Specific Individual Expat Teachers You'd Like To Send Back Home- Via Catapult

Lotus, does his name start with 'J'?

Eeerily similar to the speech competition at my last university. New FT (same time as me- and yes, the same knobhead I've spoken about previously!) decides HE is the HEAD judge (rest of us FT's scratching our heads- there was no head judge!. He asked the impromptu questions at the end- and I swear, even I had to think about them for a minute. Some of the poor students standing up their nervously really looked close to tears. I deliberately gave the people with particularly hard questions very high marks, just to annoy him!!

Quote from: The Local Dialect on October 18, 2009, 06:26:19 PM

heavy er-hua he picked up during a semester in Beijing. People in Kunming don't speak using er-hua, Come to think of it, he was also an er-hua offender ... coincidence?

Ok, I am assuming you mean adding the 'r' sound at the end of words.   That is how I am being taught.  I think it is 'northern' dialect, or that is what my teacher implied.  Of course, I live in the 'north'.

I will try and be careful if I ever travel to the south  

Most teachers will teach you to add an er to certain words, but in Beijing they take it to the absolute extreme and add er to everything under the sun, which is actually Beijing dialect, not standard putonghua. It is ok to put er on some words -- "na-er," "wan-er," "yi-dian-er" etc. Even though down South they'll say "na-li" or "wan," the "er" is still considered standard, and an er here or there won't hurt. What bugs is when people take their fake Beijing accent to places where it isn't appropriate, thinking it makes them sound smarter or more educated. Most teachers won't teach you er-hua, it is more something you'd pick up living in or around Beijing. You're probably safe DS.

Lotus, does his name start with 'J'?

Eeerily similar to the speech competition at my last university. New FT (same time as me- and yes, the same knobhead I've spoken about previously!) decides HE is the HEAD judge (rest of us FT's scratching our heads- there was no head judge!. He asked the impromptu questions at the end- and I swear, even I had to think about them for a minute. Some of the poor students standing up their nervously really looked close to tears. I deliberately gave the people with particularly hard questions very high marks, just to annoy him!!

Older fella - 62?  Could be the same one.  Came from Seattle.

He volunteered to give the FT speech at the end, and when they asked me, he left as soon as the judging stuff was over.

I told him some of his questions were mean, and his reply was that the answer to one of them was "I don't know" - which would have totally stuffed up the timing for the students and lost them points.

LE-I don't think so, but this guy was a serial liar. From what we gathered he was British/ Australian/ Philipino. Interesting combo.

Sounds like a complete idiot though- poor students!

Quote from: Lotus Eater on October 18, 2009, 04:53:14 AM

Ran into another one today.  The type of FT who tells a table of Deans, Heads of Departments, Education heavies about China and its history. ...

...the doofus who my friend brought to our house for dinner and proceeded to try and school my husband, a professional musician, about Chinese opera and Xiang Shen. ... Because someone who has been relying on music for his livelihood for the past 15 or so years really needs to hear about Beijng opera from a 19 year old?

Worst I've had was a fellow Canadian who explained to me, in an obviously condescending tone, that there is no censorship of the Internet in China. They only block English sites because they want to force the companies to build Chinese sites. It has nothing to do with politics.

He was my boss at the time, so I made my reply as mild as I could manage: "You're out of your f---ing mind!"

The same happens back home.  How many of us have been assailed by someone who, upon hearing you live in China, proceeds to lecture you about that country?  This is invariably replete with condemnation of the Chinese as a monolith of ethnic cleansing monsters determined to conquer the world.

It's an ego thing.  Some folks are just smarter and more knowledgeable on every subject than everybody else.

It's an ego thing.  Some folks are just smarter and more knowledgeable on every subject than everybody else.

You're right. Unfortunately the closer a person is to that state the less likely they are to tell you about it.

Something about empty vessels comes to mind

Quote from: Con ate dog on October 20, 2009, 06:56:54 PM

It's an ego thing.  Some folks are just smarter and more knowledgeable on every subject than everybody else.

You're right. Unfortunately the closer a person is to that state the less likely they are to tell you about it.

Something about empty vessels comes to mind

From the Tao Te Ching: The ones that know don't talk, and the ones that talk don't know.

Totally appropriate for the teaching profession!   

And of course based on the antiquated premise that knowledge is 'power'.

Quote from: Lotus Eater on October 18, 2009, 04:53:14 AM

Ran into another one today.  The type of FT who tells a table of Deans, Heads of Departments, Education heavies about China and its history.  This fella 'loves Chinese history'.  One of his great 'lines' was "In 50 years China will have taken over Japan."     He was telling the Chinese people sitting next to him the history of "Che le ma?", and other things about 'the Chinese people do...".  One of the Chinese teachers near him pointed that that lunch was nearly finished and he eaten little.    Beautifully subtle.

But we all had a bit of a giggle when, as he was asking the questions for the comp, he asked one student to explain the "symbiology' of China.  The student was of course, slightly nonplussed!!  The head of the judging panel (and his fellow question master) in her summation speech stated that the students found it much easier to understand her accent!!

I think he managed to miff most people around him.  

Reminds me of a guy I knew back in Kunming who insisted on speaking Chinese using the heavy er-hua he picked up during a semester in Beijing. People in Kunming don't speak using er-hua, and it wasn't as if this guy learned his Chinese in Beijing originally, he went there and came back with the ers. A couple ers here and there, fine, but go overboard, especially down South, and you just sound like a jackass. Linguistic snobbery certainly isn't going to win you any points with the locals.

Same goes for the doofus who my friend brought to our house for dinner and proceeded to try and school my husband, a professional musician, about Chinese opera and Xiang Shen. First of all, foreigners who study Xiang Shen grate on my last nerve (but, admittedly, that is my own issue and I own it), but second of all ... really? Because someone who has been relying on music for his livelihood for the past 15 or so years really needs to hear about Beijng opera from a 19 year old? Come to think of it, he was also an er-hua offender ... coincidence?

the guy on the learn chinese show on cctv 9 does that. he has a really irritating way of speaking chinese that sounds absolutely nothing like the people where i live

Slightly off topic, but Con, about that....it was funny that over the summer holiday I got acousted by my own GP about living in China (had an appointment anyway, but he deliberately double booked me just so he could chat about China!). Turns out he'd just been on holiday with his wife here and desperately wanted to chat about his feelings etc because noone else would listen to him!

Maybe *I* should have charged HIM for the consultation??!!

   "So, doc, will you comp me on the enema?"

While I enjoy most of my colleagues I've got a few that, if I never see again, it would be too soon.  Lots of unethical things amongst these few...  Lying, not giving required information to students, not following the basic requirements of the job, trying to pressure students for sexual favors, canceling classes to go on vacation but not "making up the time."  Just amazing these people continue to stay on working here...

One of my course tutors just sent a link to a journal with this article in it...
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb10/mart03.htm

The journal also has a section devoted to jokes. (Honestly!)

PS: http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=73211

I got lucky, we just had four teachers (and I'm using this word because I can't find a more appropriate one) leave at the end of their contract.

The first can't teach ANYTHING. Even the students wondered about him
The second can't speak English well enough. Simple spelling mistakes, poor grammar, etc
The third was only here to get laid (to her credit, she did)
The forth was a sour old cunt (at age 21)

But hey, it gets better. Our Teacher's Manager just hired her drug dealer. I like the guy, he's funny and cool to hang with. I'd have a beer with him anytime. He can't teach to save his life. She even made sure I wasn't there to assess him because she knew I'd probably turn him down. She then forced a second trial lesson after the abysmal presentation he gave (his own words). We'd never done this before.

Luckily there won't be cross teaching classes