Update: 2010.07.30.  Overhaul & re-generation 

We are pleased to announce that the overhaul and up-grade of this website is entering its final stage.  By September the Enjoying English Group will have a new look, re-financing and a new project in place.

 

The new layout is more attractive and easier to use.  Features include:

     *  a sitemap at the bottom of each page allows you to move from one page to another without the need to return to the top.  One 'click' will bring page listings on the left hand side of the page you are viewing.

     *  standardised text - where possible the main text has been standardised to a slightly larger 12 points, making the information easier to read.

     *  most pages have a translation facility.  You will also be able to copy and paste articles or complete pages, for translation into a wide selection of languages through an outside facility, which will be found at the bottom of the page.

     *  'Google Search' will be included on the HOMEPAGE next to the translation facility.

     *  Link between our websites at the top and bottom of each page.  Although some pages are duplicated, others contain information more relevant to students living or studying on different continents.

 

Next week will see other changes as every page will be checked, edited and the text colour standardised.   Visitors may experience temporary disruption for about a week, but our e-mail  'Helpline' is not affected on: 

enjoyingenglishinfo@yahoo.com 

Please put 'Help' in the subject box.

Our Countryside Initiatives in China are Cancelled.

 

Sadly, despite our best endeavours to reach agreement with a number of authorities in China over the past 2 years to launch a 'Project of Initiatives in the Countryside', we have made little progress.  Besides protecting our personal and the Company's interests, there is little point in continuing to pour a great deal of money, resources and effort into a bottom-less pot.  We have, therefore, decided re-evaluate our position and cancel the project.

 

Advanced Notice:  Tuesday 3rd August, 2010 - 06.00 - 08.00 GMT.  Our host management company will be completing a softare upgrade.  Access to some services are likely to be affected. They apologise for any inconvenience.Advance Notice: 

 

Meanwhile, whatever you are doing and wherever you are, we hope you have a successful summer vacation, and that you will join us again in the new semester.

 

Kind regards

 

Alan Cooper & Wang Bo.

Directors - Enjoying English Limited.

New this week on '2008':  Arts & Entertainment,  BEIJING 2008 (new page from Olympics & Olympic Album),  China News,  Food & Health, Interest,  LEGENDS (new page),  Letters,  News & Weather (new page replacement for World News),  Science & Nature, 

New this week on 'Info':  Archaeology,  Education,  Food & Health,  Interest,  Letters,  london 2012 (new page),  Natural Weather,  News & Weather (new page replacement for World News),  World War 2 

Millions of Chinese rural migrants denied education for their children

Link to this vi

Parents face dilemma as hereditary registration system limits access to urban services  Tania Branigan in Beijing  The Guardian,  15.03.2010 

Hu Zhongping dreams that one day his young sons may go to university and escape his life of casual manual labour. The aspiration seems increasingly unrealistic. Right now, he would settle for them going to school.

 

Chinese children are entitled to a state education, but not all of them get one.  And the tens of millions born to migrant workers like Hu are among the most vulnerable, owing to a registration system that divides the country's citizens into rural and urban dwellers, and dictates their rights accordingly.

 

Despite spending more than half his life in Beijing, Hu does not enjoy the same access to health, education and social services as his neighbours. And because the hukou – registration – is inherited, neither do his children.  "I wish my kids could go to a state school," says Hu. "Parents always wish their children could receive a better education."

 

The contradictions of the hukou system, designed for a 1950s planned economy, become more painful with every year of China's development.  About 140 million rural migrants are now working in the cities, where average incomes are more than three times than those of the countryside.  Migrants have fuelled the country's spectacular growth but not reaped the benefits. And once they become parents, they face an unpalatable choice.

 

Fifty-eight million children are left behind in the countryside by parents who hope that relatives will raise them lovingly.  Another 19 million remain in the cities – where they are, in effect, second-class citizens. Both groups have poorer academic performance and more behavioural problems than their peers.

 

At present, Hu's eight-year-old twins, Xiaonan and Xiaobei, are studying in the family's cramped one-room apartment, under the guidance of their mother, who left school at 16.

"You need connections to get your kids in [to state school] if you are from other places, and making those connections costs too much money," says Hu. "We can't afford it."

State schools receive no funding for migrant pupils, so often claim to be full.  Others charge illicit "donations" of as much as 6,000 yuan (£590) a term, said Zhang Zhiquan, from the Friends of Migrant Workers group.  That is more than Hu's entire income for the period.

Many families do not qualify anyway, because they lack the right documents. Scrap collectors and street vendors have no employment contracts.

 

That leaves more than a third of migrant children in Beijing – and far more in other cities – dependent on private schools, which usually charge about 600 yuan a term.  Until a few weeks ago, the Hu twins were among these pupils. But their school is one of 30 facing demolition as part of urban development plans. Up to 10,000 children in Beijing will be affected.

 

The education department in Chaoyang district – where most affected schools are based – has said it will help all pupils, increasing capacity at nearby primaries and aiding approved private schools to find new locations.

 

But hundreds have already been sent back to the countryside by parents.  Others – including Xiaonan and Xiaobei – have yet to find new places.  Activists fear that some may fall out of schooling altogether; a study cited by the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based group campaigning for workers' rights, said about 6% of migrant children have never attended school.

 

The demolitions have highlighted the precarious, makeshift nature of much migrant schooling.  At worst, children can end up in low quality, profit-driven institutions that are little more than holding pens.  At best, they rely on individuals such as Ma Ruigang, headmaster of another school on the demolition list.  A migrant himself, he founded the Blue Sky primary school after friends asked him to help educate their children.

 

It's a spartan site with few facilities, but the teachers are dedicated.  Neatly turned out children are chanting from their textbooks as he pokes his head into their classroom. "What sort of country will it be if these children are on the streets instead of in school?" he asks, nodding at his charges.  "Since the children have come with their parents, and their parents are supporting the development of Beijing, their education is a very big issue.  It's not only an issue for their families, but also for the government and nation."

 

Authorities are not indifferent to the problem.  Chaoyang officials donate equipment to the school, and have promised compensation so it can reopen on a site nearby.  But critics say both local and national efforts scratch the surface. "The Chinese government has introduced a raft of policies, laws and regulations [to benefit migrant children]," pointed out a recent report by China Labour Bulletin.

 

"Rural policies have lacked the human and financial resources needed to effectively implement them, while migrant children in the cities still face institutional discrimination based on the [hukou].

 

"The only long-term solution is wide-ranging and systematic reform of the social welfare system and abolition of the hukou system."

 

No one expects that to happen soon, but demands for change are mounting.  Thirteen newspapers recently published a rare joint appeal for wholesale reform – though they were quickly slapped down by propaganda authorities, who scrubbed the editorial from websites.

 

The government has promised an overhaul, but fears drastic changes could lead to migrants flooding cities, putting an unmanageable strain on services and housing and potentially leading to unrest.

 

The hukou also helps authorities to track individuals. And extending services in cities will require massive amounts of extra funding. Others warn that migrants could sign away their rights to farmland too quickly, leaving them with nothing to fall back on if life in the city proves too tough.

 

But many say the government's current plan – allowing rural dwellers to register in smaller urban centres – will do nothing for tens of millions who crossed the country to work in the biggest cities.

 

Another generation of their children will grow up with big ambitions, but only slender prospects.

Rememberance:  2nd anniversary for Wenchuan quake 

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20100512/103050.shtml

Play Video

The Wenchuan earthquake took 87,000 lives two years ago. Our reporter Feng Jinchao went to Beichuan County, one of the worse-affected regions, to see how things have changed in the last 24 months.

It is a land of misery. Two years ago, in this county, the earthquake killed 15-thousand people. It crumbled houses, destroyed the whole town, and changed everyone's world.  Now, mourners gather in the damaged town to pay tribute to their lost relatives. They pile flowers and burn candles and sticks of incense amid the smoke and crackle of exploding firecrackers.

He Yumei, earthquake survivor, Beichuan, said, "I lost most than 10 relatives in the quake, including my husband, my sisters and sister-in-law."  He Yumei cannot forget the horrifying moment. Suddenly, without warning, with a loud sound and a hard shake, houses turned to rubble and her relatives never came out. Now He Yumei lives with her parents-in-law, in a house rented in nearby Mianyang city. Speaking of her future, she seems uncertain.

He Yumei said, "I'm already 44. I don't know what to do. I think what I can do is take good care of old ones and children. I can't think of anything else."

He Yumei is one of the many that has sad stories to tell. For them, the past is what they want to forget, but is also what they want to remember.

20 kilometers away from Beichuan County, a new town has been built by the aid from Shandong Province. It is the resettlement for the Beichuan people, called Yongchang County. East China's Shandong Province, poured more than 700 million dollars into rebuilding this new county.

Sha Xiangdong, director of Aid-Beichuan Construction office,said, "This is the second project aided by our city. It could provide 44 buildings, 891 houses for the Beichuan people. We are constructing buildings under the principles of high quality and low cost. We plan to deliver the houses by the end of August."

The new town features all modern functions, such as a water supply plant, a hospital, a retirement home, and an elementary school. The town will be the new home for nearly 40-thousand Beichuan residents who lost their homes in the quake.

Construction worker Liu Fei said, "We build these houses under top quality requirements. As a worker from Shandong, I came to Beichuan and saw the horrible scene. I want to finish the construction quickly so the Beichuan people can move in as soon as possible."

The Beichuan people will be living in their new homes this year. It's a new beginning for these people. Although it is not easy for them to forget what they have encountered, as time goes by, finally the victims will rest in peace, and the survivors should embrace their new life.

 

--------------------0--------------------

I was born in January, 1949 on the eve of the Chinese Spring Festival, in Hastings, England.  It is a small seaside   fishing town and holiday resort on the south coast of England.

Brought up with my sister in a small village 80km south-east of London, my mother looked after our home, and my father was a primary school teacher.  Life in the countryside provided rich and varied experiences, which have influenced me to this day.

In Bexhill-on-sea, a neighbouring seaside resort, I was educated at a Technical and Grammar school,  I moved to Newton Park College, Bath and Bristol University from 1968 - 1972, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Education and Teaching Diploma, with distinction.  I also obtained qualifications in Secondary School Management and a Diploma in Special Education, amongst other things.

My early career was concentrated in the West of England, mostly in Comprehensive education, (the equivalent of middle school education in China). However, I also taught adult students at The City of Bath Technical College, which is now part of Bath University.

Between 1974 - 1978, I was an examiner for the South West Examinations Board.  At the same time, I was asked to set up and present courses for a nation-wide Adult Literacy Programme, in co-operation with the Government and BBC, as there were, and probably still are, a significant number of adults in England & Wales who were unable to read and write properly.

Throughout my career, I have worked on a number of projects for radio and television, both in the UK and China.  My one outstanding ambition is to produce a VCD in China to help young people with English, that they may achieve their future dreams.

The purpose of this website, is to help and encourage Chinese students and Chinese Teachers of English (CTE's) cope with the problems of learning to speak or teach natural English.

The information it contains has been selected by an experienced team of people, and relates to the difficulties students and CTE's face, dealing with English as a second language. There are also other related topics which, I hope, will be of general interest.  I hope that you find it useful and enjoy browsing it's pages.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome through the help-line contact address; e-mail eeenquiries@ymail.com   Answers will appear on the website . Your confidentiality is assured.  Nothing which identifies you as an individual will be published.

The Game of Life is a great and rewarding experience, through good times and bad.  So, who knows what lies ahead?  For me, working with students and teachers in China is... 'Always a pleasure...never a chore!'

'Always a pleasure...never a chore!'

under review....

  www.enjoyingenglish2008.org is a replacement website for www.enjoyingenglish.com  due to technical and logistical factors beyond our control.  We also operate and manage http://enjoyingenglish.blog.163.com, http://englishinterest.blog.163.com and http://internationdragon.blog.163.com , both of which will become Archive stores for material which has been updated or replacedpany, we.

To achieve a general progression with the Company, we have opened a new website for International visitors: - www.enjoyingenglish.info . This website will remain in use for Chinese students, and will become a permanent 'Archive' for oler features.  Our e-mail address for all correspondence is: enjoyingenglishinfo@yahoo.com  

During the coming weeks, we will be up-loading hundreds of articles, features and information in time for the new school year, through to 2009.  We apologise for the delay, and hope that you will understand our position. 

Above is our Mission Statement; the things in which we believe, and the reason behind our decision to make this source of information free for the use of students and their teachers of English as a second language.  It is free of copyright restrictions for most items and has access to a huge range of information which affects your daily lives, from our supporters and sponsors via their websites.

At the top is a menu of pages relating to many aspects of student's lives; Problems with English, Business English, Job Hunting, Money Management, as well as features of Cultural and General Interest.  Each has a number of 'drop-down' pages on related subjects.

World Wide Webs is a source of websites for general interest.  Ed Webs is specifically focused on websites of Educational interest to students and teachers, including matters relating to the Internet.  Between them, there are more than 1,500 website addresses, which increases and is updated regularly.  

At the head of this page, you will find recent 'News' and Updated material.  Our website is regularly updated.  We welcome your contributions; comments, suggestions, and articles.  Please send information to the appropriate e-mail address.  You'll find all the information you need on other pages and in Contact Us. 

We hope to have a group of correspondents around the world, giving regular input about what is happening in their lives, and in their regions.  You'll find all the details on respective pages and on Contact Us.  To put it simply, if you are unable to find the information you need, get in touch with us.

Alan Cooper & Wang Bo.  Revised: October, 2009.

NEWS LETTERS

 

Newsletter: March, 2009.  Hello everyone ... time for another update, particularly for those I have not kept in touch with during the past months.  Time seems in such short supply, and everyone is so busy doing their own thing as economies tighten across the world.

 

In a few weeks, I will have been back in the UK for one year.  It's not a situation that I am very comfortable with, or pleased about.  However, it has enabled me to take more care of my mother as she approaches 90 years old.  Although she is in pretty good health for her age, she is very forgetful, but the doctor says that she still has all her faculties and isn't suffering from dementia or Altziemers - you might have to look that one up, but basically, it is loss of control, often associated with old age.

 

Sadly, she has had to endure a lengthy legal battle over an inheritance which was left to her almost 4 years ago, and isn't resolved due to her negligent lawyers, who seem to see her as an easy way to make money.  That is now somewhat under control, but I have had to make complaints to the former Law Society, who are responsible for the behaviour of solicitors.

 

My sister too, has caused her considerable anxiety, as she has been seriously ill for more than two years.  It makes life very difficult at times.

 

Enough of my worries.  As I am confined to a home-base, I have been able to spend a great deal of time with the website:  www.enjoyingenglish2008.org , and developing the business in the UK.  The website has been completely revised and contains masses of information.  It is light on English topics at the moment, as all the prepared info remains in China.  I hope that if I am able to return to China on the right terms during the early summer, we can transfer operations to China, retaining the UK operation as a base.

 

Interest from sponsors is hotting-up, with pledges during the next financial year... ie., from April, 2010 and beyond.  Most of that will be directed towards funding our initiatives in rural China.  However, due to the economic turn-down and drop in the value of £ (GBP) against RMB, we had to revise our plans.  Instead of a 5 year plan, we have had to increase it through to 2016 or 17.  Details are outlined on 'An Over~view' on RED DRAGON.

 

More on our Aims & Objective. To improve the educational and career opportunities for students in the countryside, we have contacted the Leaders of Henan Province and representatives from the Ministry of Education in London.  Agreement and co-operation with them would solve the visa / work and residency problems. 

We feel it would be an important development for the future of students, particularly as the world economic position is so serious, and is likely to remain so for several years.  Details are summarised in a feature entitled 'An Over~view' on the RED DRAGON page, and we will keep you informed as discussions progress. 

 A positive point of my return, is that I have seen all 4 seasons flourish and die, as nature moves though the year.  In some ways, it has been quite nostalgic, re-lighting memories of the past, but it doesn't dampen my longing to return to work in China.

Primroses and bluebells carpeted the woods and roadside verges when I returned in May, 2008.  They are now returning, as trees display a pale green glimmer, threatening to burst into leaf. 

Ancient woodland, which in some places dates back a thousand years, is blanketed in wild anemones, a small, delicate, pale cream fairy-like flower which looks like Tinkerbell's hat.  The recent sunshine and warm temperatures have caused the countryside to awaken, following a long, damp, cold and miserable winter, broken only by a few bursts of cold sunny days during January and early February. 

Our seasons, unlike many parts of the world, are roughly the same length.  It doesn't follow, however, that our weather is predictable.  Far from it.  We can have gloriously warm days as late as November, and be showered with snow in June.  I suppose we should be grateful that we don't normally suffer the extremes of many other countries; - earthquakes, floods or famine.

I do, however, appreciate the closeness of the sea, with it's varied moods.  Sometimes, blue, quiet and mirror-like, with the suns rays glistening, bouncing on the gentle waves, with dolphins playing in the shallows shortly after dawn or before dusk from April to September.  At other times, it can be grey, dark-green and menacing.  Thundering waves crashing onto the shore, throwing tons of pebbles across the promenade, as if in a furious, rebellious temper.  I feel like that sometimes, and it makes me relax. 

I walk along the 5km sea front at Hastings, my hometown, three times a week from St Leonards-on-Sea, where 100+ years ago a designer had dreams of creating an exotic, spacious new town in a grand style.  Only a magnificent Square was ever completed due to economic problems.  It has been re-furbished, but most of the 120+, 3 floor magnificent town houses with basement and servant's quarters in the roof, have been converted into more affordable apartments. 

Five kilometres to the east, past crumbling Victorian seaside terraced villas, is the ancient fishing harbour and old town.  Fishing boats, small trawlers line the beach with net drying houses the design of which has changed little over 1,200 years, since the times of the Vikings, stand ominously blacked with tar on the shoreline, above the high water mark. 

A lifeboat station stands on The Stade.  Now fully modernised, and an important contribution to Coastguard Rescue services, it is on 24 hour call-out, 365 days of the year.  My mother's family have been associated with Lifeboats for generations.  It is the Charity which first introduced me to fund-raising activities.

 That's it for the moment.  I hope this find you well, prospering and contented.  I hope to see you soon.

 Best wishes

Alan. March, 2009.

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Christmas Newsletter, 2008.

from Alan Cooper  (UK)

 

Hi everyone...

 

I hope this finds you fit and well. 

 

I have resorted to the PC for this brief encounter, as I'm very busy with work on the website, looking for sponsors, and keeping an eye on my mother who, although now well into her late eighties, is reasonable fit, but terribly forgetful at times.  It's sad to watch her sometimes, and I think that she often regrets that she can't do the things she used to. 

 

I'm still in the UK and hope to return to China to prepare for the summer season of lectures and other courses in late February.  I'm still waiting for information from the Chinese Embassy in London as to what I will and won't be able to do.

 

Locally, in the small village where my mother lives, our local government representatives, forge ahead with their own objectives, for their own interests, and with little consideration for the needs of local people. 

 

We are blessed with another scourge on the District Council - Cllr Sue Prochak, nee Davies or Hardy (married name).  An unattractive woman, burdened with a craggy face, large eyes and lank, straight greying hair, reminiscent of an ageing floor-mop.  

 

On December 5th, the village staged an rather un-inspiring 'Christmas Capers', with a grand Parade of 'Act-lets'  - kids dressed up as reindeer, with flashing horns of eco-friendly blue flashing fairy lights.  Have you ever seen reindeer with blue flashing horns, for heaven's for sake?  Better they had been polar bears on an iceberg in the Channel off Hastings.

 

 

AC at the SaRLAP Info Presentation.   Anyway, back to Mrs, Miss, Ms H / D / P.  I was manning the SaRLAP - Salehurst and Robertsbridge Local Action Plan information table in the United Reform Church.  It's a somewhat ineffective committee composed of Community conscious individuals who harp on constantly about the pressure they suffer by being on committees.  So, naturally, they form another Committee to solve the problem.

 

The District Councillor arrived, suitably dressed in a long red skirt, and matching red coat, and fetching Santa hat, with an un-eco-friendly brim with flashing lights - I guessed she  a must have been masquerading as Mary Christmas! Ha..ha!  Her festive outfit was topped with a bright yellow day glow jacket with the words 'Rother District Council' emblazoned on a fluorescent white strip on the back.  How we laughed!

 

Better she ride on a refuse collection truck in the back of a 747 with no gas!  My God!  Have you ever seen Santa dressed in a day glow jacket?

 

It has been good to be able to spend time with a couple of old friends... friendships which go back years - since we were only 4  or 5 years old in one case. We meet for a couple of hours every other Tuesday for a drink in one of the oldest pubs in the country. 

 

'The Seven Stars' in the village High Street dates back to about 1380.  This year we are launching our first ever, Annual Revolutionary Dinner on December 29th.. a carvery with various meats including; turkey, beef and gammon (pig - cooked with French mustard, honey and fruit-apricots), and half a dozen different vegetables.  We'll wash it down with a couple of glasses of Santas Ale - a locally specially produced traditional .beer..

 

The proposed presentation next year is 'Enjoying English - The Experience!'  A riotous 150 minute romp through the problems students have learning to speak English naturally. I hope that we will be on the road from Mid May to October.  With 6 / 7 songs and a Kentucky Line dance, it resembles a seaside summer show, crossed pantomime.  It's a new presentation , as a development of previous work.  I love doing presentations and courses with students or business.  Although very tiring, it's great fun and goes down a storm. 

 

Plans are still underway to produce a DVD for the late Autumn or Christmas / New Year 2009 / 10.  We are aso thinking of doing something with 'YOU TUBE'.  It'll make a change from the usual stuff DVD companies and the BBC drag up every year for their Christmas offings!

 

A usual comment is 'We expected something a little more conventional.'  Well... forget that!

 

Business with 'Enjoying English' is fine and we are getting support from some influential sponsors.  In response to visitors to the site, we have undergone a major re-construction during the past month or so, in an effort to make the website simpler and more user-friendly.  We are now receiving between 5 - 7,000 hits a week, which is very encouraging, and the reaction from visitors is very positive.  Please take time to take a brief look when you have time, and send feedback.

 

www.enjoyingenglish2008.org 

 

You'll find loads of information, but take a look at the Activities Album on the drop down menu under 'HOME & News', and the contrasting information between the UK and China under their respective headings.

 

I have to get on with other things, and need to catch up with friends on a personal note over the next week to 10 days.  Whatever you are doing , and wherever you are, I send my best wishes for Chrismas and the New Year, and hope that you have a productive and prosperous 2009.

 

Merry Christmas

  

Alan.

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Hel

lo everyone

 

News Letter - February 2008.

 

2007 was a year of mixed blessings with some very pleasant high points interlaced with rather more than our fair share of frustrations and delays.

 

Red Dragon International Partnership and 'Enjoying English' are established and registered but there were problems at the beginning of the year establishing the website as the guy in the UK who was setting up the website suddenly ceased functioning without any explanation.  He failed to send the information necessary to be able to continue with that work.

 

Wang Bo managed to side-step the problem by setting up a Blog to communicate important immediate information to students.  It contains a fraction of the features which are prepared and stored or written and awaiting installation.  You can sample some of the information on:  http://enjoyingenglish.blog.163.com   It will at least give you some indication of the direction we are heading, but the information is presented in a rather long list, rather than the itemised sections we had originally planned.

 

We have located someone locally who is prepared to establish a new website along the lines we had intended and hope that it will be on-line around April, 2008.  That puts the operation approximately 12 months behind schedule.  The Student Helpline is at least functioning satisfactorily.

 

'Enjoying English' publications.  The first of 4 -  'Enjoying English - Problems Solved'  is completed and with a number of publishers for consideration.  Having spent a pleasant Spring Festival at Wang Bo's home in the mountains last year, in the peace and tranquillity of the countryside, I was able to 75% complete the first draft of the second in the series,  'Enjoying English - Playing With Words', which as the title suggests deals with difficulties with vocabulary.  As an amusement from my notes and enquiries from students, I doodled with a long article entitled  'Rude Word English',  but I doubt that it will ever get into print, although I think it is very amusing.  At least work on the publications is on schedule but publishers financial commitments will probably delay publication until the Spring of 2009 at the earliest.

 

Red Dragon's commitment to improving opportunities for students in the countryside is also experiencing some delays.  We have backing from some major international organisations including CCTV 9, The Telegraph and Readers Digest.  That softens the disappointment.  Our lawyers are considering a direct appeal to the Ministry of Education, but we shall see.

 

A highlight during the summer, and a departure from my usual work with university students, was involvement with a new venture with middle school students.  Although somewhat apprehensive at first, it proved to be a refreshing change, and an experience which was well received and one that I enjoyed.  It seems likely that it will be regenerated during 2008 and that we will be involved.  I am looking forward to that.

 

For the rest of the year, all the projects are on-going.  I hope to take some time out for a long overdue visit back to the UK, sometime in the next couple of months.  A new Special Presentation for university students which lasts a little over 2 hours has been prepared and tested at a couple of universities.  Apart from the important information it contains, it is also very entertaining.  It is very stimulating to have an audience in a lecture theatre of 300+ students, filled with laughter.  The new 'show' is highly interactive and has been well received.  I hope that it will be 'on the road' from May and throughout the summer.

 

As you know, we thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected work at the Core Volunteers Winter Training Session in Beijing.  It would be an additional bonus, if we find that we can work on the project nearer the event; perhaps even during the Olympics themselves.

 

I apologise for the delay in writing.  We spent the Spring Festival holiday at Wang Bo's home in the mountains.  I was stricken with a fever and very high temperature during most of the holiday, with a re-currence when I arrived back in Shijiazhuang last week.  You might remember, that the heal on my boots broke on the last day and we couldn't find a shop or repairer.

 

On arrival in Xinyang, we were confronted by slush (melting snow), and ice.  140km later, near Wang Bo's home we got stuck and had to walk the last distance through thick snow.  I was frozen.  However the good news is that the plum and cherry blossom are in bloom; so Spring is not so far away.

 

So many people I haven't seen recently due to mine and their commitments.  I do however, think of you, and will make an effort to catch up, when time permits.  In the meantime, best wishes and good luck during the Year of the Rat.

 

Alan Cooper.

February, 2008.

 

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Hello everyone

 

Sorry I have had to resort to a Newsletter again.  I have managed to send personal messages to a number of friends, but after a three week break, a mountain of work demands my attention.

 

The Spring Festival.  On the 12th of February, I left Shijiazhuang to spend the holiday with Wang Bo's family in the mountains to the south of Xinyang, 100km or so, north of Wuhan. We decided to take the bus, as trains were over-whelmingly crowded.

 

We soon left the expressway, heading for Xincai open country roads at a comfortable 50km / hour, surrounded assorted travelling friendly people; farmers and migrant workers and their families, going home for the holiday, with the floor covered with discarded sesame seed pods, cigarette ends, fruit peelings and spit.  At least we had a seat.

 

At about 6.30pm, we stopped briefly to stretch our legs and for toilets.  Some of the bushes were very prickly.  At 10.30 we stopped again for dinner at a roadside farm, converted into a stop-over.  Traditionally based on a square with a well in the centre, all the rooms except two,  had been converted into dining areas, with low tables and benches. An adjacent room contained 8 bunk beds, and another, a kitchen.  Flames from the cooking pans, flashed in the darkness.  An ingenious use of empty plastic 5 ltr oil containers, had been converted into lampshades, giving cover to the otherwise bare lightbulbs strung around the yard.

 

The owners family must have been on to a good thing.  Two long-distance busses were parked up in the yard, with more than 100 hungry travellers onboard.  At 5RMB a throw, the expansive menu of noodles and steamed bread, or more noodles, must have made him a small fortune.  As we left, another bus pulled in.

 

It was late morning before we arrived home.  Although I had slept reasonably well on the journey, I slept for most of the afternoon and for 11 hours overnight.

 

Next morning, as dawn broke, in the early morning sunshine, I took an stroll across the valley.  I was surprised how green everything was.  The north and south facing valleys last October had been filled with the remnants of rice stubble after the harvest.  Many now had been ploughed and were ready for planting. On the valley sides, small fields of lush green vegetables were visible, flanked by sweet smelling pine trees. 

 

The holiday was approaching.  On the 17th, the first day of the holiday, to my surprise, the local market in a village some 5km away, was in full swing, and very busy.  There was a jovial atmosphere everywhere; people eating, chatting, playing pool, exchanging local gossip and smoking. 

 

I rather liked the look of a striped shirt - it will make you look younger, they said! - some chance!!!   I had my eye on a couple of ties, one of which was a 'dragon tie' in black and gold, which I wanted for forth-coming presentations.  My Chinese name is Long Xiang Fu - commonly known as 'FuFu'.  'Long' means 'dragon'.  But the shopkeeper, wouldn't negotiate the price.  We eventually persuaded him to see reason after the holiday.  They were right. I do look younger,especially when I take my glasses off.

 

Celebrating the Chinese New Year is quite a different experience for someone from another culture; family gatherings, dozens of visitors and visiting- family and neighbours on nearby farms, offering season's greetings, talking, eating, feasting, drinking and playing games.

 

It occurs to me that the commercialism of Christmas and the New Year in the west, coupled with the materialistic need to own houses, cars, fine homes, clothes and all the other fripperies of 21st century living, has destroyed the basic human instinct of family bonding, friendship and caring for other members of the community. I suppose progress will come to China sooner or later.

 

I have seen the phenominal displays for The Lantern Festival in major cities on television.  I have experienced celebrations local to our home, and watched the night sky light up over Shijiazhuang from the balcony of our luxury pent-house.  But nothing compares to the magic of the celebrations in the countryside.

 

Firecrackers and aerial bombs exploded from before dawn, continuing spasmodically throughout the day.  From 6pm into the evening, the sky was ablaze across and round the valleys for miles.  Explosions against the start-lit heavens, and against the backdrop of distant mountains, forests, reflected in the lakes and flooded rice-fields.

 

Our family display, with neighbouring relatives, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, was spectacular and ground-shakingly, ear-shatteringly noisy.  Small fires in derelict buildings and in nearby undergrowth, flared.  Firecrackers errupted like intermittent burst of machine gun fire from an ancient Mauser.

 

The sky above our heads was a canopy of stars, flashes, explosions of green, red and white, whizzing and twirling across the night sky, accompanied by streams of golden rain creating an umbrella 25 - 50 m across of 'flaming flowers'.  On returning to the house, I sat for an hour on the roof watching in amazement, enjoying the spectacle surrounding me.  I counted more than 200 different sources of celebration and gave up trying to count as more communities and families joined in.

 

That's my experiences of the holiday.  A very memorable, happy occasion accompanied by far too much food.  Back in Shijiazhuang now, it is time to sort out the website, finalise business arrangements and get things moving ahead of an expected very busy period running through into the autumn.

 

Thank you for your patience, friendship and support.

 

Best wishes, wherever you are and whatever you are doing

 

Alan.

March, 2007.

 

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Alternative Education: Earn As You Learn.  2009.02.28.  Students and their parents often think that College or University Education is the only route to a successful career.  However, as the worldwide economic recession deepens, and the hunt for jobs becomes more competitive, it's worth considering alternatives.  In the UK, this week is National Apprenticeship Week.

Don't let predjudice about apprenticeships or vocational study get in the way of clear thinking.  Andy Powell of 'Edge', which champions practical and vocational learning, including apprenticeships, says that we all need to tackle educational snobbery.

'The tradional bias,' he says', against vocational qualifications results in too many people evaluating personal success by academic achievement.'

An Edge survey found that 35% of parents think that vocational learning is for those who don't do well at school - but, in reality, it's simply an alternative route to career qualifications.  Infact, if you don't want to do any more college-related study, think about an apprenticeship.

As well as workplace training, they involve some study, either in college or your own time.  So, you need to be prepared to put in extra time after work.  see: www.edgecampaign.co.uk 

Like most qualifications, apprenticeships are available at various levels.  In the UK they usually begin at age 16 - 19, but there are no limits - at least one, is being taken by a man aged 60.  Again, in the UK, they cover a range of 80 subjects from accountancy to football, business studies and vetinary (animal) nursing, so forget tht they are only for young boys or people with no academic ability.

 

An apprenticeship lasts for as long as it takes to gain competence in the job.  That's usually 1 - 3 years, but there are no limits.  They are usually 'paid employment', with the company or organisation paying tuition costs.  I think that, although it may not be generally known, similar situations occur in countries worldwide.

 

For an insight into the range of study available in the UK, visit: www.apprenticeships.org.uk

 

Case Studies.  The following are examples of the way 3 young people in the UK have advanced their career opportunities through apprenticeships in different ways. 

 

DT male, aged 25 completed an advanced apprenticeship in Business Administration, whilst working for a large Corporation in northern England.  He is now doing similar studies in Customer Services working as a Customer & Information Addministrator.  He says that his studies had been tailored around his job, and hopes to go on to do a degee. 'I like the mix of work and study,' he said.

 

EE female, aged 26 is a Weapons Technician with the Royal Air Force.  She took an advanced apprenticeship in Aerosystems Engineering.  Her studies have taken 3 years, and she is now qualified to work on operations and abroad.

 

JN male, 19 was very well qualified at 16 when he left school.  His school assumed that he would progress to university, but, 'I wanted to something more practical,' he said, 'and start earning money, without getting into student debt.'  By next August, he will have compled a number of courses with an International Chemical Company.  He says, 'Apprenticeships give you a real chance to show employers whaat you can do.'

 

In conclusion.  There are clearly other roads to career success, other than through university.  Large companies offer opportunities, although there may be an obligation to remain with the company for 2 or 3 years after graduation.  Internationally, The Armed Forces of a country, offer ways of obtaining skills, whilst offering a salary, accommodation and comradeship.

 

Explore all your opportunities, and choose the one which best suits your circumstances.

Compiled from various sources including: Edge, Government & Education information, apprenticeships.org, Linda Whitney (Journalist) and agencies.  AC. 2009.02.28.

 

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Enjoying English Limited 4 Saxon Terrace,  Robertsbridge,  East Sussex,  UK.  TN32.5AF. telephone: 00 + 44 + 07531219108                                                                                                                                                                                           2009.03.30.   Minister Zhao Ji  Ministry of Education Government of the People's Republc of China 27 Damucang Hutong Xidan Beijing.  100816   Dear Minister Zhao Ji   Enjoying English Limited.  Website:  www.enjoyingenglish2008.org   Our company is established in the UK and we hope to register in China during the summer of 2009.   Past experience tells us that The Chinese Government is making improvements in the countryside.  Part of our business is to help improve educational and career opportunities for students in rural areas.    We would like to run a Pilot / Trial scheme in Henan Province from September, 2009.    Please visit:  www.enjoyingenglish2008.org  and refer to RED DRAGON page for full details outlined on 'An Over~view'.   I look forward to hearing from you,   Kind regards   Alan Cooper & Wang Bo.. Directors:  Enjoying English. c  President Hu Jintao (personal)     Premier Wen Jia Bao (personal     Qi Pinwei - First Secretary to Minister of Education -  London

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