Anna Chu's Reports

"Feel the difference. The difference is Macau."
Macau's vague and essentially meaningless motto in no way does the city any justice. Macau is a truly eclectic place, with what might appear to be a mix-match in cultures, architectures, and cuisines, yet it seems to be working. One of my favorite places here is a square in front of a small Chinese temple devoted to the Emperor God of the North. It's in Old Taipa, surrounded by beautiful colonial-style Portuguese restaurants and crumbling wrecks of abandoned homes. No matter what time of the day, this square is always filled vibrancy: children are giggling and riding their bikes; elderly people are practicing tai chi in unison; grandmas are gossiping in the shade; and ex-pats are enjoying a drink at the adjacent tavern. Macau is different from any other place in China. But I think the motto is mostly a reminder of Macau's distinctive casino industry, though.

Language issues: "Let's pizza…together…"
Teaching English in China is different than teaching English in other parts of the world because you have to combat the omnipresent Chinglish. The perception here is that speaking English makes you smart and sophisticated, so English words and phrases have been thrown haphazardly into the Chinese language, without any regard for grammar. Emblazoned in huge letters in front of Senado Square's Pizza Hut are the awkwardly ambiguous words: "Let's pizza…together….". Even products obviously manufactured in mainland China will advertise: "This comfortably make me feel so good." And currently popular on MTV Asia is Hong Kong boy band, EO2's new video where they brag in Cantonese about all the beautiful girls who love them to death and then, to elevate their sex appeal, sing in English, "It's Ladies Nite. Let's celebration!" (go ahead, Youtube it). So a lot of nonsensical phrases have been ingrained in our student's mind along with general confusion between adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

I am in an unspoken, perhaps one-sided feud with my elderly turtle-like doorman. Last month I locked my keys in my apartment and when I tried to explain the situation to him he called me a "foolish pig" in Chinese. I am positive he meant it a sort-of endearing grandfatherly insult but I insist on having a nemesis in whichever city I am residing, so I have selected this doorman for my Macau nemesis. I am sure this will come back to haunt me when it's 2 AM and I am standing outside of the building because I have forgotten the entrance code. Sometime I wish I didn't understand Cantonese so well.

Not that my Cantonese is very good, but I'm grateful that it's passable enough for everyday interactions like ordering boba milk tea or getting a taxi back to my apartment. Having knowledge of Chinese culture and the Chinese language definitely helps me relate to my students. In the classroom, I can usually help the students translate what they mean to say into English. When they talk about their favorite pop stars like Jay Chou, Edison Chen, or Jolin Tsai, I know exactly who they're referring to. But knowing Chinese has its downside too. Sometimes a student will start responding to a question of mine and I'll start nodding before I realize - wait a minute - that wasn't in English: try again. I don't want my knowledge of Chinese to become a crutch to my students, so in certain classes I don't let on how much Chinese I understand. It sounds sneaky, but the type of student and the level of skill vary with each class, so I have to take different approaches with each one.

"I'll 'go with the flow', as long as the 'flow' follows my plan."
So says Roberto, the star of one of the many atrociously cheesy videos we have accompanying our textbook. These videos are full of statements that are supposed to be humorous/clever but never quite succeed. I suppose I shouldn't be so snide though, I make jokes all the time that only receive blank stares and confusion. My only option then is to pretend it never happened because painstakingly explaining my joke would make it completely unfunny, as I've learned from explaining Roberto's joke - to four different classes.

While the silliness of Roberto's phrase has become one of the many running jokes among the English teachers at Macau University of Science and Technology, I have to admit "going with the flow" is essential to surviving with your sanity (and patience) intact while in Macau. No matter what you do, whether it's opening a bank account or getting someone to fix your computer or teaching Unit 3's vocabulary words, it always takes much longer (and often involves more paperwork) than you would expect.

I found that "going with the flow" is the only way I can teach my Level 2 Macanese class. These students' English skills are undoubtedly worse than any of my Level 1 classes. Many times I'll start with what I think is a relatively simple 10 minute exercise, but after 20 minutes of slogging only halfway through it - I realize I have to go with the flow (or lack of flow) and try a different approach because they only understand about a quarter of what's going on. On top of that, I have to deal with perpetual tardiness, chitchatting, and apathetic students. So I take advantage of the fact that most of the students are quite sassy and like to insult each other or proclaim their own intelligence or handsomeness. Their rapport with each other makes the class a lot of fun whenever I have them write sentences, tell stories, or give them group work.

While I have become a champion at "going with the flow", sometimes "the flow" of the lesson leads down some unexpected or dangerous/uncomfortable tangents. In one class I found myself discussing Hillary Duff and asking the students if they listened to Beyoncй. In another class I was suddenly writing the words "slutty" and "promiscuous" on the board. And most awkward of all was explaining why it would be better to say, " I have a speaking problem" rather than, "I have an oral problem." Where do you do go from there? You abruptly return to the original lesson, of course.