13 years in China / 在中国的 13 年

欢迎收听我们的同样讲播客,我是柯珍。今天呢,Gigi不在,但是我们有一个嘉宾。你好,你好,David。你好,你好。欢迎来到我们播客。谢谢。那David呢,他是一个英国人,他生活过在中国很多年。
是的,很长时间,十三年。
十三年,哇塞,挺好的。那David,你给我们介绍一下你是谁。
So my name is David. 之前我住在中国十三年,在昆明,西南的中国,在云南省,昆明市。
我一边教英语,一边学中文。
So a little English, a little Chinese.
And it’s really nice to hear how you’re mixing up China and England,
because you’re sort of between the two places, aren’t you?
Yeah, often I have students who say this or, oh, your English is so good.
No, no, no, your Chinese is so good.
Yeah.
Where do you feel more at home?
Now, I think it’s a mix.
It’s really hard, actually, because there’s some parts that I’m used to being in China and there’s some parts that I’m used to being in England.
Like, for example, I live in Kunming before, which is famous for having pleasant weather all year.
So actually, for weather wise, it’s very comfortable to be in Kunming.
Yeah.
But for other parts, I think England is more comfortable.
Even food. For years, I’ve been in China and I love Chinese food.
But I just like the food here in England.
Is that because you’ve grown up here and you’re used to like roast dinners and beans on toast and things like that?
Yes, exactly. These are all the comfort foods.
I still really enjoy like things in China, 拉面, 火锅, 饺子. I 特别喜欢吃饺子。
我也是, 我也是, 好吃。
Oh, brilliant. So you were initially teaching English in China, or you were actually teaching
English in China all the time, right? Yes, all the time I was there, I was teaching
English at different training schools. Okay, and that’s 部席? 培训. 培训学校应该是。 培训机构。 Industry, yeah, the 培训 structure.
Yeah. How did you find that? How was that?
I really enjoy it, actually, because we would teach on the evenings and weekends.
So that often meant you have the mornings to yourself.
So I have a morning person, so I would enjoy having the mornings.
And then we would be teaching at the weekends.
So then on Monday and Tuesday, we would have time off.
And China is meant to have the largest population. Maybe it’s behind India now. I’m not sure.
I think so. Yeah.
But I never really felt that because my weekend was Monday and Tuesday when everyone was at work. So actually, that was that was a nice structure to teach to.
Oh, that’s actually that sounds brilliant because you won’t have that.
Yeah, exactly.
So did you do a lot of traveling then while you lived there?
Or did you mainly stay in Kunming?
Quite a bit of traveling.
There’s all these famous places.
Even in Yunnan, there’s Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, Shangri-La.
These places are all quite fun.
And now it’s very convenient to take the high-speed train.
You can go anywhere you want.
Okay.
So what was teaching English like then?
Were your students well behaved?
I think sometimes people talk about what’s their superpower.
And for me, I think my superpower is interacting with children.
Like I think that I am a little bit better than I am at other things.
So that’s the most enjoyable part of it for me, because I think it’s easy to make kids laugh.
Like whatever you say, they’re going to laugh.
And that’s really nice.
you know, to have that environment, like positivity and laughter.
I can imagine what that would be like for our listeners.
David came into my, one of my classes and shared his experience of teaching English in China.
And some of the examples he was giving were really, really positive and really nice, right?
So you talked about your big nose.
That was something that students were obsessed with.
Yeah, to give them ideas, like examples like this in class, then, you know, they’ll find it really fun to,
I think that probably among Chinese culture, it’s not so usual to make jokes with a teacher in this way.
So for them, they just thought, oh, this is really fun.
We don’t normally do this.
So what’s the difference between the teaching styles then in China and in Britain?
I mean, you’ve experienced both.
Yes. I remember seeing a BBC documentary where they had the Chinese teachers come to the UK and teach in Chinese style and the English teachers would teach in English style.
And that really resonated with me because I could definitely see exactly how it happens the same in my life.
So what you see in Chinese classrooms is a lot of rote learning, typically like following the teacher and what they’re saying.
And they have more controlled examples where students have to answer questions, but in a controlled context, not in an open context.
And for example, like creative writing or writing a letter or even things like in an ESL context.
of like writing a postcard that wouldn’t happen necessarily in a Chinese learning environment
a lot of the time whereas in an English learning environment I feel like there are a lot more
creative options yeah so you brought that English learning environment to China in a way through
teaching your classes in a more relaxed way yeah sometimes I think it was more the having a more
relaxed and fun environment was like less common for them and that’s that’s more of what I brought
do you think which which type do you think works better are they equally i think that’s the thing
when the way that i’ve described it makes it sound like the chinese system wouldn’t work at all
but actually it totally does work yeah what you see is they put in large numbers of hours into
their studies and there’s this whole 10 000 hours thing of deliberate practice and actually if you
put the time into anything then you do see results and often i think i saw that with the
the language learners that I taught because I taught in classrooms where the parents would
come to class with students and they’d make notes at the back and then they would review at home
every night with the students so they wouldn’t just have an hour of class a week with me they’d
have all of that time reviewing with their parents and then when they come into class it was just so
easy for them oh wow and we know that that’s the best way of learning right as to learning class
but the actual learning then happens outside of class.
The classroom can only just be sort of the first trigger.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
So did the parents learn any English then?
Yes, actually, I would always try to like bring them into the class.
You know, you ask students like, oh, what’s your mum’s favourite colour?
And then, you know, we go and check with the mum, is it true or not?
And you’d be like, ah, you don’t know your mum’s favourite colour.
This is going to be a problem for you and things like this.
So in a friendly way, so that they would enjoy learning it.
Oh, that’s excellent. Yeah. And the parents would have liked that, right?
They did like it, but a lot of them were very shy. They actually weren’t very willing to speak much.
So often you kind of have to be gentle with them because it’s different when you’ve got your kid there as well.
Oh, my child is speaking better English than I am. So they’re not very willing to try.
Yeah. And then in front of the other parents.
Oh, yes, for sure. Yes. Yeah.
So that was teaching English in China.
And obviously there are lots of different teaching styles in Britain as well.
But for a Chinese student to come to Britain,
来到英国留学,然后在大学学习呢,我们的学法完全不一样。
是的,然后可能他们不习惯了。
所以第一个是可能是人口音。
每个人的口音都有点不一样
然后有一些人的口音可能很重
所以学生可能不习惯
因为在中国会强调老师有很正常的口音
可能是美式口音
他们不习惯人有
比如说在英国苏格兰的
苏格兰的口音完全不一样
不可能
不可能
这是很难懂的
So they need some time to adapt.
What can they do?
What can they do?
I think you have to listen.
You have to listen to language as much as you can.
It’s all about the time you put in, I think.
If they’ve got a chance to listen to podcasts and other things like this, this is really good.
I think that’s a great idea, yeah.
Active listening as well.
This is a difficult thing to do by yourself.
But when you have to answer questions, for example, on what you’ve heard, then that’s great.
One important thing for Chinese students is for learning a language, you don’t have to understand 100% of what’s said to you.
If you’re getting like 80 to 90%, actually, that’s already really good.
And you can probably answer questions then from that.
Yeah.
Yeah. And it’s very interesting because I’ve learned a lot of languages and you’ve obviously also learned Chinese and we’ll talk about that in a bit.
But when you learn a language, there is this phase where you speak the language relatively well, but there’s still so much that you don’t understand.
But your brain sort of fills in the gaps and sort of, I don’t know, it’s like cotton wool, isn’t it?
It’s like there’s this tiny little cloud around that word that you don’t understand.
And you’re sort of imagining what it could be.
And sometimes your imagination runs wild.
So you imagine something very, very different from what it really is.
I remember one.
Actually, I didn’t know the meaning, but I didn’t know the meaning.
But there was a bus crash and I was on the top level of the bus.
And I could hear someone speaking in Chinese.
面包车这样子,然后面包车那样子,然后面包车这样子.
And I didn’t know what 面包车 meant.
I only knew that 面包 was bread.
Yeah.
So I thought, oh, is there bread all around,
like on the ground outside or what’s going on?
But actually 面包车 is a kind of a van.
Yeah.
So there’s things like this where you’re like, huh?
And you might miss a beat like I did.
And sometimes it’s funny.
You get good stories.
面包车就是好故事。
如果就是有一些这样的发生,
你可以跟其他人讲。
买面包的车。
Yeah.
可以就是开玩笑说的。
But yeah, sometimes it might be embarrassing or heavy,
but afterwards you then remember that forever.
Exactly.
And this is what we’re stressing.
You know, 犯错是正常的,是需要的。
学习一门语言,你就必须犯错。
Yeah, 必须。
这就是学习的一个过程。
Yeah. And then you learn. But it’s embarrassing. But at the same time, if you laugh about it, like you said, it’s probably the best way, isn’t it?
Oh, for sure. You’ve got more experience of this than me because you’ve got so many languages.
Yeah, but you sort of, you know, it’s a process every time you think, oh, now I’ve learned a few languages. Now I’ll be OK. But no.
then you learn a new language and you start again oh yeah but it’s very normal when you
move to another country to uh to have that situation isn’t it where you feel that you
don’t understand everything but you can probably be okay not understanding everything yeah absolutely
that’s very very normal so let’s talk about you learning chinese because you learn chinese in
China. How did you learn it? Okay, so I started out with a language learning app just to get the
basic characters down like 100 or 200 characters and maybe 300 words. Usually a word is two
characters. After having like established those, I went on to Chinese readers. So I would just read
basic reader with my Chinese teacher continuously until they became more and more fluid. And there
are loads of great readers out there, especially now. They have lots of graded readers from very
basic up to very advanced. Did he use an app or did he use a book? He used a book at the time,
right? So yeah, after like getting those basic characters down and words down, I switched to
books. Recently, I’m reading Shi Wang Weishima, which is a famous series of questions and answers.
And it’s really a lovely series, very straightforward to read.
And the level is for maybe for like middle school or high school students to read about physics and chemistry and biology and these kind of topics.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s brilliant. Yeah. And especially if you’re interested in the topic, right?
Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that also is really important for language learners.
I’ve had students before who their parents have watched like Downton Abbey and then they’re like, I want my daughter to talk like this person.
OK, we’ll try. And the technique that is encouraged for that is shadow reading.
I don’t know. Shadowing. Yeah. Yeah. Shadowing. And I do the same for Chinese.
so I would read text at the same time as my teacher and yeah see how that helped and I think
it did help you’re doing it actually with your teacher rather than the recording yeah rather
than recording with my teacher yes oh that’s interesting so shadowing is usually you have a
text usually a relatively short text a recording of maybe a minute sometimes shorter sometimes longer
and you would listen to that a few times until you know it pretty much inside out you know it well
and then you speak alongside the recording and you try to totally replicate the recording.
Absolutely. That’s the technique. And with a teacher, then instead of you’re doing it with
a recording, you’re doing it with a live person who’s speaking at the same time. And so you might
be sharing a book that you both try and read from at the same time or something. But familiarity
with text is very important and i found this to be the best way for developing like good
pronunciation in chinese and for learning english it’s the same obviously in english we don’t have
tones but we have intonation so for learning chinese tones i think it’s even more crucial
but for a chinese student coming to britain and learning to speak like in downton abbey if this
is what you want you can try to do shadowing with uh absolutely with Downton Abbey and learn it off
and although I think that nowadays I don’t think it’s terribly important I mean Chinese parents
definitely will emphasize having a some standard accent but actually in the UK people are not really
that concerned about it. Not anymore. It changed, didn’t it? In the 1950s, 1960s, it was all
standard BBC and then you were posh. You were important. And if you spoke with a local accent,
you were from that area or working class. And it’s changed in the media, on television,
on radio. It has changed a lot. Yeah. When I first moved to the UK about 20,
five years or so ago I moved to Manchester or Manchester as I would call it and lived there
for five years or so my partner was from Manchester so I spoke Mancunian every day and I learned a lot
of Mancunian expressions Mancunian is just a dialect from Manchester that’s what you call
Manchester English but I learned a lot of northern expressions and when I then moved to Bristol
it was really strange because some of those expressions were northern they were special to
that area and not everybody would understand or people would say i had a strange accent because i
was speaking i was still speaking with a german accent but i had you know some of those mancunian
expressions in there and sometimes i still have them oh really yes yeah not not that often anymore
when you visit manchester do they come in very rarely but yeah it’s a sometimes it’s just i slip
back into them yeah i mean i’m from uh southwest and sometimes there’s a natural tendency to
imitate people’s accents yes and i sometimes do that as well i go more west country and i
yeah have a kind of farmer accent if you speak with a southwest accent even bristol accent
yeah the same but you know further i was in the countryside even worse so you are perceived to
be a farmer you’re you know you’re perceived to be maybe a bit stupid yeah they definitely carry
some stereotypes sometimes don’t they and it’s i guess it’s still an issue here but less luckily
less and less so especially like you said with the regional news programs showing like people
with accents coming on there i mean that’s really positive work yeah it’s weird being in china for a
long time as well you’re in a kind of mixed you’re in an international group so actually your word
use changes things like eggplant for example rather than aubergine yeah because the american
speakers will definitely use all this vocabulary sets and you see it every day in the words that
you teach like zucchini as well courgette and things like this yeah so did you have like set
teaching books you were teaching from and they would use american words yeah absolutely and a
few years ago they all changed because in recent years the curriculums in china have all changed
so yeah and typically they go for american words yeah yeah i think that’s very normal that’s what
we learned in germany even though our textbook was set in england but the the english words
it was potentially just because of the cultural influences i was into british music so i learned
a lot of British words, but the English we all learned at school was American.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
So for students from China who come to Britain, that may be a bit of a surprise, right?
Yeah, absolutely. And well, sometimes they have a kind of mix. I always think of this word,
the word water, and in an American pronunciation would use like a D, I guess.
Water.
Yeah. And, but obviously with British pronunciation, the A is like war, like even like the Chinese war, whereas Chinese students seem to mix it up.
So they wouldn’t use this D and they wouldn’t use this like, or like sound, but they would have like a mix of like T and American A, which I can’t think how it sounds like now.
Oh, yes, I see.
Yeah, it’s really difficult to know how to pronounce it,
which way is okay and which one isn’t.
You hear lots of different versions.
And then in Britain, obviously, some people don’t say the T or the D at all.
They just say wah.
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
Right?
It’s true, yeah.
So for a Chinese student coming to Britain hearing wah.
Wah, what’s that?
But then, I don’t know, is it often do the Chinese students tend to, like,
grouped together? Is that what happens here? Many of my students from different parts of the world
hang out with students from that part of the world. And I was an exchange student myself in
Denmark and I found other people like me, not just Germans, there were others, but you know,
I had a quite an international friendship group in Denmark. And I think it’s very normal. I see
that here as well some students integrate really well some students are very open and very keen to
find friends and integrate very quickly so find new friends very quickly other students are much
more shy and struggle with english and don’t know how to meet new people so that very much depends
on individuals but it’s very difficult when you don’t speak the language very well you’re in a
new environment everything is new everything is overwhelming and you have to find new friends
who speak that language really well and you don’t understand what they’re saying they speak quickly
you don’t understand them okay in english we can say hang in there yeah hang in there definitely
yeah just and then eventually after a while you suddenly understand and you must have had that
experience with chinese i’ve had that experience with chinese not that long ago where i went from
watching television and understood individual sentences and individual words and all of a
sudden i understood everything and there would be one word i wouldn’t know and i would look that up
in the dictionary. But, you know, going from sort of everything is very strange to everything is
really clear other than one or two words, I don’t know. And that’s great, isn’t it?
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve definitely had that experience where it’s like, ah,
suddenly it all makes sense.
Yeah. And it’s like that. It’s really, really sudden. Yeah. It takes a while of living in
the country. I remember when I moved to England, I had written my PhD thesis in English. I’ve
written my MA thesis in English. I’ve written some research papers in English and I moved to
Britain to work here. And I often watch television not understanding everything and not understanding,
you know, lots of words and being also quite surprised by people’s accents. And, you know,
And so I watched a lot of television.
I don’t really like watching television,
but I watched a lot of television, got a lot of input.
And then obviously because I was in the country,
also a lot of output, so I was speaking all the time.
And there’s things about the culture as well.
就是文化
比如说中文经常语道人要说
你吃饭了吗
然后如果说你吃饭了吗
就是回答吃了
然后在英国
如果你跟其他人说你吃饭了吗
意思有点像
你要不要跟我一起吃饭
招手车车
但是英国人就是
你开始跟他们说
如果他们开始学中文
他们就是想知道
How are you?
How are you?
怎么说的?
They always want to know,
how do you say how are you in Chinese?
可是中国人一般来说不会说how are you,
因为这个有时候就是问其他人健不健康,
只是要问how are you.
有别的意思,对。
就是和健康有关系,
it’s not really a question you ask every day,
it’s like you don’t really know about people’s mood,
it’s usually have you eaten or not,
as a kind of general introduction.
So there’s things like that
you probably see from TV when you’ve seen it.
好奇怪的是在英国,how are you? How’s it going? 你必须说,一定会说,oh great, yeah, how are you? Yeah, all right, all right. 身体不好,你很累,但是…
对,最近有一个朋友他说I’m okay,然后我 uh-oh.
哈希克西比!
对,对。
And even 不仅是中国,
而且有其他国家也是,
进来英国的时候,
我有一个俄罗斯朋友,
还有南非朋友,
他就是跟我说,
他们来英国的时候,
问人,How are you?
我觉得,Oh, wow,
English people are so nice.
They ask you,
How are you? all the time.
They really consider it.
But actually it’s not like that.
And they’ve realized later.
我们也意识到
其实这个问题只是
我刚到英国
是一样
对我也觉得
那么那么友好的那些人
我的邻居都跟我说
你最近怎么样
挺好的挺好的
但是呢
但是
两年三年
之后才发现
这就是他们的说法
对吗
对,就是有一点点。
对,就一点点。
在德国不会,就是问?
一定不会。
现在呢,是因为文化的那个接触,就是,对。
有可能也会说,vigils。
你可以说vigils,对。
对,是也一样,但是在英国,more extreme, I’d say, yeah.
yeah but if you ask in in in england if you ask in germany have you eaten that would be weird oh yes
it’s lunchtime and you know and yeah it’s you would not ask that would you would you ask it as
a question for asking someone to to eat together have you eaten yet should we go yeah maybe you
would you would do like that but just straight out have you eaten oh yeah china is like how are you
it’s like whoa it implies you know that yeah yeah you don’t eat look at you skin and bones i know
exactly you have no money shall i buy you a sandwich yeah so obviously it can be quite scary
to be in a new environment and speak a new language but it takes it takes time and you get
there and when you get there it’s amazing isn’t it when you have that feeling of i understand i can
take part in conversations. I can be part of this new community now. Yeah, absolutely. And people in
Britain are also very forgiving when it comes to accent and not speaking English perfectly and so
on, because there are lots of different accents, lots of different people, lots of different ways
in which people don’t speak perfectly. So you never have to feel you have to speak a language
perfectly to move somewhere or live there. Absolutely. Brilliant. Well, it was really
nice to have you david oh it was really nice coming in thank you it was a shame we didn’t
have gg but unfortunately i had to teach oh no he was doing his day job well maybe next time yeah
next time next time exactly well thank you very much thanks bye
Bye-bye.

欢迎收听我们的同样讲播客，我是柯珍。 今天呢，Gigi不在，但是我们有一个嘉宾。 你好，你好，David。 你好，你好。 欢迎来到我们的播客。 谢谢。 那大卫呢，他是一个英国人，他在中国生活了很多年。
是的，很长时间，十三年。
十三年，哇塞，挺好的。 大卫，你给我们介绍一下你是谁。
所以我的名字是David。 之前我住在中国十三年，在昆明，西南的中国，在云南省，昆明市。
我一边教英语，一边学中文。
所以有一点英语，一点中文。
很高兴听到你是如何把中国和英国混为一谈的，
因为你有点介于这两个地方之间，不是吗？
是的，我经常有学生这样说，或者，哦，你的英语很好。
不，不，不，你的中文很好。
是的。
你在哪里感觉更宾至如歸？
现在，我认为这是一个混合体。
实际上，这真的很难，因为有些地方我习惯在中国，有些地方我习惯在英国。
例如，我以前住在昆明，那里以全年宜人而闻名。
所以实际上，就天气而言，在昆明非常舒适。
是的。
但就其他部分而言，我认为英格兰更舒适。
甚至食物。 多年来，我一直在中国，我喜欢中国菜。
但我就是喜欢英国这里的食物。
那是因为你在这里长大，你习惯于喜欢烤肉晚餐和吐司上的豆子之类的东西吗？
是的，没错。 这些都是舒适的食物。
我仍然非常喜欢中国的东西，拉面、火锅、饺子。 我特别喜欢吃饺子。
我也是，我也是，好吃。
哦，太棒了。 所以你最初在中国教英语，或者你实际上是在教
在中国一直都是英语，对吗？ 是的，我在那里的整个时间，我都在教书
不同培训学校的英语。 好的，那是部席吗？ 培训。 培训学校应该是。 培训机构。 工业，是的，培训结构。
是的。 你是怎么找到那个的？ 那怎么样？
事实上，我真的很喜欢它，因为我们会在晚上和周末教书。
所以这通常意味着你有自己的早晨。
所以我有一个早起的人，所以我会喜欢有早晨。
然后我们会在周末教书。
所以周一和周二，我们会休息。
而中国注定是人口最多的国家。 也许它现在落后于印度。 我不确定。
我想是的。 是的。
但我从未真正感受到过，因为我的周末是周一和周二，当时每个人都在工作。 所以实际上，这是一个很好的教学结构。
哦，这实际上听起来很棒，因为你不会拥有那个。
是的，没错。
那么，你住在那里的时候经常旅行吗？
还是你主要住在昆明？
相当多的旅行。
所有这些著名的地方都有。
即使在云南，也有大理、丽江、西双版纳、香格里拉。
这些地方都很有趣。
现在乘坐高速列车非常方便。
你可以去任何你想去的地方。
好的。
那么，当时教英语是什么样子的？
你的学生表现好吗？
我认为有时人们谈论他们的超能力是什么。
对我来说，我认为我的超能力是与孩子们互动。
就像我认为我在其他事情上比我好一点。
所以对我来说，这是最令人愉快的部分，因为我觉得让孩子们笑起来很容易。
就像你说什么，他们都会笑的。
那真的很好。
你知道，拥有那种环境，比如积极和欢笑。
我可以想象那对我们的听众来说会是什么样子。
大卫来到我的一个班级，分享了他在中国教英语的经验。
他举的一些例子真的非常积极，真的很好，对吗？
所以你谈到了你的大鼻子。
那是学生们痴迷的东西。
是的，给他们一些想法，比如在课堂上这样的例子，然后，你知道，他们会发现这真的很有趣，
我认为在中国文化中，以这种方式和老师开玩笑并不常见。
所以对他们来说，他们只是觉得，哦，这真的很有趣。
我们通常不这样做。
那么，中国和英国的教学风格有什么区别呢？
我的意思是，你两者都经历过。
是的。 我记得看过英国广播公司的一部纪录片，他们让中国教师来英国，用中国风格教学，英语教师用英语风格教学。
这真的引起了我的共鸣，因为我绝对可以看到它在我的生活中是如何发生的。
因此，你在中文教室里看到的是很多背背的学习，通常就像跟随老师和他们说的话一样。
他们有更多的受控例子，学生必须回答问题，但在受控的语境中，而不是在开放的语境中。
例如，像创意写作或写信，甚至像ESL上下文中的东西。
就像写一张明信片一样，这不一定发生在汉语学习环境中
很多时候，而在英语学习环境中，我觉得还有很多
创造性的选择，是的，所以你以一种方式将英语学习环境带到中国
以更轻松的方式教授你的课程，是的，有时我认为这更像是一个
轻松有趣的环境对他们来说不太常见，这就是我带来的更多
你认为哪种类型更有效吗？我认为这就是问题所在
当我描述的方式听起来好像中国系统根本不起作用时
但实际上，它完全有效，是的，你看到的是，他们投入了大量时间
他们的学习，还有整整10000个小时的刻意练习，实际上如果你
把时间投入到任何事情上，然后你确实看到了结果，我经常认为我看到了
我教的语言学习者，因为我在家长会的教室里教书
和学生一起来上课，他们会在后面做笔记，然后在家里复习
每天晚上和学生们在一起，这样他们就不会每周只和我上一个小时的课，他们会
和他们的父母一起复习，然后当他们来上课时，就是这样
对他们来说很容易，哦，哇，我们知道这是最好的学习方式，就像学习课堂一样
但实际学习发生在课堂之外。
教室只能是第一个触发器。
绝对的。 绝对的。
那么，父母那时学过英语吗？
是的，实际上，我总是试着让他们来上课。
你知道，你问学生，哦，你妈妈最喜欢的颜色是什么？
然后，你知道的，我们去和妈妈核实一下，这是不是真的？
你会说，啊，你不知道你妈妈最喜欢的颜色。
这对你来说和类似的事情都会是个问题。
所以以一种友好的方式，这样他们就会喜欢学习它。
哦，那太好了。 是的。 父母会喜欢的，对吗？
他们确实喜欢它，但他们中的许多人非常害羞。 他们实际上不太愿意说太多。
很多时候，你必须对他们温柔，因为当你的孩子在那里时，也有所不同。
哦，我的孩子英语说得比我好。 所以他们不太愿意尝试。
是的。 然后在其他父母面前。
哦，是的，当然。 是的。 是的。
所以这就是在中国教英语。
显然，英国也有很多不同的教学风格。
但对于一个中国学生来英国来说，
来英国留学，然后在大学学习，我们的学法完全不同。
是的，然后可能他们不习惯了。
所以第一个可能是人口音。
每个人的口音都有点不一样
然后，有人的口音可能很重
所以学生可能不习惯
因为在中国会强调老师有很正常的口音
可能是美式口音
他们不习惯人有
例如，在英国苏格兰的
苏格兰的口音完全不同
不可能
不可能
这是很难理懂的
所以他们需要一些时间来适应。
他们能做什么？
他们能做什么？
我认为你必须倾听。
你必须尽可能多地听语言。
我认为，这都是关于你投入的时间。
如果他们有机会听播客和其他类似的东西，那真的很好。
我认为这是个好主意，是的。
也积极倾听。
这是一件很难自己做的事情。
但当你必须回答问题时，例如，关于你听到的内容，那就太好了。
对中国学生来说，一件重要的事情是学习一门语言，你不必100%理解对你说的话。
如果你得到了80%到90%，实际上，那已经非常好了。
然后你可能会从中回答问题。
是的。
是的。 这非常有趣，因为我学了很多语言，你显然也学了中文，我们稍后再谈。
但是当你学习一门语言时，在这个阶段，你会说得比较好，但仍有很多东西你不懂。
但你的大脑有点填补了空白，我不知道，这就像棉絮，不是吗？
就像那个单词周围有一朵你听不懂的小云。
你有点在想象它可能是什么。
有时你的想象力会变得疯狂。
所以你想象着与真实事物截然不同的东西。
我记得一个。
事实上，我不知道这个意思，但我不知道这个意思。
但发生了一起公共汽车事故，我当时在公共汽车的顶层。
我能听到有人在用中文说话。
面包车这样，然后是面包车那样，然后是面包车。
我不知道面包车是什么意思。
我只知道面包就是面包。
是的。
所以我想，哦，周围有面包吗，
就像在外面的地面上，或者发生了什么？
但事实上，面包车是一种面包车。
是的。
所以有这样的事情，你喜欢，是吗？
你可能会像我一样错过一个节拍。
有时候这很有趣。
你得到了好故事。
面包车就是好故事。
如果发生这样的事情，
你可以和其他人讲。
买面包的车。
是的。
可以就是开玩笑说的。
但是，是的，有时它可能很尴尬或很沉重，
但之后你会永远记住它。
没错。
这就是我们正在强调的。
你知道，犯错是正常的，是需要的。
学习一门语言，你一定要犯错。
是的，必须。
这就是学习的一个过程。
是的。 然后你学习。 但这很尴尬。 但与此同时，如果你嘲笑它，就像你说的，这可能是最好的方法，不是吗？
哦，当然。 你这方面的经验比我多，因为你有很多语言。
是的，但你有点，你知道，每次你想，哦，现在我学会了几种语言。 现在我会没事的。但是不行。
然后你学习一门新语言，然后重新开始，哦，是的，但这很正常，当你
搬到另一个国家去，呃，为了那种情况，这不是你觉得你
不理解一切，但你可能可以不理解一切，是的，绝对
这非常非常正常，所以让我们谈谈你学中文，因为你学了中文
中国。 你是怎么学会的？ 好吧，所以我从一个语言学习应用程序开始，只是为了得到
基本字符，如100或200个字符，也许还有300个单词。 通常一个词是两个词
字符。 在建立了这些之后，我继续向中国读者。 所以我只会读
和我的中文老师一起持续阅读基础，直到他们变得越来越流畅。 并且那里
外面有很多伟大的读者，尤其是现在。 他们有很多分级的读者，来自
基础到非常高级。 他用的是应用程序还是书？ 他当时用了一本书，
对吧？ 所以，是的，在把那些基本字符和单词写下来后，我切换到了
书籍。 最近，我正在读Shi Wang Weishima，这是一个著名的问答系列。
这真的是一个可爱的系列，读起來非常简单。
这个级别可能适合初中生或高中生阅读物理、化学和生物学以及此类主题。
哦，是的。 是的，那太棒了。 是的。 特别是如果你对这个话题感兴趣，对吗？
是的，当然。 对于语言学习者来说，这也是一件非常重要的事情。
我以前有学生，他们的父母看过《唐顿庄园》，然后他们就像，我想让我女儿像这个人一样说话。
好的，我们会试试的。 鼓励的技术是影子阅读。
我不知道。 阴影。 是的。 是的。 阴影。 我对中国人也做同样的事。
所以我会和老师同时阅读课文，是的，看看这有什么帮助，我想
它确实帮助你和老师一起做，而不是录音，是的，相反
比起和我的老师一起录音，是的，哦，这很有趣，所以观摩通常是你有一个
文本通常是一个相对较短的文本，可能是一分钟的录音，有时更短，有时更长
你会听几遍，直到你几乎从里到外了解它，你很清楚它
然后你与录音一起说话，并尝试完全复制录音。
绝对的。 这就是技术。 和老师一起，而不是你一起做
录音，你正在和一个同时发言的现场人一起做。 所以你可能会
分享一本你们俩同时尝试阅读的书或其他东西。 但熟悉程度
文本非常重要，我发现这是发展良好的最佳方式
中文的发音和学习英语的发音显然在英语中是一样的，我们没有
音调，但我们有语调，所以对于学习中文音调，我认为这更加重要
但对于一个来英国并学习像在downton修道院一样说话的中国学生来说，如果这个
是你想要的，你可以试着和Downton Abbey一起做影子，然后学习
虽然我认为现在我不认为这很重要，我指的是中国父母
肯定会强调有一些标准的口音，但实际上在英国，人们并不是真的
担心它。 不再是了。 它变了，不是吗？ 在20世纪50年代、60年代，这一切都
标准的BBC，然后你很豪华。 你很重要。 如果你用当地口音说话，
你来自那个地区或工人阶级。 它在媒体、电视上都发生了变化，
在广播中。 它发生了很大的变化。 是的。 当我第一次搬到英国时，大约20岁，
大约五年前，我搬到了曼彻斯特，或者我称之为曼彻斯特，并住在那里
五年来，我的搭档来自曼彻斯特，所以我每天都说曼库尼亚语，我学到了很多
曼库尼亚语的表达方式，曼库尼亚语只是曼彻斯特的一种方言，这就是你所说的
曼彻斯特英语，但我学了很多北方的表达方式，当我搬到布里斯托尔时
这真的很奇怪，因为其中一些表达方式是北方的，它们很特别
那个领域，不是每个人都会理解，或者人们会说我的口音很奇怪，因为我
在说话，我仍然用德国口音说话，但我让你知道一些曼库尼亚人
那里有表情，有时我仍然有它们，哦，真的，是的，是的，不再那么频繁了
当你访问曼彻斯特时，他们很少来，但是是的，有时只是我滑倒了
回到他们身边，是的，我的意思是，我来自西南，有时有一种自然的倾向
模仿人们的口音，是的，我有时也这样做，我更多地去西部国家，我
是的，如果你有一种农民口音，如果你用西南口音说话，甚至是布里斯托尔口音
是的，也一样，但你更清楚，我在乡下更糟糕，所以你被认为
作为一个农民，你知道你可能被认为有点愚蠢，是的，他们肯定有
一些刻板印象有时不是，我想这仍然是一个问题，但运气不好
越来越少，特别是就像你说的，区域新闻节目像人们一样
那里有口音，我的意思是那真的是积极的工作，是的，在中国很奇怪
很长一段时间，你也处于一种混合体中，你在一个国际团体中，所以实际上你的话
例如，使用茄子而不是茄子，是的，因为美国人
演讲者肯定会使用所有这些词汇集，你每天都在单词中看到它
你教西葫芦和西葫芦之类的东西，是的，所以你有套装吗
教书，你教书，他们会使用美国单词，是的，绝对和一个
几年前，它们都发生了变化，因为近年来，中国的课程都发生了变化
所以，是的，他们通常使用美国单词，是的，是的，我认为这很正常，这就是
我们在德国学习，尽管我们的教科书以英国为背景，但英语单词
这可能只是因为文化影响，我喜欢英国音乐，所以我学会了
有很多英国单词，但我们在学校学到的英语都是美式的。
哦，真的吗？
是的。
因此，对于来英国的中国学生来说，这可能有点意外，对吗？
是的，当然。 嗯，有时他们有一种混合。 我总是想起这个词，
我猜想，水这个词在美国发音中会像D一样使用。
水。
是的。 而且，但显然，在英国的发音中，A就像战争，甚至像中国的战争，而中国学生似乎把它搞混了。
所以他们不会使用这个D，他们也不会使用这个喜欢或喜欢的声音，但他们会喜欢像T和美国A的混合体，我想不出现在听起来怎么样。
哦，是的，我明白了。
是的，真的很难知道如何发音，
哪一种方式可以，哪种方式不好。
你听到了很多不同的版本。
显然，在英国，有些人根本不说T或D。
他们只是说哇。
哦，是的。
是的。
对吧？
这是真的，是的。
因此，对于一个来英国的中国学生来说，听到哇。
哇，那是什么？
但是，我不知道，中国学生是否经常倾向于，比如，
分组在一起？ 这就是这里发生的事情吗？ 我的许多学生来自世界各地
和来自世界那个地方的学生一起玩。 我自己也是一名交换生
丹麦和我找到了其他像我一样的人，不仅仅是德国人，还有其他人，但你知道，
我在丹麦有一个相当的国际友好团体。 我认为这很正常。 我知道了
在这里，一些学生融合得很好，一些学生非常开放，非常热衷于
很快找到朋友并融入社会，所以很快找到新朋友，其他学生很多
更害羞，在英语方面挣扎，不知道如何认识新朋友，所以这在很大程度上取决于
就个人而言，但当你语言说得不是很好时，这非常困难，你处于一个
新的环境，一切都是新的，一切都是压倒性的，你必须找到新朋友
谁把那种语言说得很好，而你不明白他们在说什么，他们说得很快
你不懂他们，好吧，用英语，我们可以说坚持住，是的，坚持住，绝对
是的，最后一段时间后，你突然明白了，你一定有那个
中文经验，我不久前有过中文经验，我来自哪里
看电视，理解个别句子和个别单词以及所有
突然间，我明白了一切，有一个单词我不知道，我会查一下
在字典里。 但是，你知道，从一切都很奇怪到一切都是
除了一两个词，真的很清楚，我不知道。 那很棒，不是吗？
是的，当然。 我肯定有过这样的经历，就像，啊，
突然间，一切都变得有意义了。
是的。 就是这样。 这真的非常非常突然。 是的。 生活需要一段时间
这个国家。 我记得当我搬到英国时，我用英语写了博士论文。 我有
用英语写了我的硕士论文。 我用英语写了一些研究论文，然后我搬到了
英国在这里工作。 我经常看电视，不理解一切，也不理解，
你知道，有很多词，对人们的口音也相当惊讶。 而且，你知道的，
所以我看了很多电视。
我不太喜欢看电视，
但我看了很多电视，得到了很多意见。
然后很明显，因为我在乡下，
也有很多产出，所以我一直在说话。
也有关于文化的东西。
就是文化
例如，说中文经常说道人要说
你吃饭了吗
然后如果说你吃饭了吗
就是回答吃了
然后在英国
如果你跟其他人说你吃饭了吗
意思有点像
要不要跟我一起吃饭
招手车
但是英国人就是
你开始跟他们说
如果他们开始学中文
他们就是想知道
你好吗？
你好吗？
怎么说的？
他们总是想知道，
你用中文怎么说“你好”？
但是中国人一般不会说你怎么样，
因为有时候就是问其他人健康不健康，
只是要问你好吗。
有别的意思，对。
就是和健康有关系，
这不是你每天问的问题，
就像你真的不了解人们的心情一样，
通常你吃不吃，
作为一种一般性的介绍。
所以有类似的东西
当你看到它时，你可能会从电视上看到。
好奇怪的是在英国，你好吗？ 进展如何？ 你必须说，一定会说，哦，太好了，是的，你好吗？ 是的，好吧，好吧。 身体不好，你很累，但是……
对，最近有一个朋友说我很好，然后我呃-哦。
哈希克西比！
对，对。
甚至不仅仅是中国，
而且有其他国家也是，
进来英国的时候，
我有一个俄罗斯朋友，
还有南非朋友，
他就是跟我说，
他们来英国的时候，
问人，你好吗？
我觉得，哦，哇，
英国人真好。
他们问你，
你好吗？ 一直。
他们真的考虑了它。
但实际上不是这样的。
他们后来才意识到。
我们也意识到
而，这个问题只是
我刚到英国
一样
我也觉得
那么那么友好的人
我的邻居都跟我说
你最近怎么样
挺好的，挺好的
但是呢
但是
两年三年
之后才发现
这就是他们的说法
是吗
是的，就是一点点。
对，就一点点。
在德国不会，就是问吗？
一定不会。
现在呢，因为文化的那个接触，就是，对。
也有可能说，守夜。
你可以说守夜，对。
对，是也一样，但在英国，更极端，我会说，是的。
是的，但如果你问英国，如果你问德国，你吃过吗，那就很奇怪了，哦，是的
是午餐时间，你知道的，是的，你不会问那个，你会问吗
一个邀请某人一起吃饭的问题，你吃过了吗，我们应该去吗？是的，也许你
你会那样做吗，但直接说，你吃过了吗，哦，是的，中国就像你怎么样
就像哇，这意味着你知道，是的，是的，你不吃东西，看看你的皮肤和骨头，我知道
没错，你没有钱，我可以给你买一个三明治吗？是的，很明显，这很吓人
处于一个新的环境中，说一种新的语言，但这需要时间，你得到
在那里，当你到达那里时，这很神奇，不是吗？当你有那种感觉时，我明白，我可以
参与对话。 我现在可以成为这个新社区的一员了。 是的，当然。 和人们在
英国在口音方面也非常宽容，英语说得不完美，所以
继续，因为有很多不同的口音，很多不同的人，很多不同的方式
在其中，人们说话并不完美。 所以你永远不必觉得你必须说一门语言
非常适合搬到某个地方或住在那里。 绝对的。 辉煌。 嗯，这真的是
很高兴有你，大卫，哦，进来真的很高兴，谢谢你，很遗憾我们没有
有gg，但不幸的是，我不得不教，哦，不，他白天的工作做得很好，也许下次吧，是的
下次，下次，很好，非常感谢，谢谢，再见
再见。

WEBVTT
Welcome to listen to our podcast of Chicken and Duck Talk. I’m Ke Jian. Today, Gigi is not here, but we have a guest. Hello, hello, David. Hello, hello. Welcome to our podcast. Thank you. What about David? He is an Englishman who has lived in China for many years.
Yes, for a long time, thirteen years.
Oh, thirteen years, wow, that’s good. Then David, please tell us who you are.
So my name is David
I lived in China for 13 years.
China in the southwest of Kunming
In Kunming City, Yunnan Province
I teach English while learning Chinese.
So a little English and a little Chinese
And after that, I came back to England.
And it’s really nice to hear
How are you mixing up China and England
Because you’re sort of between the two places aren’t you
I often hear students say: Your English is very good, no, your Chinese is very good!
How do you feel at home now?
Now I think it’s mixed, but it’s actually difficult, because in some places I often in China, and in some places I often in England.
For example, I used to live in Kunming, which is the most comfortable weather of the year. Therefore, Kunming is very comfortable in terms of weather. But in other places, I think England is more comfortable. Even food. I have been in China for many years. I like Chinese food, but I only like British food.
Is that because you’ve grown up here
And you’re used to like roast dinners
And beans on toast and things like that?
Yes, exactly.
These are all the comfort foods.
I still really enjoy like things in China
Ramen, hot pot, these dumplings
I like dumplings very much.
I eat it too, so do I. It’s delicious.
Oh, brilliant.
So you were initially teaching English in China
Oh, you were actually teaching English in China all the time, right?
Yes, all the time I was there, I was teaching English at different training schools.
Okay, and that’s the ministry?
Training, training school should be.
Ah, good.
Training institutions.
Oh.
Industry, yeah, the training structure.
Yeah, how did you find that? How was that?
I really like it, because we study at night and on weekends, so it often means that you have a morning, so I have a morning person, so I like the morning, and then we study on weekends, so we have time to rest on weekends and weekends, and China means to have the largest population, maybe now after India, I’m not sure.
I think yes, yes. I never felt it, because every Sunday is Sunday and Sunday, and everyone is working. So, in fact, that’s a good building for you to teach. Oh, that’s actually great, because you won’t have that kind of people. Yes, right? Yes, that’s right. So, do you often hang out when you live there? Or do you mainly stay in Kunming?
Quite a bit of travelling. There’s all these famous places. Even in Yunnan, there’s Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, and Shangolila, these places are quite interesting. Yes. And now it’s very convenient to take the high-speed rail. You can go wherever you want.
Okay. So what was teaching English like then? Were your students well behaved?
I think people often say what is their superpower? I think my superpower is to interact with children. I think I’m better than other things. So, I think this is the part I enjoy the most. Because I think, I think, I think, I think, I
Our audience, David entered my classroom and shared his experience in teaching English and Chinese. Some examples he gave are very good. You mentioned your big nose, which is something that students are very interested in.
If professors have such examples, they will be very happy. I don’t think this way is very common in Chinese culture. They will find it very happy, but we don’t do it often.
So what is the difference between the educational styles of China and the United Kingdom? You have also experienced it.
Yes, I remember watching a BBC cultural program. They asked Chinese professors to come to England to teach Chinese style, and British professors taught British style. I was very touched, because I could see the same thing in my life.
Therefore, in the Chinese classroom, you will see a lot of writing learning, usually following what the professor says. They have more control examples. In a controlled environment, not in an open environment, for example, writing, writing a letter, and even in a writing environment, such as writing a letter, which does not necessarily happen in the Chinese learning environment, many times.
In the environment of learning English, I feel that there are many more creative choices.
Yes, so you teach your course in China, bringing an environment for learning English in a more relaxed way.
Yes, sometimes I feel that there are fewer environments that are more relaxed and happy, which is what I bring.
Which type do you think is better? Or are they the same?
I think this is one thing. The statement I said makes me feel that China’s system is not effective at all. But in fact, it really works. You will see that they put a lot of their study time into it. There is a 100,000-hour professional practice. If you put time into anything, you will see the results.
I often see the language students I teach, because I teach in the classroom. Parents and students take classes together. They write texts in bags, and then they try to try at school every night.
Study, right? Learn the course, but in fact, learning takes place outside the classroom. Classroom can only be the first stimulus.
Absolutely, absolutely. So did your parents learn English? Yes, in fact, I always try to bring them into the classroom. You know, you ask the students, oh, what is your mother’s favourite colour? Then, you know, let’s check whether mom is real or not.
You will say your mother’s favourite colour, which will be your problem.
Therefore, they will like to learn.
Oh, that’s great.
Parents will like it, right?
They like it, but many people are stupid.
In fact, they are not very willing to talk.
Therefore, you should always be careful with them, because you also have children there.
Oh, my child is speaking better English than I am.
So they’re not very willing to try.
Yeah, and then in front of the other parents.
Oh yes, for sure, yes, yeah.
So that was teaching English in China.
And obviously there are lots of different teaching styles in Britain as well.
But for a Chinese student to come to the United Kingdom,
Come to the UK to study
Then study in the university.
Our learning methods are completely different.
Yes
Then maybe they are not used to it.
So the first one may be a human sound.
Everyone’s accent is a little different.
Then some people’s accents may be very heavy.
So students may not get used to it.
Because it will be emphasised in China
The teacher has a very normal accent.
It may be an American accent.
They are not used to people having
For example, in the UK
Scottish accent
Totally different
Impossible
Impossible
Impossible
It’s just hard to move.
So they need some time.
Get used to it
What can they do?
What can they do?
I think you have to listen
You have to listen to language
As much as you can
It’s all about the time you put in
I think
It would be great if they had the opportunity to hear the program and other similar things.
I think it’s a good idea, yes.
You also need to have more listening power. This is also a difficult thing to do, but when you need to answer some questions, such as what you hear, it’s great.
Among Chinese students, when learning a language, you don’t have to understand what you say 100%. It would be great if you could explain it to 80%-90%. You may be able to answer many questions from there.
Yes, and it’s very interesting, because I have learned a lot of languages, and you have also learned Chinese. We will talk about those, but when you learn the language, there is a stage. Your language is quite good, but you don’t know that much, but your brain is at the door, as if it’s naked, right?
There is a little fog, a language you don’t understand. You may be thinking about something. You may want to think
Then the van is like this.
And I didn’t know
What the van meant
I only know
I only knew that bread was bread
So I thought
Oh is there bread all around
Like on the ground outside
Or what’s going on
But actually the van
Is a kind of a van
You could say
So there’s things like this
Where you’re like huh
And you might miss a beat like I did
And sometimes it’s funny
You get good stories
It’s a good story.
If something like this happens
You can tell others.
Buy bread to eat
Yes, it’s just a joke.
And
But yeah
Sometimes it might be embarrassing
Or or have you
But afterwards
You then remember that forever
Exactly
And this is
This is what we’re stressing
You know
It is normal to make mistakes.
It is necessary.
Learn a language
You must make mistakes.
Yeah
Must
Must
This is a process of learning.
Yeah
And then you learn
But it’s embarrassing
But at the same time
If you laugh about it
Like you said
It’s probably the best way, isn’t it?
Oh, for sure
You’ve got more experience of this than me
Because you’ve got so many languages
Yeah, but you sort of
It’s a process every time
You think, oh, now I’ve learned a few languages
Now I’ll be okay
But no, then you learn a new language and you start again.
But it’s very normal when you move to another country to have that situation, isn’t it?
Where you feel that you don’t understand everything, but you can probably be okay not understanding everything.
Yeah, absolutely. That’s very, very normal.
So let’s talk about you learning Chinese because you learned Chinese in China.
Yes, yeah.
How did you learn it?
OK, so I started out with a language learning app just to get the basic characters down, like 100 or 200 characters and maybe 300 words.
Usually a word is two characters.
After having like established those, I went on to Chinese readers.
So I would just read a basic reader with my Chinese teacher continuously until they became more and more fluid.
And there are loads of great readers out there
Especially now
They have lots of graded readers
From very basic up to very advanced
Did he use an app or did he use a book?
He used a book at the time, right?
So yeah, after getting those basic characters down
And words down
I switched to books
Recently I’m reading a 100,000 whys
Which is a famous series of questions and answers
And it’s really a lovely series
Very straightforward to read
And this level
OK, let’s have a try. This method is used to read images. I don’t know.
Shadowing, yeah. Yeah, shadowing. And I do the same for Chinese. So I would read text at the same time as my teacher and see how that helped. And I think it did help.
You’re doing it actually with your teacher rather than the recording.
Yeah, rather than recording with my teacher, yes.
Oh, that’s interesting. Therefore, on the dark side, you will usually have a writing, usually a very short writing, maybe a minute of recording, sometimes short, sometimes long. You will hear this several times until you know it very well, you know it very well. Then you follow the recording, and you try to repeat the recording completely.
Yes, this is the technique. And with the professor, you not only cooperate with the recorder, but also with the broadcasters who speak together at the same time. So you may share the books you read at the same time. But it is very important to recognise the relationship with words. I think this is the best way for Chinese people to make good use of their language.
And for learning English, it’s the same.
Obviously, in English, we don’t have tones, but we have intonation.
So, for learning Chinese tones, I think it’s even more crucial.
But for a Chinese student coming to the United Kingdom and learning to speak like in Downton Abbey,
If this is what you want, you can try to do shadowing with Downton Abbey and learn it off.
Although I think it’s very important now, Chinese parents will definitely discuss having a normal accent, but in fact, people don’t care much about this problem in the UK.
It’s not like this anymore. It has changed, right? In 1950 and 1960, they were all normal BBC, and then you were very remote. You were very important. If you use regional language, you know, you came from that region, or work level, and it changed, in the media, on TV, on TV, it changed a lot, the way people say.
I immigrated to England 25 years ago. I immigrated to Manchester, or Manchester, as I call it. I have lived there for 5 years. My partner is from Manchester, so I speak Manchester language every day, and I have learned a lot of Manchester language expressions.
Mongolians are a language of Mantu, which is Mantu English. I learned a lot of northern languages. When I moved to Bristol, the language there was strange, because those languages were very northern, and they were very special to those areas. Not everyone will understand. Or people will say that the language I speak is strange, because I still speak German, but I still have some Mongolian languages.
There are many expressions there, and sometimes I still have them.
Oh, really?
Sometimes, yes, it’s not so often.
Do you often come to Manchester?
Very few, but sometimes I just go back there.
Yes, I come from the west, and sometimes I have a natural bias.
Secretly imitate other people’s accents.
I also have this situation. I went to the west,
I will have a peasant accent.
It’s even worse if you use a southern accent, or even a Brisbane accent. I used to be in China, and it’s worse. You are regarded as a farmer, and you are regarded as a little stupid. Is it like this?
They have a certain evaluation, right?
I guess it’s still a problem here, but fortunately, it’s getting less and less. In particular, as you said, the regional news program shows people’s accents there. I said, that’s a very good job.
Yes.
It’s strange that in China, you will be mixed in an international group for a long time, so your language has changed. For example, cakes are better than celery. Because American sayings use many languages, you can see the language they teach every day. For example, zucchini, courgette, etc.
Yes, where did you learn the teaching book? They will use the American language.
Yes, absolutely. A few years ago, they all changed, because the way of education in China has changed recently. They usually use American language.
Yes, I think it’s normal. That’s what we learned in Germany. Although our readings were published in the UK, the English we learned…
They give you beautiful language!
It may be due to cultural influence. I like English music, so I learned a lot of English. But the English we learn is an American language at school.
Oh, really?
Yes. So this may be a surprise for Chinese students who come to the UK?
Right? Of course! But there is
They won’t use this “oh” sound. They will use a mixture of “t” and “a”. I don’t quite understand what it is now.
Oh, yes, I understand. Yes, it’s hard to know how to say it, which way is right and which way is not. You will hear many different versions.
Then in the UK, of course, some people don’t say “t” or “d”. They only say “wha”.
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes
So, what does it mean for Chinese students to hear “Wow” when they come to the UK?
But, I don’t know, do Chinese students often contact each other?
Did this happen here?
My students are connected from different places and from that part of the world.
I am an exchange student in Denmark.
I found someone like me. Not only Germans, but also other people.
But you know, I have a considerable international friendship group in Denmark, which I think is normal. I see that these things are also here. Some students are very good at contact, and some students are very open and excited to find friends, and they contact quickly, so they quickly find new friends.
Other students will be more stupid, struggle with English, and don’t know how to recognise newcomers.
Most of this is in human beings.
But it’s difficult. When you don’t understand the language, you will be in a new environment.
Everything is very new, everything is so wild.
You also need to find new friends who will speak well.
But you don’t understand what they are talking about, and they will say it quickly.
You don’t understand them.
Okay, in English we can say,
Hang in there.
Yeah, hang in there, definitely.
Yeah, just keep going, keep working hard.
Continue to persist.
Persistence is persistence.
And then eventually, after a while,
You suddenly understand.
And you must have had that experience with Chinese.
I’ve had that experience with Chinese not that long ago,
Where I went from watching television
And understood individual sentences and individual words
Then I suddenly understood everything. I only knew one sentence, and I would read it in the language.
But from a strange thing to a very clear thing, I don’t know except for one or two words.
That’s great, isn’t it?
Yes, that’s absolutely true. I definitely have this experience.
I will think, ah, suddenly, this is very reasonable.
Yes, just like that, very suddenly.
Yes, it takes a long time to live in the country. I remember that when I moved to England, I studied life in English. I have studied English to study life. I have studied English to study life. I have studied English to study life. I moved to England to work. I often watch TV on TV. I don’t know everything and don’t understand many words. I’m also surprised by people’s accents.
And so I watched a lot of television
I don’t really like watching television
But I watched a lot of television
Got a lot of input
And then obviously because I was in the country
Also a lot of output
So I was talking all the time
And there’s things about the culture as well
It is culture.
For example, in Chinese, people often want to say, have you eaten?
Then if you say, have you eaten?
That’s the answer to eat.
Then in the UK
If you talk to others
Have you eaten
The meaning is a bit like
Would you like to have dinner with me?
But the British are
You start to tell them
If they start to learn Chinese
They just want to know
How are you?
How are you?
How do you say it?
They always want to know
How do you say how are you in Chinese?
But generally speaking, Chinese people
Can’t say How are you?
Because sometimes this is to ask others if they are healthy,
I just want to ask How are you?
There is another meaning, right.
Yeah, it’s related to health.
It’s not really a question you ask every day.
It’s like you don’t really know about people’s mood.
It’s usually have you eaten or not,
As a kind of general introduction.
So there’s things like that you probably see from TV when you’ve seen it.
It’s strange that in the UK
How are you?
How is it going?
You must say
I will definitely say
Oh great, yeah, how are you?
Yeah, all right, all right
You are not in good health. You are very tired.
But
Yes, I have a friend recently.
He said I’m okay.
Then I uh oh
Right, right
And even not only China
And so are other countries.
When I came to England
I have a Russian friend.
And friends from South Africa
He just told me
When they came to England
Ask people how are you
Wow, the British are so nice.
They often ask you
How are you?
They really think you’re very good.
But that’s not the case.
They also realised later that
Actually, this question is
I just arrived in the UK and it’s the same.
I also think
Those people who are so friendly
All my neighbours told me.
How are you doing
Then I said it was very good.
But what?
But
I didn’t realise it until two or three years later.
That’s what they say, right?
Right
Hello
Just a little bit
Not in Germany
Just ask
Definitely not.
Now it’s because of the culture.
Come into contact with
It is also possible to say
Wie geht’s
It can also be said that Wie geht’s
Right
Yes, it is the same.
But in the UK
It’s more extreme I’d say
Yeah
If you ask in England
If you ask in Germany
Have you eaten?
That would be weird
Oh yes
It’s lunch time
And you know
And yeah
You would not ask that
Would you
Would you ask it?
As a question
For asking someone
To eat together
Have you eaten yet?
Shall we go
Yeah
Maybe you would
You would do like that
But just straight out
Have you eaten?
Oh yeah
Similar like in China
It’s like how are you
It’s like whoa
It implies
You know that
Yeah yeah
You don’t eat
Look at your shoulders and shoulders.
I understand, you don’t have money.
Shall I buy you a bowl of rice?
So obviously, it can be terrible.
Speak a new language in a new environment
But it will take time. You can get there.
When you get there, it’s great, isn’t it?
When you have that feeling, I understand.
I can participate in the chat, and I can become this new community.
Now, yes, absolutely, and the British are also very sceptre, when it comes to accent, not
Teaching, he is doing his daily work, maybe next time, yes, next time, next time, right, thank you, thank you, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye,