This post is about two company training classes I had this semester.
The university has a Training Center which runs specialised courses for staff from major Chinese oil companies (CNPC, Sinopec, and CNOOC). The courses can be technical (about some aspect related to oil & gas), or language (mainly English, but also Russian and Arabic).
I have taught a number of these courses, and quite enjoy teaching adults who have been in the workforce for several years. They are older and more mature (mostly married) and have a different perspective on life than college students.
I was asked to give a speech at their graduation ceremony on 25 June 2016. I complimented them on their dedication and progress, and canvassed ways they could maintain their English skills. At the end I said "today is an important day for you, and also for me as this is my last official function as a teacher in China." I became a bit teary, probably not a good look for an old fart!
This semester I taught two groups - details below.
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| The awesome team from UPC Training Center, from left: Zhang Yi Zhi (Mia); me; Yang Yuan Yuan (Lucy); Wang Yuan (Joy). They were terrific. I called them "my Charlie's Angels". They used my book "It's all about the students" as a marketing tool to promote UPC's training services. |
Sinopec (Zhong Shi Hua) #10 Construction Company
Their 10 week course ran from 18 April to 25 June 2016. The company has a number of projects overseas (mainly Africa and Middle East) and they want to upgrade staff English skills; and staff are keen because they earn double their normal salary when posted overseas.At the beginning of their course Sun Da Zhang (Merlin) and I tested the group; our conclusion was that 55% had 'reasonable or good' Oral English skills while 45% were rated as 'poor'.
At the end of the course the proportion of 'reasonable or good' had risen to 80%, with an additional 10% in the 'very good' category. It was a matter of unlocking their latent knowledge of English which many had not used since graduating from University years ago.
10% didn't make the grade (still rated as 'poor') - some people find it very difficult to absorb another language - but they all tried very hard.
It was a tough course. They had classes for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week with only Sunday off; actually, a public holiday (Duan Wu or Dragon Boat Festival) fell on Thursday 9 June but their company insisted that they continue studying! That would never happen in Australia!!!
The course covered English reading, writing, listening, and speaking; they also had lectures on technical aspects of their work, teamwork related to projects, etc.
It was a large group so I split them into two groups for the class photos.
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| From left: Zhou Zhen Xing (Andy); Gai Xin Fei (Gary); Su Wei (Will); Li Bao Qing (Mike); Zhang Kai (Kroos); Xie Bin (Kris); me; Wan Gui Yang (Bon); Gao Shuang (Alic); Ma Huai Zhi (Allen); Li Zheng Han (Melo); Zhang Dong Ge (Frank); Zhu Chao (Jason); Guo Yan Long (Tony); Zhao Jin Long (Simon). |
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| From left: Zhang Qing Fu (Wordsworth); Bian Pei Liang (Henry); Sui Han Yi (Johnny); He Xiang Yang (Hobart); He Liang (John); Liu Xin You (Jim); Xie Bin (Kris); me; Liu Song (Lewis); Gao Yan (Gavin); Zhang Hong Qiang (Mark); Zhang Xiao Ming (River). They all had copies of my book "It's all about the students" which I autographed. |
Graduation ceremony, 25 June 2016
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| Presentation to class leader Li Bao Qing (Mike) by Professor Wang Tian Hu (UPC) and Yang Lian Wen (Sinopec) |
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| Luo Chun, Head of UPC Training Group. |
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| Group photo after Graduation ceremony. I was asked to give a speech at the graduation ceremony, and became quite emotional at the end as this was my 'final hurrah' after teaching in China for six years. |
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| The students put on role-plays to demonstrate their Oral English abilities. |
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| Another role-play, with the judges looking on. |
CNPC (Zhong Shi You) Pipeline Construction Company
This group was from Lang Fang, Hebei Province, between Beijing and Tianjin. Their general level of English was much better than the Sinopec Group which made teaching and communication easier. Having two women in the class also made it different.
I taught them twice a week for 4 weeks. Their course will run through till September so other teachers took over.
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| From left: Chen Meng (Mike); Liao Fu Jin (Leo); Zhao Ying (Ivy); Cao Peng (Lucifer); Ma Gen (Morgan); Zheng Xiang Yu (Maggie); Yin Wei (William); me; Chen Li Ming (Bran); Tian Ya Lin (Allan); Li Jin (Robert, co-monitor); Wang Jing Lei (Jolley, CPC Secretary); Jiang Zhen (Michael); Lin Jing Min (Jason); Li Peng (Mason); Ding Ping Ping (Salam); Zhang Yun (Andrew). |
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| From left: Sun Ya Jia (Pier); Hao Guang Hao (Roger, co-monitor); Jin Feng (Feng); Jiang Lan Jun (Julian); Zhang Xiao Dong (Jerry); Xu Chen (Hunter); Liu Da (Jordan); Cheng Shu Qi (Albert); Chang Yuan (Jack); Chen Zhou (Thomas); me; Zhou Wu De (Wood); Feng Zhao Sen (Dasen); Chen Kai (Kevin); Zhang Zhao Meng (Evan); Liu Ming (Luke); Zeng Yu Ping (Austin). |
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That's it for this post.
I'd planned to do two more (one June News Summary, and another on our overall experience in China), but am rapidly running out of time.
Let's see how final packing goes over the next two days, but I suspect this might be my last post in China.
In two days we will fly from Qingdao to Frankfurt and then on to Budapest. Three weeks in Hungary followed by four weeks in Germany. We'll get to Brisbane mid-September and then drive to Canberra to start the next chapter of our lives.
Not sure what I'll do about the blog. Keep it going? Let it lapse? In any case, I'll have to change the title as this will probably be the last "Letter from China".
Thank you for accompanying Vera and me on our China adventure for the last few years. It's been a wonderful experience, but now time to RTA (return to Australia).
Over and out.
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Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.
Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 7 July 2016
Qingdao TV did a series of programs on foreigners living and working here. One program featured two foreign teachers, Laxmisha Rai and Alex Olah - to view on YouTube click HERE. It's about 25 minutes, mainly in Chinese but enough English to get the gist.
