December 15, 2005 Issue                                                              

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Hiller teaches English to children in Nanjing, China
by LOU PERSEGHIN

Chestnut Hill resident Jan Young (third from right) is seen in a park in Nanjing, China, this summer with other American teachers who went to China to teach English

Teachers often lament about how to get students interested in class, and how to get them involved. However, last summer Jan Young had a somewhat different challenge on her hands.

“Learning how to speak English, that was the whole goal,” said the Chestnut Hill resident. “The kids were there because they wanted to learn.”

Young, 65, a lifelong Philadelphian, spent last summer not in an American summer school, but rather teaching overseas in Nanjing, the capital of China’s Jiangsu Province and one of the four great ancient capitals of China. With almost 6.5 million inhabitants, Nanjing is a very modern city with ancient roots.

From July 8 until Aug. 8, Young lived and worked in China, teaching at the Nanjing Foreign Language School. She worked with kids who were 10 to twelve years old, although the school handled children anywhere from 8 to fifteen. In addition to the normal challenges of teaching, Young also had to deal with the language barrier.

“The children would have to speak English the whole time they were there,” said Young. “We had Chinese graduate students who were our interpreters and teaching assistants. Even though the kids could read and write English, we needed help with giving directions.”

Along with five other teachers from Philadelphia, the State College area and California, Young went to China through a program sponsored by the U.S. China Exchange Council. Young, who retired from the Philadelphia School system as a Speech and Language teacher, felt that one of the biggest challenges was providing the kind of materials not only to keep the kids interested and excited, but also make sure they were learning in the process.

Before going to China, Young prepared lessons and gathered materials, as well as taking basic Chinese lessons at the Mount Airy Learning Tree.

“I was intimidated about the language,” said Young. “I got an awareness of how to pronounce some of the words and letters, and I think the kids appreciated the attempt at learning their language.”

Young worked with a new group of children each week, heavily focusing the classes on group work and conversational usage of English. The kids would do things like plan games, practice ordering from English menus that Young provided, and write new words to folk songs such as “Oh, Susanna.” At the end of each activity, the kids would present their results in English to the rest of the class. The week of classes, which ran from Monday thru Saturday, culminated in a presentation to the parents.

“It was an effort to get them to loosen up and work in a group,” said Young. “They had never experienced that before. These kids were used to sitting at their desks with their hands folded. It was difficult for them … It was hard to get some of the kids really involved because they were so used to sitting there and being quiet.”

Young emphasized that the groups were a big change for the kids, but that they seemed to take to it quickly.

On the first day of classes, Young would have the children write down questions they wished to ask of her, and she would respond to them.

“That got them talking, got them very much involved,” said Young.

The children were very interested in America and American culture, and many of their questions revolved around things such as politics and sports.

“They asked very interesting questions like about the war in Iraq,” said Young. “They asked about Yao Ming (a professional basketball player who is 7-foot-5); they had a lot of questions, especially about basketball.”

During her time in China, Young tried to take in as much of the culture as possible, eating the native cuisine and using chopsticks. The only fast food she tried during the month was a breakfast dish, a soupy mix of rice, nuts and berries from a native fast food place. However, the group also had to deal with the reaction of the Chinese people to their presence.

“People would come up with their camera and gesture that they wanted their children to have a picture taken with us,” said Young. “We were not treated with animosity, but we had to get used to being stared at.”

Young related one story about when she and a friend were in the checkout line at Wal Mart and the cash registers lost power. “The manager was coming out and saw us,” said Young. “We were the only two American-looking people. He apologized to us that we had to wait. We were embarrassed that he would point that out and apologize only to us.”

Young was happy to return home after a month, but said she was happier about the work she and her group did in Nanjing.

“The kids made it work; they just flew with it. I was proud that I was part of an experience that brought the best of America to the Chinese people. It felt very good.”

She said she would love to go back and see much of what she didn’t get to see during the time there.

“The people were so patient and excited about showing us their Nanjing,” said Young.