I am constantly being asked,
"Will you tutor my child in English?" Walking down the streets of my city, adults often shy away from conversation with the foreigners (totaling 10 of us now), while preschoolers run up to you, waving vivaciously to
practice their "Hello"! Most parents in my city can't speak a
lick of English, but their children are learning
onomatopoeias and
Idioms. There's a new trend going on in this country...it's English!
Possibly part of
Mao's global power and trade tactics to require this second language taught in schools, but nevertheless, there's a new generation raising up in China, and they have a Strong Interest in You! Never has there been a more fitting opening for a native English speaker to breeze straight into
Pandaland. If you have any interest in living overseas,
NOW is the Time! I guarantee, you have never been wanted more!
My college students made
New Year's Resolutions last week, and ALL 350 students expressed their highest priority as "improving spoken English", EVERY ONE of them. I often spot local businessmen
playing ping pong with students near our rec area, practicing the dialect, bumming lessons from the english majors.
It's crazy how something I have taken for grantit my whole life could be so valued across the Pacific.
