VincentN.

-Final goodbye to Karen, one of my tutorees!

English is something we definitely don’t appreciate in the states. We grow up around it so everything comes naturally to us, grammar, vocabulary, slang. On the other hand, people like Karen, study between working overtime shifts to get in as much English as possible. One thing I loved about teaching English was that they had passion to learn. They gawk over English movies and see America as this dreamland. She knows there’s no chance she’ll be visiting America anytime soon but she still loves practicing and learning the language!

I also realized how much my Chinese has improved when I’m teaching English in Chinese! The fact that I can now think in Chinese and translate English stories into Chinese for her surprises me.

This experience overall is one that I’ve definitely learned a lot from. According to my teacher, 200rmb/hr is supposedly cheap! I honestly enjoyed it way too much to be earning money for it, it’s been a great experience getting to know them one on one. It’s also shown me that teaching has really become a passion of mine. I never expected that but something about passing down knowledge amazes me. I definitely see the worth in it. There’s been an English program organized through Disney China that I’ve been eyeing for quite a while, maybe I’ll be back for that one day…