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Sierra Phillips returns from teaching in Nanjing, China

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Sierra Phillips, a sophomore from California studying psychology, spent the last four and a half months teaching English to elementary school aged students in Nanjing, China, a city with a population greater than New York City.Phillips asserts the biggest and most memorable thing she learned during her trip was, “sometimes the smallest minds are your greatest teachers, and the brightest students are those who are the most eager to learn.”Phillips explained, “I worked with a program called the International Language Program teaching English to six second grade classes and three fourth grade classes on top of additional classes like art, drama, kitchen and shop.” Phillips said she heard about the program through a friend who taught in Ukraine through ILP.The program used full immersion to teach the children the English language, meaning that, even though Phillips taught on a Chinese campus, she was only allowed to speak English with the students. However, if students were struggling enough, Phillips would address the questions to the students in both English and Mandarin. “I spent a short amount of time studying the language with a good friend of mine before I left to Nanjing,” Phillips stated. “Fortunately, I was able to arrive with a little background on the language. It was difficult at first, especially when it came to asking for directions.”To overcome these difficulties, Phillips explained using visual or hand gestures was the best way to express what she was trying to say when she was at a loss for words. Along with teaching, Phillips was able to explore some of the culture and beauty China had to offer. On her off days, she would find herself riding down a river on a bamboo raft, surrounded by mountains on all sides filled with dips and twists, creating a silhouette on the horizon like that of a rollercoaster, she said. “The mountains are known by many residents as the ‘Dr. Seuss Mountains’ and I can truly say that after being there I felt like I was in one of his books,” Phillips stated. “At night the residents would throw lights into the sky and everyone would be out on the streets singing and playing flutes into the night air. The whole city was very surreal.”Uploaded Jan. 29, 2015
Writer: Jared Roberts