Students Teach English in Rural China
By Professor Miguel Llora, Department of Asia Pacific Studies
There were little thatched houses along the road. Their structures were made of clay and the roofs were wooden. They were run-down to say the least. But the horizon was beautiful - sprawling green hills, cascading waterfalls, clear blue skies and popping white clouds.
I had reached the peace of Shangri-La County - a developing region in rural China - with my American partner Hoi-Yee "Hydie" Cheung, a psychology major from UC San Diego.
"We were finally here, at the roof of the world - the paradise in many people's dreams," Cheung said. "Yet when we finally got off (the bus) at the center of the town, I felt a little cheated. They had such nice urban environment. I was personally more intrigued by the rural life."
Cheung was a last-minute inclusion to a group of 18 San Diego State students and two faculty members, myself included, who participated in a three-week trip to China. The Summer Service Learning Program in China is designed to connect American students with Chinese students from Tsinghua University.
In the three weeks, the two groups lived and worked side-by-side, teaching English to people from the poorest regions of China. This forum also allowed the students to get better acquainted with each other's cultures.
This is the second year that SDSU has participated in this program. The program is still in its infancy and is not without its challenges.
Participants such as Cheung said that the experience was special, but she still has critiques to improve the program for future groups.
"It revealed China more to me as a culture and a country of many different people," Cheung said. "I certainly have a better understanding of my roots now than before. Though there were parts that I wish people were more organized and prepared."
In its second year with American student involvement, the group traveled from Beijing to selected rural, impoverished counties to teach English to local students, teachers and/or party officials.
Yue-Wen Liu, an undeclared sophomore at SDSU, said that students in America view going to college as a process, but the students in rural China view college as a dream.
"This summer journey opened up my eyes to the world of poverty," Liu said. "What's essential to some of us could be a dream to some of them."
Another SDSU student, pre-international business sophomore Ariel Crispin also said that the SSLP program showed her a new way of life.
"The SSLP was truly fascinating," Crispin said. "China is an astonishing place that is indescribable and breathtaking."
For most of the American participants, this is not only their first time in China, it's also their first time out of the country. Most participants have said that the SSLP was a life-altering experience. And the situation was no different for their Chinese counterparts.
However, the group that was selected to tackle the education requirements of Shangri-La had the magical setting to serve as a distraction. As a team, it was difficult to both plan a cohesive educational program and effectively deliver it. The county, formerly called Zhongdian, was renamed Shangri-La in 1997, giving it the flair of a place more exotic and mystical than the rest.
On top of the culture shock, the language barrier proved to be difficult. Although communication between the American and Tsinghua students was a challenge, the various dialects of the local sites posed another complexity for the Tsinghua students.
Like most experiences, you take the good with the bad, and most SDSU students would not hesitate to go back to China. Americans who participated in this program hold that it's all about the service.
When asked by a student what she could do to improve her English language skills, the response was always the same: increased communication with native language speakers. For as much as she was curious about us, we were just as curious about her. She handed me a Chinese copy of Confucius' Analects, the standard reading for all Chinese students at the high school level.
Swallowing hard at the lump starting to form in my throat, I began to wonder for future students who participate in this program: Who is the teacher and who is the student?
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