My experience in China and teaching philosophy. Since childhood, I have always dreamed of working as an English teacher in different countries. Since 17 I was living abroad, at first on my own, and later with my husband. In 2018, after completing my contract at a language center for adults, I decided to come to work in China. After researching for some time, I decided to come to Fuzhou, and has been living here since then. I fell in love with southern vibes of Fuzhou, its ever-green parks and blossoming jasmine trees everywhere, bustling and chaotic street life, beautiful nature of Fujian province, and various delicious foods.
从小到大，我一直梦想着能在不同的国家当一名英语老师。从17岁开始，我就在国外生活，起初是自己一个人，后来和丈夫一起生活。2018年，在一家成人语言中心完成合同后，我决定来中国工作。经过一段时间的调研，我决定来到福州，并一直在这里生活至今。我爱上了福州的南方气息，这里有永远绿意盎然的公园和随处可见的茉莉花树，有繁华喧闹的街头生活，有美丽的福建省自然风光，还有各种美味的食物。
Acculturation process wasn’t smooth for me, I had to get used to hot and humid weather, and learn some basic Chinese to feel comfortable here at maximum. I also needed to learn the cultural differences to be able to behave according to the rules and for local people to feel comfortable with me. And this is why I think that coming to China was a great choice, I learned a lot here, got more mature and open-minded, and I’m very grateful for this life-changing experience.
适应的过程对我来说并不是一帆风顺的，我必须适应炎热潮湿的天气，还要学习一些基本的中文，才能最大限度地感受到这里的舒适。我还需要学习文化上的差异，以便能够按规矩办事，让当地人对我感到舒服。所以我觉得来中国是一个很好的选择，我在这里学到了很多东西，变得更加成熟和开放，我非常感谢这段改变人生的经历。
What about my teaching philosophy, I like this quote from one book on ESL teaching I’ve read recently: “Every child is a genius”. It may sound a bit pretentious, but I think that this is the best approach for a teacher, especially for the one working in primary school. I observe every one of my students attentively to discover their strongest traits. During the course of this year, I have been constantly watching my students gaining more confidence and opening up their potential and leadership qualities.
那我的教学理念呢，我很喜欢最近看的一本关于ESL教学的书中的这句话。"每个孩子都是天才" 这句话听起来可能有点矫情，但我认为这是一个老师最好的方法，尤其是对于在小学工作的老师来说。我用心观察每一个学生，发现他们最强的特点。在这一年的时间里，我不断地观察着我的学生获得更多的自信，开启他们的潜能和领袖气质。
I like to vary tasks and activities in my classroom. If today we are breaking a sweat on writing skills, tomorrow we will be playing some exciting vocabulary games, and the next day we can have an interactive quiz followed by reading, and then do a craft to fix the new knowledge and make it feel more 3D, then the next day we will do a role play to integrate speaking, acting, and laughing.
我喜欢在课堂上变换任务和活动。如今天我们在写作技巧上大汗淋漓，明天就玩一些刺激的词汇游戏，第二天可以先进行互动问答，再进行阅读，然后做一个手工，把新知识固定下来，让它更有立体感，第二天再做一个角色扮演，把说、演、笑融为一体。
In my classroom, every minute of a lesson, there is a lot of competition involved. Every class is divided in 2 teams and we compete to see which one is the best at the end of a lesson, collecting the points to see who is the best at the end of the semester. Students get points for everything: good behavior, keeping clean, helping others, and, of course, participation in classwork. Every lesson I make sure that every student participates. I ask a lot of questions, simple — for shy students to grow confidence, and more difficult — to make the whole class think hard. I like to make the lesson feel as dynamic and energetic as possible, for everyone to be relaxed in friendly atmosphere, so that my students will not only be learning diligently in class, but also have a great interest to English language studies in the future.
在我的课堂上，一节课的每一分钟，都会有很多竞争。每个班级都分成2个小组，一节课下来，我们比一比谁的成绩最好，收集积分，看谁是学期末的佼佼者。学生什么都能拿分：行为规范、保持清洁、帮助他人，当然还有参与课堂作业。每一节课我都会确保每个学生都能参与进来。我问了很多问题，简单的–让害羞的学生增长信心，较难的–让全班学生认真思考。我喜欢把课上得尽量让人觉得有活力，有朝气，让大家在友好的气氛中放松，这样我的学生不仅在课堂上勤奋学习，而且对今后的英语学习也会有很大的兴趣。