Samples of Chinese Students' Writing

This week (Today is Monday March 24, 2008) I am giving all of my classes a worksheet with three questions for them to answer.

The questions are:

1.) What are some of the differences between children and adults?
How do children behave? How should adults behave?


2.) How should University students behave? Should they play with their
phones or sleep in class? Explain your answer.


3.) What makes people different from animals?


I will post some of my students' responses to these questions throughout the week.


Here is one student's response to the first question:

"Children is puerility. They can think that the sun is blue, the river is red. They think their most hope is money, candy and happy. But adults are very busy. They must work hard. If they don't work they will no be have a good life".

Here is another student's answer to the third question:

"People can touch with each other but animals can not. People like dress them up".

Here is how one of them responded to the second question:

"University students likes play computer and study, play basketball. I don't agree sleep in class because that don't good study".

Here is another response to the second question:

"The University students like surf in the internet. Yes, they play with their phones in class because some students are not intering in some class".

And here is how that student answered the third question:

"People are brighter than animals".

Another student's response to the third question is as follows:

"People can say 'shit', 'fuck' but animals no".

And as I shift through my papers I think I've caught a pair of students copying off one another (pretty typical in China):

"People are brighter than animals. People have language but animals have not. Peop:e have spirits but animals have not. People can creat things but animals can't".

Bai Wen Chuan answered the second question as follows:

"The students are very like playing computer games and playing basketball. They always play wihth their phone in the classroom and sleep in the classroom".

Bai Wen Chuan had this to say in response to the third question:

"People can do some exercise but animals can't do that. People can writer some thing in book but animals can't do that".



Anyway, so there's a sample of my students' wonderful writing. I definetly have my work cut out for me.....

E-mail from a Chinese student.

Here is an e-mail I received from a Chinese student today:


I am sorry I do not know that the United States wrote a letter format
Thank you for giving me the answer ,In addition, I would like to ask a number of ways, for example, you want to learn Chinese, the best approach is the exchange and others, but seems not properly achieved and I know that the American news coverage of China things will be more facts, or even distorting the facts ,We are each of the foreigners come to China are very welcome, and help others who are in the same time they have gained happiness, We need to increase the capacity to help others, and we do a lot of efforts, I think that I am reading is to the prosperity of our nation. Is how do you treat China as a developing country with a long history.Your friends around you to what is the view of China? I read one called (The World Is Flst) book, I have a lot of ideas for this, you really want to know China's Tibet and Taiwan issues (they is one of our country's territory!) look at how.I even see you my views on how to be very curious, hehe!

Letter from a Chinese Student

One of my students gave me a letter at the end of class today. I thought I'd type it up here since I haven't posted anything in a while:

Mr. Brandon,

My name is Liu Ting. I'm very glad that you can teach our English. I think you are a good teacher and you are a handsome man. Mr. Brandon. Do you know? I feel is very hard how to speak English well, because my pronounces badly.

I think that related to my first English teacher. But the most important reason is myself. Begin this term, I enjoy learning English, every class I listened carefully.

In the end, I want to make friends with you. Can you tell me your E-mail dress? Thank you very much!!

Yours,

Liu Ting