(Westerners are…)
Today I wrote, ‘Westerners are…’ on the blackboard. I turned to the class and said, “fat? Selfish? Lazy?” They all gave me puzzled looks. I explained, “these are some of the stereotypes of Western people that I’ve heard while living in China. What do you think we are like? What do your parents think?” I asked them to finish the sentence and reassured them that I wouldn’t be offended.
After everyone was finished writing, they stood up one by one and read their stereotypes to the class. Here are some:
“Westerners are rich, they get to travel all around the world”
“Westerners are very independent but are also very selfish”
“Westerners are all tall and strong”
“Westerners eat sandwiches all the time”
“Westerners don’t care about their families as much as Chinese people do”
“Westerners are energetic and enthusiastic”
“Westerners tell 100% of the truth, Chinese people only tell 70%”
I didn’t want to start any debates (they take an English debating class next year) so I just asked them to explain some of their stereotypes a little further. Here’s some of what I got:
Independent, but selfish - we live our own lives, but in the process we forget about people around us: family and friends
Tall & Strong - why? Because we drink more milk. Haha
Eat a lot of sandwiches - they couldn’t explain this one
Don’t care about our families - because we don’t live with our grandparents and we pay people to take care of our children… we also leave our families and move to far away places when we finish school - ahem… personal attack?…
Energetic & Enthusiastic - mostly just because of the way I teach
Take what you will out of this. It’s so interesting to compare the East and West; the teachers here are always doing so with each other. Some of the stereotypes are funny, others are quite serious and could spark up a really great debate. Still, others are untouchables and its best to just leave them be.
Today I wrote, ‘Westerners are…’ on the blackboard. I turned to the class and said, “fat? Selfish? Lazy?” They all gave me puzzled looks. I explained, “these are some of the stereotypes of Western people that I’ve heard while living in China. What do you think we are like? What do your parents think?” I asked them to finish the sentence and reassured them that I wouldn’t be offended.
After everyone was finished writing, they stood up one by one and read their stereotypes to the class. Here are some:
“Westerners are rich, they get to travel all around the world”
“Westerners are very independent but are also very selfish”
“Westerners are all tall and strong”
“Westerners eat sandwiches all the time”
“Westerners don’t care about their families as much as Chinese people do”
“Westerners are energetic and enthusiastic”
“Westerners tell 100% of the truth, Chinese people only tell 70%”
I didn’t want to start any debates (they take an English debating class next year) so I just asked them to explain some of their stereotypes a little further. Here’s some of what I got:
Independent, but selfish - we live our own lives, but in the process we forget about people around us: family and friends
Tall & Strong - why? Because we drink more milk. Haha
Eat a lot of sandwiches - they couldn’t explain this one
Don’t care about our families - because we don’t live with our grandparents and we pay people to take care of our children… we also leave our families and move to far away places when we finish school - ahem… personal attack?…
Energetic & Enthusiastic - mostly just because of the way I teach
Take what you will out of this. It’s so interesting to compare the East and West; the teachers here are always doing so with each other. Some of the stereotypes are funny, others are quite serious and could spark up a really great debate. Still, others are untouchables and its best to just leave them be.
1 comment:
Yo Laura! You will always be Canadian - because you crave Tim Hortons. Cool discussion there!
Glad to hear your teaching style is still energetic and enthusiastic! You must be loving it!
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