Ed and Isla Nicholson: Students are Part of Our Life

Mr. Nicholson revealed some of his secrets on how to develop good relationships with students. "I created my Kai Xin Bible, a notebook to keep information on my students, including all their marks." Kai Xin, which means "happy"in Chinese, is also Mr. Nicholson's Chinese name. "Each time I interact with my students, I make notes. I often join my students on Facebook (a website for sharing information with friends), and email many of them almost every night. I keep a birthday calendar and send them birthday cards."

But how can Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson manage so many requests from students? Isla explained, "Actually that's one of the problems with being a native English teacher here; many students want to talk and  correspond with you. It's difficult to meet everyone's needs. I'm sure I have disappointed some of my students."

When asked for the suggestions on learning English, Isla replied with a smile, "There is no quick way to learn English. You have to put your time and energy into it. The number one way to learn English is to try to speak English after class." Isla said she often sees students reading to the trees or the wall but seldom sees them working together and talking with each other.

Mr. Nicholson couldn't agree with his wife more and shared the following story with us. One day he saw two students reading copies of the same book, but each of them was reading alone. He motioned the two of them to come over to him and found out they were classmates! "I gave them ten yuan and suggested they go to Yunshan Cafe to have a talk in English," he told us with some satisfaction.

Mr. Nicholson uses the idiom "one trick pony" to describe students who limit themselves to one method of English study, such as just reading books alone but never attempting to interact with others.

"Don't be a one trick pony! The only way to learn English is to use it with others as much as possible." Mr. Nicholson emphasized, "Learning language is not for examinations, but for communication."

Mr. Nicholson concluded, "I don't think Isla and I are special cases. There are many dedicated teachers, who, like us, choose to come here because they want to give something. We're not here just to earn money. We want to help out and make a difference. Isla and I are not unique in having this desire."