Suggestions please -- to help my Chinese ESL student socialize in the USA?
June 3, 2012 3:51 PM Subscribe
Suggestions please -- to help my Chinese ESL student socialize in the USA?
Hi All,
I have taught English for several months to an eager student, in her 30s, who has been here for a year plus. Unfortunately she hasn't passed her drivers' license tests twice, which is important as she lives in cow country (no mass transit). I believe her best chances for success are a) getting her license and b) making friends with bilingual Chinese people who have immigrated here. I don't have enough hours to spare to teach her more than a couple of hours a week. I don't see her getting a great deal of reinforcement from her new family. She is near a number of large towns (Frederick, MD, particularly) and I would appreciate hearing what the awesome hivemind recommends to help her assimilate successfully.
Hi All,
I have taught English for several months to an eager student, in her 30s, who has been here for a year plus. Unfortunately she hasn't passed her drivers' license tests twice, which is important as she lives in cow country (no mass transit). I believe her best chances for success are a) getting her license and b) making friends with bilingual Chinese people who have immigrated here. I don't have enough hours to spare to teach her more than a couple of hours a week. I don't see her getting a great deal of reinforcement from her new family. She is near a number of large towns (Frederick, MD, particularly) and I would appreciate hearing what the awesome hivemind recommends to help her assimilate successfully.
Clarifying question: what's the order of priority here? Do you think her English isn't letting her pass her license exam? Or that she needs to be able to drive in order to develop a healthy social life? Or that she needs a rich social life to improve her English?
As a student, she almost certainly has a built-in social network at her institution. You may try to identify and meet with someone at her school's graduate student association, graduate student government, Chinese student association, and so on. Often, foreign students set up support networks that bypass existing student and university organizations entirely: things like short-term housing, van transport, grocery shopping pools, etc. Be aware that there may be multiple disjoint student communities (and related organizations) consisting of various groups of US-born monolingual Asian-Americans, bilingual Asian-Americans, foreign Asian grad students, and so on. Also be aware that your student's cultural norms and expectations (and family situation, etc.) may make it difficult for her to communicate with single Chinese men, students much younger than her, etc. It's complicated.
posted by Nomyte at 4:10 PM on June 3, 2012
As a student, she almost certainly has a built-in social network at her institution. You may try to identify and meet with someone at her school's graduate student association, graduate student government, Chinese student association, and so on. Often, foreign students set up support networks that bypass existing student and university organizations entirely: things like short-term housing, van transport, grocery shopping pools, etc. Be aware that there may be multiple disjoint student communities (and related organizations) consisting of various groups of US-born monolingual Asian-Americans, bilingual Asian-Americans, foreign Asian grad students, and so on. Also be aware that your student's cultural norms and expectations (and family situation, etc.) may make it difficult for her to communicate with single Chinese men, students much younger than her, etc. It's complicated.
posted by Nomyte at 4:10 PM on June 3, 2012
Frederick Maryland is cow country? Does she belong to a church? Google turns up Grace Chinese Church in Frederick.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:11 PM on June 3, 2012
posted by Ideefixe at 4:11 PM on June 3, 2012
Does she have any teaching experience? Might she consider teaching Chinese to school age students? That way she could use her native fluency to good use, develop a social group, and have native English speakers to help her develop her language skills.
posted by pickypicky at 4:20 PM on June 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by pickypicky at 4:20 PM on June 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I wonder why you think she needs to be in a bilingual situation? I have taught ELL as a native speaker both here and in other countries and find that immersion really does work best.
Is her family a host family? If so, the group who hired them might be able to help you connect them better. Could she possibly volunteer as a translator at a local hospital or similar place?
posted by Isadorady at 4:23 PM on June 3, 2012
Is her family a host family? If so, the group who hired them might be able to help you connect them better. Could she possibly volunteer as a translator at a local hospital or similar place?
posted by Isadorady at 4:23 PM on June 3, 2012
Sorry, I misread your question to mean that you are giving her ESL instruction in a university context. Many universities have a service that pairs volunteer tutors with students whose English needs improvement.
posted by Nomyte at 4:25 PM on June 3, 2012
posted by Nomyte at 4:25 PM on June 3, 2012
Frederick Maryland is cow country?
"Near" there, which is a big difference from "in" for a non-driver in a rural area... But, are we sure there's no public transportation? Do not mean to imply stupidity on part of asker -- this is just one of those things most city people do not think about: perhaps there is a privately run commuter bus that goes in in the AM and returns in the PM? Those things can have dreadful crack-of-dawn hours and high-ish fares but, still, a day in the city is a day in the city and she may find getting up occasionally worthwhile.
posted by kmennie at 5:32 PM on June 3, 2012
"Near" there, which is a big difference from "in" for a non-driver in a rural area... But, are we sure there's no public transportation? Do not mean to imply stupidity on part of asker -- this is just one of those things most city people do not think about: perhaps there is a privately run commuter bus that goes in in the AM and returns in the PM? Those things can have dreadful crack-of-dawn hours and high-ish fares but, still, a day in the city is a day in the city and she may find getting up occasionally worthwhile.
posted by kmennie at 5:32 PM on June 3, 2012
It's not clear from the question if she's failed the driving exam based as a result of her driving skills or her language skills. If it's the latter, Maryland allows the use of an interpreter. They don't seem to print the knowledge test in languages other than English, but it appears an interpreter could read her the knowledge test in Chinese.
posted by hoyland at 5:37 PM on June 3, 2012
posted by hoyland at 5:37 PM on June 3, 2012
Ideefixe's church suggestion is a good one, unless of course she is uncomfortable in a religious setting. Often church members will drive people needing rides to church. Otherwise I would suggest some sort of community team sport like volleyball, a class through community education, or volunteer opportunity. Having said that, I don't know how she would get to games and classes. It's a pity she does not live in a bigger town like DC, for example, for there are organizations like Internations that are expressly for expatriates. http://www.internations.org/washington-dc-expats
I wish her the best of luck. I have lived in several foreign countries involving different languages, so I know it's not easy.
posted by Caffreys7 at 12:34 PM on June 4, 2012
I wish her the best of luck. I have lived in several foreign countries involving different languages, so I know it's not easy.
posted by Caffreys7 at 12:34 PM on June 4, 2012
Seconding the nearest Chinese church (usually Chinese Bible Church of ${CITY} is a good place to start looking).
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 3:09 PM on June 4, 2012
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 3:09 PM on June 4, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Why is she in the middle of nowhere? Who are her new family? This is key to us helping you help her.
posted by k8t at 4:05 PM on June 3, 2012