Alumni News 2010
Alumni News
2010
News from Cray Staggs on July 4, 2010
I have been living in China for the last six months. It has been a very interesting cultural experience. … I have been teaching English and doing teacher training projects. I have received two new grants one as an English Language Specialist in the South of India and one as a Senior English Language Fellow in Beijing, China. The one in India will just be for 2 weeks and the one in China will be for 10 months. After the China project, I will go back to the U.S. I told everyone that I would just be gone for a year, and it turned in to about 4 … Well, tell everyone that I say Hi and thanks for teaching me so much!
News from Mitch Porter on September 8, 2010
Stacey and I have arrived in Beijing and are living on campus at BLCU. Stacey started teaching in the English Education Center this week, and I start next week in the Pre-Departure Training Department. Many of the teachers I observed are still here, and they are more than helpful in giving us advise on how to teach the students here. The living arrangements are actually quite nice, and the apartment is much roomier than the dorms we stayed in during the summer practicum. Other than the heat and the humidity, we are adapting quite well to Chinese culture.
In addition to teaching at BLCU, I’ve accepted a job in the Chinese Ministry of Education as an English Proficiency Test editor. They need native English speakers with Masters Degrees in English (or an equivalent) to proof read the questions to make sure they sound as if they written by an English-native. The pay is actually quite a bit higher as an editor than a teacher here, but the experience is priceless, and the editing is a great way to supplement the salary.
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for all the help and wisdom you bestowed upon me. BLCU is a great place for students, especially those in the Linguistics Department at CSULB, to start their career as a teacher, or simply to see if teaching is an occupation they wish to pursue.