English chat opens doors in China

Among the best moments of my November trip to China was a meeting with members of Global Volunteers at their hotel in Xi’an.

They were working with Chinese students who are studying English. Although most Chinese schools have excellent English departments and teachers well versed in written English and grammar, spoken English is a problem, the Chinese acknowledge. Global Volunteers, whose main office is in Minneapolis/St. Paul, has a standing invitation to send as many Americans as it can to speak English to Chinese students, from elementary school students to high schoolers to university undergraduates. It plans to send 15 teams this year.

One Chinese teacher of English told me that he and his colleagues advocate making English the official second language of China. By 2040, he hopes, China will be one of the largest English-speaking countries on Earth. Radio and television programs teach it to the public.

When I visited, more than two dozen volunteers for a three-week stint -- Americans of all ages, singles and couples -- were living in a pleasant, three-star hotel in the center of Xi’an. Each morning cars were dispatched by various schools to pick them up. The schools were so grateful for the volunteers that they accepted the expense of chauffeuring them to and from their duties.

The Americans seemed to be having a great time.

None of the volunteers with whom I spoke had a college degree in education or even any formal training in teaching English. Though each followed a textbook supplied to them by Global Volunteers, they were essentially performing a common-sense function: simple conversation, dialogue and storytelling.

Global Volunteers has been operating the program for several years, and the Chinese are apparently more than satisfied with the results.

Volunteers have breakfast and (usually) dinner at their hotel, and take lunch at the school to which they are assigned. Periodically, a special dinner is arranged for the group at a Xi’an restaurant, and these special events are supplemented by frequent sightseeing excursions, including one to see the excavated Army of the Terra Cotta Warriors, a highlight of the Xi’an area.

Volunteers work five days, teaching four hours per day. They have the weekend free. The ones to whom I spoke were so enthusiastic about the experience that many were planning to return.

Because the volunteer experience involves all-inclusive arrangements at a good-quality hotel and considerable administrative supervision, a fee of $2,395 per person is charged for the three-week stay, excluding air fare. But because that payment is regarded as a contribution to a nonprofit organization, most participants deduct the amount from their income on federal and state tax returns (consult your accountant), reducing the expense.

To learn more about teaching English in China, contact Global Volunteers at (800) 487-1074 or log on to www.globalvolunteers.org.