Teach English in Mazhuang Zhen - Linyi Shi

The country I’d like to focus my writing on is Hong Kong as it is one of the most bustling and international cities in the world. In my point of view, Hong Kong is a special place since it offers a mixture of both western and asian aspects and cultures. As it was formerly ruled by the United Kingdom, the systems in Hong Kong differ from China, which it also serves as an advantage as the use of English is more universalized in Hong Kong. As a result, education in Hong Kong shares several similarities with the British systems. Firstly, students in Hong Kong must complete a mandatory schooling of a 9-year period aged 6 to 15. Young learners are pushed beyond what they can handle and often cry because of it. Learners at a young age are enrolled to school by parents and they are pushed consecutively to learn to read, write and speak English. Most learners in Hong Kong would most likely complete university at a local university or study abroad in a foreign university overseas. Since the use of English has been around since the British first arrived Hong Kong, it has also always been a general belief that learning and studying English can be tremendously useful for an individual’s success, as well as increasing job prospects and social status. With much of influence from the United Kingdom, accents would be one of the major factors when parents place judgments on their children’s teachers. Local parents tend to think that non-native local teachers who speak with a Hong Kong accent seems less intelligent in the subject. Hence, parents often prefer foreign or native English teachers to educate learners and this sort of attitudes is growing into the mainstream. Education is certainly a prime goal and parents in Hong Kong often invest greatly in their children’s education. Whilst learners in Hong Kong are privileged to receive opportunities for education, it has been becoming more competitive over the years for pupils to excel. Therefore, there are countless private education institutes or tutorial centers opened for business because enrollment for further education will never seize in Hong Kong. In spite of the high tuition and schooling fees, a high percentage of parents can afford the spending in hope to support their children to climb the ladder to success. Although it is understandable for parents to have high hope for their children, it is becoming more of a burden for students to take on. Students in Hong Kong are constantly pushed and forced to study and attend extracurricular activities and sometimes it is too much for them to handle. Receiving a low grade from a class subject appears to be a death-sentence for the students, as they fear of the disappointment and disapproval from their parents. Consequently, there has been tragic suicidal incidents related to high stress from school across districts of Hong Kong, which it can be extremely challenging for young learners in Hong Kong because they are pushed to learn not just English but also Cantonese and Mandarin at the same time. Lastly, another problem for learners in Hong Kong to face is that numbers of schools focus on recital and strictly ask learners to memorize materials and information, and they test learners only base on how well they are able to recite those materials. This kind of teaching is old fashioned and it does not provide opportunities and space for learners to learn creatively and critically. In my opinion, schools in Hong Kong should shift their focus on assisting students to discover their interests as well as increasing their abilities in dealing with different problems so that students can build a stronger character and recollect self-esteem.