenging for more traditional teachers.

“If you don’t feel silly in front of a class, then you’re not doing it right,” Rothwell says. “That is the crux of all the training sessions. A lot of teachers are scared, or they don’t know that it’s acceptable to have fun.

“Initially, in training, a lot of them think I’m a nutcase, so I teach them to beatbox. It’s a warm-up, but also they realize I taught them something pretty cool, and they don’t feel so stupid. In the end, teachers like it because it helps with the kids’ English, and it’s fun for them too.”

Parents have also come round to Rothwell’s style.

“I’m covered in tattoos, so I don’t look like what they think of as a teacher. But they see the kids come in and leave with a smile on their face, and also their English getting better and better: their tone of voice, creativity, self-confidence, and communication skills. Once you’ve got the parents on board, the school are happy. It’s positive responses all around.”

The most important thing for Rothwell is that both students and teachers enjoy themselves.

“What I’ve come to realize over the last two years is that the schooling they’re going to go through is going to be tough, so I can let them have some fun now. A kindergarten class is pure imagination and personality. A lot of them have a hard time at home, so when they feel respected then they feel like they’ve achieved something.”

Rothwell is not the only teacher to bring performing techniques to the classroom. Bobby Wayne Jencks, Director of the English Department at Beijing SMIC Nanhaizi Kindergarten, uses his dancing skills to explain prepositions.

Bobby Wayne Jencks

“I stood at the front of the classroom,” he told us, “and said around, this is around me, and none of the students really knew what it meant. I drew the picture on the board and they kind of understood the concept. But it wasn’t until I asked one of the students to come up and I started dancing with her. I said I’m going to turn her around, so I turned her around and twirled her.

“After that, all the students were saying, ‘I really want to come up and dance with the teacher!’ I said, ‘If you want to come and dance with me, you have to tell me what this word is.’ And the whole class was just shouting ‘around, around.’

“And then for the preposition over, there’s this really fun swing dancing move, where I reach over the student and I practically make the student do a backflip. Of course, it’s very safe, because I have my hand over the student’s waist, so there’s no way for them to fall. And they’re very light, I’ve done this many times with people who weigh nearly as much as I do. So I taught the students this is over, and the students are just ecstatic about this, and screaming ‘over, teacher, over! I want you to flip me over!”

Again, behind the raucous fun, there’s a serious pedagogic purpose.

“Total Physical Response (TPR) is a very popular method among English language teachers to help students make connections between physical actions and vocabulary words,” Jencks explains.

He shows us a whiteboard, with symbols and words in pairs, and grouped by parts of speech.

“Every one of those symbols and words has a corresponding action for it,” he says. “I’ve actually lined up the words in such a way that they can use those words and symbols to make sentences. First I’ll teach them the sound of the words. So I’ll say, ‘This is ‘Eat ice cream.’ This is ‘swimming…’ ‘learning…’ ‘talking…’”

“I’ll have the students repeat after me, and say the words in order. Then I’ll pick out four and show the students the corresponding action. So I’ll have them pretend to lick ice cream, then pretend to swim, to learn, to talk… It’s a very specific action that they’ll have to repeat in the exact same way, every time that I ask them to ‘show me eating ice cream, show me swimming, show me learning, show me talking.’ In this way, the students are memorizing the meaning of the word and the verbal command at the same time.”

“Then I’ll have them do it in different ways. So for example, I’ll say eat ice cream properly, and don’t eat ice cream properly, then I’ll do some outrageous method, like putting the ice cream cone on my head, and wiping the ice cream from my head, and licking my hands. And that just gets the kids laughing really hard.

“In that way, I help them to know what is the right way to do things, and what is not the right way to do things, but also they’re studying adverbs. For example, I’ll say eat the ice cream slowly, eat the ice cream quickly, quietly, loudly, and so on.”

Jencks talks about the importance of game-based learning.

“The point of doing this is to help the students to be more engaged. They’re having fun, they’re not doing it as a formal learning process. And so the more enjoyable it is, the less that they’re thinking about the system of language; the more they’re making mental connections between the content, and the actions, and the feelings they’re having.

“When you’re playing a game and enjoying it, you’re engaged in what some people call the flow. If you’ve ever seen someone playing a video game, they’re mostly unaware of their surroundings, because they’re so focused on solving the problem in front of them in the game. Another aspect of flow is that it’s enjoyable. If I’m playing a video game, and I’m enjoying the process of solving the problem, I can fail a hundred times, and still continue to play the game for hours.

“I try to set up those kinds of scenarios in the classroom, to get the students playing games that are just hard enough to provide them with an adequate challenge, but enjoyable so that when failure comes, it’s not something that prevents them from continuing to play.”

It’s noticeable that for both teachers, fun is not incidental to learning, but essential to it. And the evidence of happy children with improved language skills, at both Etonkids and Beijing SMIC Nanhaizi Kindergarten, suggests that their ideas are sound.

This article appeared on p38-40 of beijingkids June 2018 issue
Photos: Courtesy of Etonkids, Beijing SMIC Nanhaizi Kindergarten

For those looking to feed their brains with the knowledge and challenges that they crave, check out the following free apps that will help keep your thinking skills sharp and ready for the new school year.

Games

Lumosity
Scientists and game designers have come together to develop this brain training game. Lumosity is a simple online tool that allows anyone to train core cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. Challenge your brain with more than 30 different games and puzzles, and track your score to help you improve or see how you compare with others. Free to download on iOS and Android

Brilliant
Are you looking to improve your math and science skills? Then this “brilliant” app is for you! Master subjects like chemistry, number theory, and computer science through conceptual quizzes, written by mathematicians and scientists who are passionate about teaching. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Chess.com
Have you ever shied away from learning chess, because it seems like too much of a difficult game? This app will boost your confidence by giving you various forms of support on your chess-learning journey. Lessons and videos teach you everything you need to know about openings, endgames, tactics, attacks, and strategy. You can solve tactical puzzles to develop your intuition about the best moves to make, or you can play against others or the computer to strengthen your overall skills. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Language Help

HelloTalk
HelloTalk is an app that you can use to learn languages by chatting with native language speakers from around the world. Choose from over 100 languages and become instantly connected with native speakers. This app offers many language learning tools such as voice-to-text, transliteration, translation, and grammar correction, which will help you pick up the language faster and more efficiently. Free to download on iOS and Android.

ChineseSkill
Similar to the well-known Duolingo, ChineseSkill is a game-based app that makes learning Mandarin a whole lot more fun. The lessons are available in the form of mini-games that test your listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. The lessons are also split into bite-size pieces that cover topics such as greetings and introductions, shopping, travel, food, dating and flirting, and many more. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Online courses

Khan Academy
Whether you need extra homework help or you are just passionate about learning, Khan Academy offers videos, interactive exercises, and in-depth articles to help you learn math, science, economics, humanities, and more. You can also find lessons to prepare you for the upcoming SAT, GMAT, or MCAT. This is one of our personal favorite learning tools, as the lessons are easy to understand, and the exercises do a great job of reinforcing the main points. Free to download on iOS and Android.

edX
edX offers online courses from the world’s best universities and institutions including Harvard University, MIT, Tsinghua University, Microsoft, and The Smithsonian. Anyone who loves learning will benefit from the plethora of courses in subjects like programming, calculus, and business, which will fit into even the busiest of schedules. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Fun for kids

Scratch Jr.
Children as young as five can learn the basics of coding with Scratch Jr, an app designed by researchers at Tufts University, MIT Media Lab, and Playful Invention Company. This programming language is a simplification of the more famous Scratch language, as it is suitable for children who have yet to strengthen their reading skills. The objective of this app is to snap together different programming blocks to make adorable characters move, jump, dance, and sing. This app is not only perfect for teaching kids how to code, it is also great for improving their problem solving, design, and creativity skills. Free to download on iPad and Android tablets.

Photos: MIH83 via Pixabay, courtesy of apps

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This article originally appeared on p 18-19 of beijingkids August 2017 issue.
Download the digital copy here.

Living in Beijing does present itself with some very unique challenges. The language can make living in Beijing daunting yet exhilarating at the same time. Kids can learn five basic life skills that will have them explore more of the city they call home. This can be a good learning experience for adults as well as these skills have unique aspects. Once I started to acquire these skills, life in Beijing became more manageable.  Here are the five skills:

Use Public Transportation
Beijing’s public transportation is a doozy if you can’t read Chinese, but a gold mine if you do. Buses, subways, taxis, and even bikes make navigating the city easier than most capital cities. The taxi hailing (apart from Uber) and bike sharing apps have Chinese interfaces, so it would be a handy skill for kids (old enough) to try at least three different public transportation systems to understand how it works. In our Home and Relocation Guide, we have compiled different taxi hailing apps that can be found here.

Local Market Grocery Shopping
The access Jenny Lou’s, Jenny Wang’s, BHG Marketplace, and April Gourmet are a good start for kids to learn how a supermarket works. But for a real adventure,  have your kids head to the local market and buy groceries using the Chinese system of calculating weight. This is also a good way to teach kids to appreciate food and money. The Hutong, for example, has culinary tours available for children to learn the best methods of grocery shopping at local markets.

Speak to Strangers in Mandarin
Kids in China are adored, and strangers walk up to kids and start talking to them unlike other places in the west. To truly experience culture while building communication skills, take your kids to the local neighborhood, or hutong, and have them sit with the locals and chat about Beijing in Chinese. This will be an unforgettable experience for them as the locals will share their personalized version of the city’s history that will open their minds to a new perspective. Learning how to communicate with total strangers is also a confidence booster for kids.

Order at Restaurants
Being able to order at is a very good and useful skill to master. It’s especially handy if you have visitors who you would like to take for a local treat. If your kids know how to order in Chinese and speak to the waiters about special requirements, then your meal will be more enjoyable, creating a better Beijing experience for your guests. Learning how to do this will gradually let you focus on what you want to eat and have the kids decide to order on their own.

Learn to Cook
Cooking is a basic life skill regardless of where you live. There’s a limit to how much take out people can have in one week. After buying groceries, let a Chinese friend or ayi teach the kids how to make the family’s favorite Chinese dishes. The ability to cook will come in handy on those surprise birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. The possibility of learning different regional cuisines is on the edge of the knife.

Photo: wrirosscities.org

After working in South Korea for five years, Canadian native Colin Donelle was looking for a new opportunity in another country. His fiancée at the time (now wife) had lived in Beijing while attending university and Donelle himself had always been interested in China’s rich history and culture. After receiving a number of job offers in Beijing, Donelle accepted a teaching position at Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) where he’s taught the past two years. The third grade teacher and team leader shares more about himself with beijingkids.

What’s was your favorite subject when you were a student?
My favorite subject is school was language arts, particularly reading and writing. An avid reader from a very young age, I loved immersing myself in the worlds created by various authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Richard Adams, and Roald Dahl. Throughout school I loved to write, whether that involved keeping a journal of my summer adventures in Canada, writing fictional stories that were quite similar to many of my favorite authors, or writing informational texts about my latest animal obsession. It has been an immense pleasure sharing my love for writing and reading with the students that I have the opportunity to teach and care for year after year.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
When I was growing up I had a number of dreams. I wanted to be an ice hockey goalie in the NHL, a famous author, and even an engineer. After high school I initially pursued a career in journalism, but after a year decided that being a lawyer would be much more financially beneficial. After completing my bachelor’s degree, and having been accepted into law school, I decided to instead take a job as an ESL teacher in South Korea, a country and job that I knew very little about. But once I started teaching, I was addicted to the pivotal role you can play in the lives of the students that you can mentor and help develop. Now, after seven years, I could never imagine being anything but a teacher for its spiritual, emotional, and social benefits.

How would you (or your students) describe your teaching style?
My students would describe me as a serious teacher who really works to not just teach them the material, but to build stronger relationships and sense of community within my class and across the grade. For example, one of the classes unique to Grade 3 at BIBA is our weekly community class, an opportunity for all the Grade 3 classes to join together and work on various team-building activities that work to improve their modeling of the 4Rs (Respect, Responsibility, Relationships, and Rigor). I firmly believe this focus not only improves the quality of their lives while at school, but helps guide them towards becoming internationally-minded ambassadors to the world.

What was your favorite book growing up? What are you currently reading?
My favorite book growing up was likely J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, a great tale of adventure and risk-taking, especially considering I am now an international teacher. Although the recent movies failed to capture the spirit of this novel, I always felt that the 1977 animation was quite successful and true to the author’s original intentions. Lately I have been reading a number of books by Phillip K. Dick, most recently Scanner Darkly. Although his books tend to be quite dark, I believe that many of the major themes that he explored in the 1960s and 70s are just as relevant and important today, perhaps even more so.

How do you like to relax on the weekends?
On the weekends I love to curl up with my wife, my cat, and listen to some nice jazz music while reading a book. I also really enjoy playing board or card games with my friends, seeing some of the great live music acts around Beijing, and of course taking the time to learn more about the history and culture of the country that I now call home.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
It really depends on the holiday and the expectations. When I was living in South Korea I spent most of my holidays either travelling back to Canada to spend time with my family or travelling around the country side to explore many of the smaller cities and villages. Over this past summer my wife and I went to Vietnam for our honeymoon, exploring the sights and sounds of Hoi Chi Minh, Mui Ne, Nha Trang, and Da Lat. This was an amazing adventure filled with countless memorable, fantastic experiences, and some great pictures. Currently, my wife and I are planning on possibly travelling around Russia during the upcoming winter holidays, a country neither of us has travelled to before.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Most people likely do not know that I love to collect vinyl, having amassed quite a collection of classic rock and jazz vinyl in my home in Canada. I have even carefully transported a few of my personal favorites from over 10,000 kilometers away. Although I am still searching for a record player here in Beijing, I’m sure that soon enough I will be able to listen to many of my favorites, especially on those upcoming chilly winter days. What’s currently on your playlist? Lately I have been listening to a lot of instrumental, low vocal music such as Porcupine Tree, Explosions in the Sky, and Fleet Foxes. I also really enjoy acoustical music such as José González, Kathleen Edwards, and Rodriquez. Anything that seems like it was made for rainy days, warm sweaters, and curling up in a blanket.

What’s do you find most rewarding about teaching?
Teaching, although one of the most demanding jobs in the world, is rewarding like nothing else in the world– spiritually and emotionally. Although I have been extremely fortunate to teach well over a thousand students at this point in my career, each student with their own story and memory that I will always cherish, the one that stands out is a group of five students that I taught a debate class to in South Korea. These students, on the cusp of entering high school, were well developed in their oral, written, and test-taking abilities, but largely quiet and unmotivated without a lot of prodding. Over the course of six months I was able to introduce them to the debate system, inquiring about various strategies and techniques for effective deliberation, and watched them truly flourish in their confidence and attitude. It even reached such a height that they started their own debate team outside of the school, quickly winning numerous awards despite competing against some of the best debaters in Seoul. That attitude, and that ability to inspire students to take what they have learned and apply it outside of the classroom, is definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of this profession. Is there anything else you would like to share? I would just like to say thank you for this opportunity to share my experiences with all the readers and to the community at BIBA, in Beijing, and across China for opening their doors and hearts to both myself and my wife.谢谢

Most bucket list items tend to be geared towards the individual, but why keep all the fun to yourself when could share it with your family? The first part of this two-part blog post will detail five outings and activities that I think are unique to Beijing and can be adapted to include people of different ages.

1. Camp on the Great Wall
You’ve walked the Great Wall before (probably way too many times), but how many people can say they’ve camped on it? It’s illegal to camp on the wall without a permit, so you can join a hiking group or chance it at your own risk. It may be a little pricier or riskier, but ending the day’s hike with stargazing on the Wall is worth it. Just be sure to leave the Great Wall as you found it.

2. Watch the Flag Raising at Tian’anmen
As is custom for all graduating classes, I attended the flag raising at Tian’anmen Square as a student at the International School of Beijing. It was incredible and probably the only thing I remember from the slew of end-of-year festivities.

The flag is raised every morning at sunrise, but you should go earlier to ensure a good spot. China Travel Guide publishes a schedule of times that will help you plan your pilgrimage.

The square does get crowded, but the seas of patriotic visitors and tourists contribute to the mood. This can be quite overwhelming especially if you consider China your home, or even your home away from home.

3. Find a Cat Cafe
In most of North America, hygiene regulations prevent cat cafes from popping up in major cities. Not so in China, where businesses enjoy a more laissez-faire attitude. If your family likes cats and caffeine, take a stroll down Wudaoying Hutong or Beiluoguxiang, then make it your collective mission to find the cafes and hang out with the Internet’s favorite animal.

4. Swim in Houhai Lake
This may be a desperate measure to beat the heat in Beijing, but it’s something so classically local that it has to be on this list. When walking around Houhai, look for stairs that lead down to the water level and dive right in. The water is calm and fit for intermediate swimmers. It’s relatively clean, but definitely bring towels and plan on stepping into a shower soon after. Bonus points if you join the old men swimming there in the winter.

Not sure about swimming? Test the waters by paddle boating first. Alternatively, take a long swim down the Liangma River; just watch out for the fishermen!

5. Master Conversational Chinese
The best way to do this is simply to talk to everyone. I talk to my ayi for hours, chat with cab drivers, and try to say the dish’s name at restaurant instead of just pointing. Get the rest of the family in on the language learning by decreeing that one mealtime a week must take place entirely in Chinese.

Befriending cab drivers can pay off – especially when you need a trustworthy driver to take visitors around.

Heather Budimulia is a rising college sophomore, beijingkids’ intern and 北京人in progress. Though originally from Singapore, she spent a decade in Beijing and since she learned to bake and fell in love with publication there, considers it her home. When not in the office or storing sleep for college, she’ll probably be in a coffee shop with a good book, her journal or a stranger (or all three).

Photos: Dino Quinzani, Wikimedia, sprklg, 阿蠻Amanda, Michael Coghlan

Carolina (not her real name) is an Italian English teacher in Beijing whose school tells her students she’s a native speaker from Ireland. Photo from Chinasmack

Chinasmack has an extremely enlightening and well-written article by Monica Tan on the state of English teaching in China which every parent will want to take a look at.

Nothing is terribly new in the article — we all know there’s plenty of unqualified teachers floating around — but the story really hits the nail on the head with some scary examples.

Michael, an Austrian teacher masquerading as a native English speaker tutoring a Beijing 14-year-old, talks of how he is “hungover every time” he teaches: “Sometimes I’ll go straight from partying to teaching, and because I stink I spray on loads of cologne.”

Even more unnerving is an account of his job teaching a group of 4-year-olds:

Not only was Michael hired without experience, he has been teaching with no guidance or training. In his classroom he sits encircled by three tiny desks, and three tiny chairs, for his three tiny students: Danny, Rabbit and Wei Wei. They are just 4 years old. “Man, Danny is such a f***er,” sighs Michael. “He never listens to me and often gets really angry. Sometimes if there are no teachers or parents around, I’ll say to him ‘you’re such a bastard’ in English very fast, so he can’t really understand. Or, ‘hey read this you fatass’. I’ve only ever really told him off once. And never again, because he started to cry.” I asked him if it looked bad in front of the other parents to have one of your students cry. But [he]shakes his head, “Mama Rabbit is always there, but she knows how much Danny’s a bastard.

In essence, there is such an incredible demand for English teaching — the article cites a China Daily report indicating one-third of the entire population of China is studying English — that schools hire unqualified teachers just to keep up with the demand.

Generally the teachers are vilified in this situation, but the schools and even parents are complicit in this charade. Schools regularly fake their teachers’ credentials, and parents are often look for nothing more than a Caucasian face. Carolina, an Italian whose school tells parents that she’s an English native speaker from Ireland, is quoted in the article as saying, “I used to find it weird that the parents are always telling me how I’m beautiful. Then I realized these lessons are just about giving them status. In China, if your kids go to school and they have a foreign teacher — a beautiful Irish teacher — everybody in the neighborhood knows and you gain face. So it doesn’t really matter what happens in class.”

Truth be told, this situation is the same for Mandarin language teaching in the capital. The number of unqualified teachers vastly outnumbers the qualified, so this is not just something Chinese parents need to think about.

One American teaching in southern China offers some valuable advice for parents shopping for a qualified teacher, much of which is applicable to parents searching for schools or teachers of any language. “I would get someone who already speaks very good English to go to the demo class with you, and if you have any questions about the teacher, ask the teacher themselves, not the school. Also, if you don’t believe someone’s qualification, ask for proof. If they say that they have a certificate, ask to see a copy.”

Some other tips for seeking a language teacher for your child:

1. Don’t rely strictly on brand names. Ask for — and check — references on specific teachers from other students and parents of students in the class. Your child’s experience is heavily dependent not just on the school you choose, but the teacher you end up with. You’ll find many schools have an uneven mix of qualified and unqualified teachers.

2. Ignore skin color. Native speakers come in all colors and nationalities. An Asian from the Philippines or Singapore can be as capable an English teacher — or even more capable — than a Caucasian from the US or the UK. In fact, Caucasian teachers are more likely to be getting by on the color of their skin alone, whereas a non-Caucasian will not be given the benefit of the doubt — they will have to perform.

3. Look for stability. Generally the longer someone has taught in the same place, the higher quality the candidate. And having a teacher leave during a course of study can be disruptive.

4. Non-native speakers can be good teachers too. Having someone who’s been through what your child is going through can actually be an advantage, as they understand more intuitively the difficulties a non-native speaker will face.

5. Look for a training program. Find out if the school offers training for their teachers, and verify this information with the teacher him/herself.