Episode 64! Who Gets to Choose What's Worth Learning?

As Beijing's weather turns colder, we tackle a fundamental question that emerged from a recent university class: Who should decide what students study in a language classroom? The teacher? The students? The administration?

In this episode, we explore the difference between what's fun, what's necessary, and what's boring but inevitable in language education. Drawing on experience teaching academic writing to 40+ students at a Chinese university, we look at how COVID-era online teaching has shaped current classroom dynamics—and why students who once multitasked across screens now struggle with focused, in-person instruction.

From gamification debates to AI dependency, from the challenges of teaching citation formats to the question of whether musicology could make academic writing more engaging than environmental studies, we consider the messy reality of university-level English language instruction.

Can you make homelessness interesting to study? Should classes be customized to student interests when exam requirements are fixed? And what happens when the curriculum emphasizes reading and writing but largely ignores speaking practice?

No easy answers here—just an honest reflection on the competing demands of education, engagement, and examination in modern language teaching.

Topics discussed:

• The shift from online to in-person teaching post-COVID
• Student engagement and the attention span challenge
• The role of speaking practice in academic English courses
• Choosing curriculum content: teacher autonomy vs. institutional requirements
• AI's growing presence in student work

Tell us what you think, whether you're a student, teacher or in the admin seat, who do you think should make the decisions and how much leeway should be given?

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

00:46 Podcast Background and Evolution

01:57 Challenges in Language Teaching

05:01 Student Engagement and Classroom Dynamics

09:57 Technology in Education

18:23 Curriculum and Subject Relevance

32:09 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Episode 63!

Recorded at the end of October, this episode reflects on how the semester is going, especially given a recent exchange with my manager.

In brief, two suggestions:

1. Plays games with the students
2. Move the students to the front of the classroom.

All good in theory, but this is a university class of 40 students... for academic writing.

This follows a comment by one of my students that I'm one of only teachers that walks around the classroom, the rest of their teachers (professors) just stand at the front and talk from a PPT.

This got me thinking: does all education have to be gamified? And is the university language class any different from other classes?

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:45 Seasonal Changes in Beijing 02:46 Classroom Observations and Challenges 04:02 Gamification in Education 06:34 Classroom Dynamics and Student Engagement 07:52 Teaching Methodologies and CELTA 10:41 Student Expectations and Language Learning 22:23 Technology in the Classroom 27:30 Future of Education and AI 31:36 Conclusion and Listener Engagement

Episode 62!

Liaozhai ZhiYi and the Chinese ghost story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Tales_from_a_Chinese_Studio

Strangles Tales as told through the centuries, what are they, who are they about and where can you find them? And how much Chinese do you need to know to read them?

Translated as "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" and was written / compiled by Pu Songlin, a government official back in the late 1600s and early 1700s, during the Qing dynasty.

Usually deals with ghosts or apparitions, or even shapeshifters (usually snakes or foxes).

Most seem to be stories about ghosts, especially female ghosts, who deceive young men.

Quite a few deal with vices, eg, gambling, drinking, jealousy, greed and Daosit monks.

A few famous stories that have been done a few times, either in a TV series or a movie. Notably Painted Skin (画皮), The Painted Wall (画壁), (Nie Xiaoqian (聂小倩), and Lian Xiang (莲香). Some others I read through include 酒友 (Drinking buddy), 道士 (The Daosit Priest).

Painted Skin (画皮) - A guy falls in love with a demon, then his wife finds out and so they have to call in a priest to exorcise the demon. A battle between good and evil ensues, and what happens with true love?

The Painted Wall (画壁) tells the story of a trio of travellers who stumble upon a temple with a large mural in it. The mural contains images of a supposed "paradise" wherein there are a bunch of young women living in a mountain. Turns out the men can visit the place by going behind the mural and then become ensnared in a bit of godly jealousy.

Nie Xiaoqian (聂小倩) has been remade SEVERAL times and deals with a ghost who died when she was only eighteen. At some point in the afterlife she's coerced into joining some sort of demonic pact to attack a young scholar. It doesn't work, she rebels, and the story goes on from there.

Lian Xiang (莲香) is another type of love story where the guy falls for the ghost but is warned because of the presence of a fox. Foxes, especially white foxes, are often seen a demonic in Chinese literature, and LianXiang tells him as much: "There are foxes that do not harm people, but there are absolutely no ghosts that do not harm people." Turns out the ghost lady is sick and needs to go to the Three Mountains to get some medicine. This story has been properly translated into English.

The Chinese is kind of difficult so it might be easier to read it through in English first.

Stories read in this episode:

Petty Person: https://liaozhai.5000yan.com/20108.html

Dragon Meat: https://liaozhai.5000yan.com/20146.html

Loyal Dog: https://liaozhai.5000yan.com/20128.html

ChangZhi Women: https://liaozhai.5000yan.com/20127.html

Available in English on Project Gutenberg

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/43629

In Chinese at https://liaozhai.5000yan.com/

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction 00:45 Special Episode: Chinese Ghost Stories 01:27 Halloween in China 02:30 Introduction to Pu Song Lin and His Work 04:36 Themes in Chinese Ghost Stories 06:59 Well-Known Stories from the Collection 11:35 Story Analysis and Recommendations 20:02 Reading of Short Stories 34:42 Get in touch

Episode 61!

Answering the question: Why did I come to China? (Part 2) Was it because of a job? The money? A girl?

What are some things to think about if YOU want to move overseas? Do you have to teach English or can you do something else?

And how much language do you need to learn to live in another country? Do you need to live there to become fluent?

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:45 Podcast Background and Evolution

01:27 Challenges and Changes in Podcasting

02:14 Transition to YouTube and Content Strategy

02:51 Personal Journey and Language Learning

03:34 Exploring New Content Ideas

06:05 Listener Questions and Episode Recap

08:23 Why I Came to China

09:47 Life and Work Experiences Abroad

24:17 Settling in China and Future Plans

30:12 Conclusion and Contact Information

The Beijing autumn is in full swing! It's the most colourful time of the year!

Citations, referencing and the idea of academic honesty. What are they? Why are they important? And do you do them properly?

What's it like to visit Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China? How do you get there? What do you need to do? What do you do there? And how long should you stay?

How much Chinese do you need to survive in the country? The expectation and the reality of life in another country.

And why did I come to China in the first place? The answer may surprise you!

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:48 Classroom Setting and Weather

02:36 Beijing's Autumn and Tourist Attractions

06:17 Midterms and Academic Integrity

11:08 Challenges of Teaching Citations

15:52 ChatGPT and Academic Dishonesty

19:18 Visiting Tiananmen Square

30:31 Learning Chinese and Living in China

35:48 Why I Came to China

37:34 Conclusion and Contact Information

China's on its Golden Week break, seven days of no work… but two need to be made up. Why is it like this and what is there to do? Would you dare go anywhere if you know 10,000 other people were doing the same? Tiananmen, the Great Wall, or even Hangzhou's West Lake will ALL be crowded.

On the AI bandwagon, and is it necessary? What are the tools being used these days and how can they help? Do you need to LEARN AI? How can you USE it? And who benefits most: students or teachers?

And how are Chinese classes going? With two courses due October 25, I gotta get a move on. It certainly is much easier to follow along but does that matter?

(And I cancelled my DuChinese membership!)

Comments, concerns, questions, suggestions? Get in touch.

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Holiday Overview

02:47 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival

04:43 China's Holiday Makeup Workdays

13:46 Travel and Tourism During Holidays

15:33 Experiencing Beijing During National Day

20:49 Tourist Attractions and Local Insights

23:22 Fireworks Regulations in Beijing

24:33 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions

26:02 AI and Agentic Workflows

27:15 APIs and Model Context Protocols

31:13 AI in Education

41:07 Language Learning Update

44:53 Conclusion and Farewell

Episode 58!

APP building begins! Let's see where this goes? Have some tasks to complete for the weekend, but this course only lasts one month so gotta get them done. Working on a "to do list" agent, multi agents, language agents, all sorts of agents. We will share these once they are out!

Chinese vs Western Literature. Had a bit of a sitdown with one of the graduate students on campus to get his thoughts on the usefulness of the modern university degree, why he switched majors, and some of the books that he's reading these days.

Books mentioned:

Western Literature

• William Shakespeare – works referenced in general (e.g., Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth)

• Albert Camus – works referenced in general

• Jean-Paul Sartre (mentioned as "thought," the French writer) – read two books in English

• Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude (referred to as "the lonely 100 years")

Chinese Literature

• Laozi (Lao Tzu) – Dao De Jing (referenced as "laws")

• Zhuangzi – works referenced generally as "the cons"

• Sunzi (Sun Tzu) – The Art of War

• Lu Xun – general recommendation for modern Chinese literature

• Mo Yan – Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (also noted that he won the Nobel Prize)

What's up with the Air Raid tests this part weekend in Beijing? Do other cities have these?

And what about those Wedding Stickers??

We're trying out a new newsletter provider, so if you didn't receive this week's email, check your spam folder as it may be in there.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Setup

00:21 Microphone and Recording Setup

03:26 Importance of Backup Recording

05:33 Podcast and Vlog Overview

09:44 Challenges of Learning Chinese

13:54 Chinese vs. Western Literature

20:00 AI Agent Building Course

28:12 Air Raids and Wedding Stickers

35:45 Conclusion and Contact Information

SLV Episode 57

Bus adventures! how was it and why did you do it? From Changping to Shuangjing and back again, will be posting this to YouTube.

Enjoy your freedom! Enjoy your boredom! It'll change! Life goes fast!

Working on citations and referencing in class… honestly no idea how to make this more interesting for the students. All of the punctuation and abbreviations, etc. Ouch. My admiration continues: they're doing this in a second language.

How easy would it be to create an APP? Apparently not so easy. Good for personal use, but not for production scale. Who's going to maintain it? What about security? And is there something that can do it better for cheaper, even including time spent?

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Time stamps:

00:00 Welcome to the Language Vlog Podcast

00:55 Life in Beijing: 11 Years and Counting

02:33 Learning Mandarin Chinese: Tips and Challenges

05:25 Using Italki for Language Learning

06:54 Conversation Practice with Steven

08:49 Bus Adventures in Beijing

21:49 Teaching Argumentative Essays

23:04 The Challenge of Teaching Referencing

23:23 Reflecting on CELTA and ESL Teaching

24:53 University-Level Teaching Challenges

26:18 Importance of Accurate Referencing

27:38 AI and Automation in Education

33:13 Developing AI Tools for Education

35:24 Challenges in App Development

41:53 Future Plans and Membership Program

43:13 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Episode 56!

Changes in China! No more paper tickets! How important are these anyway?!

Didn't go to the Coffee Show this year, it cost 10 RMB!

Australian videos done, where to next?

-Dubai? Canada?

14 more weeks! Who's counting!?

-time is flying!

And Apple is releasing Airpods with built in translation?!

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Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview 03:06 Changes in China: No More Paper Tickets 10:50 Reflections on the Coffee Show 18:50 Semester Updates and Teaching Challenges 23:21 Completion of Australian Videos 26:25 Future Travel Plans 30:36 Apple's New AirPods and the Future of Language Learning 36:23 Conclusion and Listener Engagement

Wanted to shoot this outside but then remembered why: mosquitoes. And heat and humidity.

New week and we're back to school! How is it so far?

What's it like and what will we do? -Neat classroom with screens all over the place -Argumentative Essays -Citations and references

Useful resources: Goodnotes 6, Local Send, ViiTor Translate, Y2Doc

The last of the Australian videos! The Great Ocean Road and back to Beijing.

And the Sept 3rd parade is over, back to normal! … Until National Day Week, that is.

What will this semester bring? Learned a new words 学院好 (the study building number)

Need to find a bike!

And my latest language progress check, how did I do?

Questions? Concerns? Comments? Suggestions? Get in touch! [email protected] (I'm supposed to change this)

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Time stamps: 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 01:16 Beijing's Military Parade and Its Impact 08:11 Classroom Experiences and New Semester 13:01 Teaching Argumentative Essays 22:56 Useful Study Resources 29:00 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Content