Our creative writing class has been invited to exchange writing with a writing class in China at Qingdao University. It is a great opportunity to expand our audience as writers as well as learn about another culture.
The class we'll be exchanging with is a freshman class taught by an MSU exchange teacher, Kevin James. His mother is a good friend of mine and teaches at Parkview. Her students will be exchanging writing with Kevin's students, too. Kevin has written a letter to us (see below) explaining some of the cultural differences as well as some guidelines to follow. He and his students are grateful for this opportunity, and as he explains in his letter, this is a very challenging exercise for his students. Please read the letter and share any questions or comments you may have either in the comment box here or aloud in class.
The first two writing pieces we are going to send will be 1: a letter introducing yourself, and 2: a polished version of your Object-Inspired piece you created at the beginning of the semester. Please see the next post for more detailed instructions. Because your writing will serve as a model for Chinese students to follow, we will want to send our best efforts. We are also under some time constraints, so meeting deadlines will be imperative on this project. This should be fun!
Xie xie!
Dear Mrs. Fraser’s class,
I’m writing to thank you in advance for sharing your writing
and corresponding with my students at Qingdao University. Every semester these
students beg for the chance to encounter more authentic English in the
classroom, and by reading your work and sharing our writing with your class via
e-mail, my students truly value this project as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
Here’s a Cliff's Notes, abridged take on the students’
backgrounds: they are all freshman, twenty-seven girls and three boys, majoring
in English, and around half of them openly bemoan the fact that they have to study English. They spent their
senior year of high school preparing for and taking a college entrance exam--the
dreaded, horrible beast that is the gaokao
(gow-cow). This is a nine hour exam taken over the course of two days which
determines if they can go to college, where they can go to college, and what
they can study in college. Oh, and they only get one shot to take and pass it,
and if they don’t like the results, they can retake their senior year. (No
thanks!) So based on their results, some of them only had the option to study English
at Qingdao University; for those who had other options, their parents likely decided
studying English at Qingdao University was best for their son or daughter.
Bottom line is these students, like all students in China, don’t have much (if
any) say in what they study and where they study it, and now they’re stuck in
my English class. I think you’ll find, however, that despite the stressful
demands of the education system, they’re hungry for the opportunity to express
themselves in a creative way with native English speakers of the same age.
You should know that when they read your work, they’ll pour
over each word and really mine the text for meaning. Please be aware of the
fact that when they share their writing with you, they’ll be incredibly
sensitive to what you think of their English ability. It takes an eternity for
them to translate what they want to say, and sometimes those translations are
bizarre, sometimes nonsensical, but often times hilarious. Take pronouns, for
example. I’ve been referred to as “she” more times than I care to count because
in spoken Chinese he, she, and it are all pronounced the same as ta. It’s an understandable goof and one
that happens frequently.
Most of the translation issues are related to appropriacy,
though. For instance, several of my students say “I like playing balls” instead
of “I like playing sports” because it’s a direct translation from Chinese. It
sounds ridiculous and it’s hilarious, but we know what they mean. So heads up!
The last tidbit on the exchange project relates to internet
accessibility in China. Because of the Great Firewall, the Qingdao students
can’t access many websites, including Google, Facebook, Youtube, and other
American essentials. We also can’t access your class blog, hence the e-mail
component of the exchange. So please be aware of the limitations on our end.
On a similar note, please know that there are limitations
related to the content of what my students can publish on the internet,
including e-mail content. Should your correspondence take a political or
religious course, please redirect it. Topics related to, for example, the
political sovereignty of the South China Sea, Taiwan, Tibet, and/or Hong Kong
are not appropriate because my students could get into big-time hot water for
weighing in.
In closing, I know my students are thrilled to get going
with the correspondence and learn about you all through your writing. Sorry for
the length. Enjoy the writing. Thanks again for your hard work!
All my best,
Kevin
P.S. They chose their own English names, some of which are
silly. Like the issues with Chinglish, please try to look past it. Please e-mail
if you have questions: kevinjames@missouristate.edu
