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Sunday, 27 May 2012
Crazy stuff
When I was in China - I think perhaps the second 'tour of duty' I heard that Li Yang, the creator of Crazy English was holding a rally at Yuexiu. I had not heard a lot about this program until then, but read up about it.
His story, which he told at the rally, was that he had failed a number of English exams, and frustrated he went out somewhere and shouted out his words in English, and found out that he was able to learn them better. He shouted out some of the things that he had to learn, subsequently went on to have great success in his English exams, and thus created "Crazy English" giving talks and rallies all around China. Subsequently he had a successful business and has become very wealthy.
On the day of the rally at Yuexiu, I was keen to find out all about it, and hid in the gardens near the outdoor stage where he was presenting. Strangely enough, at one point, he had the crowd all yelling out and he took a short break from the stage, wandered into the garden and 'found' me. He dragged me (well, I was reluctant!!!) on stage, and I had to speak a little. I can't recall now what it was - it was all over in a few minutes but his staff thanked me and gave me a signed photograph of him, which is probably somewhere in my archives.
At the university there were several Crazy English groups, as the students tried to overcome their shyness and gain confidence in their English pronunciation. I worked with several of them. It was very crazy, as some of the stuff that was in their books was stupid. Many words of power - typical Chinese 'anthems' I suppose.
It is nearly two years since I have even thought about Crazy English, until today, when I was watching an ABC program featuring stories about Asia. One of the stories was about Li Yang abusing his wife, American born Kim Lee.
Apparently, he is accused of bashing his wife, and eventually she came out and told the story on Weibo (microblog popular in China), and as a result has 'opened a can of worms'. It is believed that more than 1 in 4 wives in China face domestic violence. Remember, this culture has had a long history of treating their women differently than in the west. Read any book about life in China, and you will understand more.
Reading an article in the Shanghaist website is interesting - suggesting Li Yang did not marry his wife for love or romance, but as an experiment. Read it here.
According to the story, Kim Lee, was prepared to stay with him, if he went to therapy, which he subsequently refused after initially agreeing to.
In any case, it has raised the issue of domestic violence - and this is being discussed more widely in China.
Article in Daily Mail
Article in Huffington Post
Article People's Daily on-line
So, will China legislate to make domestic violence illegal?
His story, which he told at the rally, was that he had failed a number of English exams, and frustrated he went out somewhere and shouted out his words in English, and found out that he was able to learn them better. He shouted out some of the things that he had to learn, subsequently went on to have great success in his English exams, and thus created "Crazy English" giving talks and rallies all around China. Subsequently he had a successful business and has become very wealthy.
On the day of the rally at Yuexiu, I was keen to find out all about it, and hid in the gardens near the outdoor stage where he was presenting. Strangely enough, at one point, he had the crowd all yelling out and he took a short break from the stage, wandered into the garden and 'found' me. He dragged me (well, I was reluctant!!!) on stage, and I had to speak a little. I can't recall now what it was - it was all over in a few minutes but his staff thanked me and gave me a signed photograph of him, which is probably somewhere in my archives.
At the university there were several Crazy English groups, as the students tried to overcome their shyness and gain confidence in their English pronunciation. I worked with several of them. It was very crazy, as some of the stuff that was in their books was stupid. Many words of power - typical Chinese 'anthems' I suppose.
It is nearly two years since I have even thought about Crazy English, until today, when I was watching an ABC program featuring stories about Asia. One of the stories was about Li Yang abusing his wife, American born Kim Lee.
Apparently, he is accused of bashing his wife, and eventually she came out and told the story on Weibo (microblog popular in China), and as a result has 'opened a can of worms'. It is believed that more than 1 in 4 wives in China face domestic violence. Remember, this culture has had a long history of treating their women differently than in the west. Read any book about life in China, and you will understand more.
Reading an article in the Shanghaist website is interesting - suggesting Li Yang did not marry his wife for love or romance, but as an experiment. Read it here.
According to the story, Kim Lee, was prepared to stay with him, if he went to therapy, which he subsequently refused after initially agreeing to.
In any case, it has raised the issue of domestic violence - and this is being discussed more widely in China.
Article in Daily Mail
Article in Huffington Post
Article People's Daily on-line
So, will China legislate to make domestic violence illegal?
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