Your Goals, Your Experience

Adam J. Browne | University of Lancashire UK

LHCEC Teaching program in Hunan gave me the opportunity to teach at Jishou University. I think that this is a program that has the potential to really help you become a better person. As for me, i think there were various reasons that it was good for me. 

This was my first serious job that included being responsible for large groups of students. Moving from being a student whose only responsibility was to finish essays to being a teacher who must take care of his students and ensure that they can benefit from your classes was something i needed: this job pushed me to become a better person, someone who could, without hypocrisy, stand in front of his students and guide them - at the age of twenty one it was a luxurious kick in the bum to become an adult. 

Living in a very different political system and culture is also challenging. China is a successful and important country in the world now. To live there and see what it is like is, without question, great for understanding the world today. So, if you're interested in understanding the global world more, or simply politics, i think the experience  of living in China would be valuable.

The opportunity to learn a new language is something I embraced. After living here for 2 years, i am getting close to HSK 3 Chinese. I think Chinese is a very challenging and unique language. So, i have enjoyed trying to learn the language; yet, i also found the hanzi 汉字 quite beautiful and interesting once i learned more characters.  So, if you are the kind of person who likes to challenge themselves, you may enjoy learning Chinese.

Ultimately, what you get out of this program depends on what you're looking for. This way my take and i hope it was helpful,