http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2005/07/03/crazy-english/ Better than yelling at the T.V. Wed, 05 May 2010 18:48:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2005/07/03/crazy-english/comment-page-1/#comment-2115 mati Mon, 11 Sep 2006 07:51:32 +0000 http://keywords.oxus.net/?p=2236#comment-2115 having been by LY's side since 1997 and having produced all his 1999-2005 audio material, i totally agree with the "1st major self-help guru" and self-confidence quotes above; as far as the rest goes, his activity has to be understood in the local context, what most western journalists fail to do, their questions usually focused on the "how to get such massive crowds" angle, pretty irrelevant in this country... what is clearly obvious though is that LY has become the first Chinese to roam his land in such an extensive way, leaving no Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hube or Shaanxi remote countryside middle school unvisited. Far from the glossy magz interviews and 12 years on, LY still stands on shakily assembled desks in decrepit schoolyards 3 times a day, 90% of his time, when not teaching the nation's top athletes and astronauts. and yes, teaching english has become a vehicle for the much needed confidence-building aspect. The awkward shy young man portrayed in the documentary is now a far cry from the man today, but that flame of devotion and passion in his eyes burns brighter with every student he meets. whatever the talks on the subject, the main problem now is how to handle the gap between their teachers' vintage '80s chinglish and the 10-16 y.o's near-fluent english in this Channel [V] culture. So get babbling on that, all suggestions appreciated :) having been by LY’s side since 1997 and having produced all his 1999-2005 audio material, i totally agree with the “1st major self-help guru” and self-confidence quotes above; as far as the rest goes, his activity has to be understood in the local context, what most western journalists fail to do, their questions usually focused on the “how to get such massive crowds” angle, pretty irrelevant in this country… what is clearly obvious though is that LY has become the first Chinese to roam his land in such an extensive way, leaving no Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hube or Shaanxi remote countryside middle school unvisited. Far from the glossy magz interviews and 12 years on, LY still stands on shakily assembled desks in decrepit schoolyards 3 times a day, 90% of his time, when not teaching the nation’s top athletes and astronauts. and yes, teaching english has become a vehicle for the much needed confidence-building aspect. The awkward shy young man portrayed in the documentary is now a far cry from the man today, but that flame of devotion and passion in his eyes burns brighter with every student he meets. whatever the talks on the subject, the main problem now is how to handle the gap between their teachers’ vintage ’80s chinglish and the 10-16 y.o’s near-fluent english in this Channel [V] culture. So get babbling on that, all suggestions appreciated

]]> http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2005/07/03/crazy-english/comment-page-1/#comment-2114 Matt Mon, 04 Jul 2005 00:57:45 +0000 http://keywords.oxus.net/?p=2236#comment-2114 Interesting. And not the worst approach to selling English I've ever heard, either. At least once a year I find myself reminding a giggling group of teenagers that, simply in terms of numbers, Japanese women are a fair bit 'weirder' than hairy, English speaking white guys. When this sinks in I tell them that the real reason I'd like them to learn English is not for work or travel, but so a Japanese point of view can begin to be better articulated in the international arena. Appealing to cultural chauvinism is an excellent way to build interest, at least among some of my students. By no means all, of course. Interesting. And not the worst approach to selling English I’ve ever heard, either. At least once a year I find myself reminding a giggling group of teenagers that, simply in terms of numbers, Japanese women are a fair bit ‘weirder’ than hairy, English speaking white guys. When this sinks in I tell them that the real reason I’d like them to learn English is not for work or travel, but so a Japanese point of view can begin to be better articulated in the international arena. Appealing to cultural chauvinism is an excellent way to build interest, at least among some of my students. By no means all, of course.

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