Adventures in Asia

Longing to travel the world? Interested in teaching? Looking for a different, new adventure? It may have crossed your mind: What about teaching English in Asia…? Rural area of Zhejiang province You aren’t the only one. It’s incredibly easy to get a teaching job in several Asian countries, including China. All you need to apply is… -Be a native English speaker -Have a bachelor’s degree (any field) -Be willing to commit for a year -Have an “aptitude” for teaching (literally the wording they used on my first application) You do not have to speak the local language. You do not have to find your own housing. Your flight will be reimbursed upon the completion of your contract. You can literally just go. It’s the wanderlust dream of my generation. On top of that, many teaching jobs pay very well. Even if the salary doesn’t look like much in US dollars, it can go a long way in a place like China that has much lower living costs. I’ve been able to...

When I started dating a Chinese guy, and then got serious with that guy, some friends and family back home asked, usually in a hushed tone, “But how do you communicate ?” What does that mean, "someone who speaks your language"? With my dismal Chinese and his intermediate English, it was a legitimate question. The first few times we hung out, my now-husband kept a dictionary app open on his phone (despite having studied English in school for many years… but the effectiveness of language education is a different topic). We recently discussed the issue of the language barrier with some of our friends who are also in cross-cultural relationships. Some of the other couples are like us, where one partner uses their native language which is the other’s second (or third or fourth or fifth) language. This gives one person a natural advantage in communication. For some of the other couples, neither partner can speak the other’s first language, so they u...

对不起，我中文不好。什么意思？ Duìbùqǐ , w ǒ z hōngwén b ù hǎo . Sh é nme y ì si? Sorry, my Chinese is bad. What do you mean? I’ve been living in China for over 3.5 years and my husband is Chinese. It’s only natural that curious friends and strangers ask: “Do you speak Chinese?” 中国梦 The Chinese Dream This really isn’t a fair question, as grammatically I should answer yes or no, though the complex process of learning a language is not so clear-cut. What people usually mean is, “Can you speak Chinese fluently?” so I usually answer with, “No.” Many people believe immersion is the best method for learning a language, and I do agree that living in China provides motivation for me to acquire simple sentences. From buying food and clothes to traveling and getting around on public transportation, I need and am able to use some basic Chinese. However, I can easily maintain my career and social life completely in English, so immersion motivation is limited in my context. (Side...