CHINESE TEACHER - PLEASE CONTACT US HERE NOW!!!!!!

Good background info, Lord E.

One thing I'd add to what has already been said is that the whole point of their being here is that they are learning English and are nowhere near mastery yet. The kind of information-gathering (which forum, which title, which spelling, etc.) that we're putting out in various threads take a lot more facility with the English language to find and comprehend than they likely possess, even if they had enough time (and I agree it's very likely that they have very little time).

yitwail, I've been getting thank you's on almost all of the answers I've offered.

There is often a one to two-week delay, which seems to relate to class/lab time/availability.

IThere were 50 in each class, and the ages ranged from children of thirteen up to adults in their 40's and 50's. In her classroom there were three old computers, and the internet service was not exactly broadband quality. Her own personal emails took three days to arrive from the UK, and another three days to return. If the emails contained certain "trigger" words, such as "freedom" or "democracy", the word or whole sentence would be kept as chinese script, or would just simply disappear.
If an email contained the word tiananmen, it would be guaranteed not to arrive.

That as may be Yit, but I honestly feel that they are not really using A2K to ask questions in the hope of getting responses anyway. I think their teacher(s) is teaching them how to use a computer, using "English".
If they get a response, they would probably look on it as a very exciting bonus. The magic machine is able to converse with mystical people from "the west".

I would imagine that they don't really have a clue as to what one of our responses actually says, but they are nevertheless thrilled that their question has been phrased and spelt with sufficient skill, as to be understood by an English speaking person.

If one tries to elicit dialogue with them, past their initial formality of a thank you, it generally falls a bit flat.

They'll get better.

LE, the teacher (of at least one of the students) has asked to see the responses ... click ...

Lord Ellpus wrote:

That as may be Yit, but I honestly feel that they are not really using A2K to ask questions in the hope of getting responses anyway. I think their teacher(s) is teaching them how to use a computer, using "English".
If they get a response, they would probably look on it as a very exciting bonus. The magic machine is able to converse with mystical people from "the west".

I would imagine that they don't really have a clue as to what one of our responses actually says, but they are nevertheless thrilled that their question has been phrased and spelt with sufficient skill, as to be understood by an English speaking person.

If one tries to elicit dialogue with them, past their initial formality of a thank you, it generally falls a bit flat.

They'll get better.

All good points, and especially the reference to excitement. I have gotten quite a few "thank yous," and a few have mentioned that the person was excited at the response. In particular, one student asked if anyone could tell them about beautiful cities in Asia. I thought of Kyoto, and put in a brief description of the significance of Kyoto in Japanese history, especially with reference to Buddhist establishments, and posted quite a few nice images which i was able to get online of Kyoto, especially of the temples. The student responded with very polite thanks, and said she had been excited to see the pictures. I guess i provided many thousands of words of response with those few pictures.

The Google.com search engine has been blocked in most parts of China, as Beijing steps up its efforts to restrict the public's access to information, a Paris-based media watchdog said.

Internet users in many major Chinese cities have had difficulty connecting to the uncensored international version of Google for the past week, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement received here Wednesday.

Aside from the Google.com search engine, Reporters Without Borders said the blocking was being gradually extended to the Google News and Google Mail services.

Software such as Dynapass, Ultrasurf, Freegate and Garden Networks is normally used to gain access to news and information that is blocked by the firewall isolating China from the rest of the worldwide web. Bill Xia, the US-based exile who created Dynapass, said the jamming of these programs had reached "an unprecedented level" and he was convinced the authorities were deploying considerable resources to achieve it.

No shower, no bath. Temperature was averaging 90f during the day, and by day two she threw caution to the wind, stripped naked in her "kitchen" (big clear window to heavily populated yard) and washed herself from the sink. Now...things must have been desperate for her to do this....she's ENGLISH for god's sake!