Teaching English in China

Are you planning to teach English in China? Teaching English in China may be more challenging than you think. Are you ready? Below is a short quiz on errors that Chinese students make. After the quiz is my Understanding Chinese Language and Culture: A Guidebook for Teachers of English in China.

How much do you know about Chinese? Take this short quiz to find out.

1)     Why do Chinese struggle with ‘a’ and ‘the’?

1. In Chinese ‘a’ and ‘the’ are the same word.
2. The words ‘a’ and ‘the’ don’t exist in Chinese.
3. The words ‘a’ and ‘the’ sound like Chinese words that have the same meaning.
4. In Chinese ‘a’ and ‘the’ aren’t used as often as in English.

2)     Which dialect of Chinese does Standard Chinese come from?

1. Cantonese
2. Hakka
3. Wu
4. Mandarin

3)     What is the standard word order for a Chinese sentence?

1. Subject → Time → Verb → Object → Place
2. Time → Place → Subject → Verb → Object
3. Object → Subject → Verb → Place → Time
4. Place → Object → Verb → Subject → Time

4)     Why do Chinese struggle with verb conjugations?

1. In Chinese verbs don’t change.
2. Verbs in English are much longer than verbs in Chinese.
3. In Chinese you change the prefix of verbs, not the suffix.
4. Chinese verbs all have the same ending.

5)     Why do Chinese students find changing their intonation (pitch) throughout a sentence difficult?

1. In Chinese only male speakers are supposed to change their intonation.
2. It is rude to change your intonation in Chinese.
3. In Chinese, intonation is used to distinguish words, not sentence meaning.
4. Only individuals of high status are supposed to change their intonation in China.

Don’t know the answers? No sweat! The answers can be found in my guidebook! —-> Understanding Chinese Language and Culture