As expats stay in China longer, surely they want to do more than just lunching, going to nightclubs ... right? American Nick Dido thinks so and now runs the Expat Learning Center, offering classes like Web design, wine appreciation, and photography.

 

Two years ago an American professor sat at home talking to his wife. He told her that he missed teaching adult English literature classes in the United States and would like to teach them once again in Shanghai.

 

After looking around for a place that offered such a class, he soon discovered that there were none offered part time.

 

It was this realization that led Nick Dido to found the Shanghai Expat Learning Center.

 

"I came to China about five years ago, because it is the most exciting place on Earth. China is the new undisputed land of opportunity, the place where dreams really can come true," says Dido.

 

However, in terms of opportunity, one thing that was missing was the potential for foreigners to pursue their interests and develop their skills in certain areas.

 

"I realized that there was no place for expats to take part-time classes in subjects, such as photography, art, interior design, fashion design, filmmaking, and so one. These kinds of courses are typically available at local colleges back in the West, but nothing was being offered here," explains the New Yorker.

 

Now the center has filled this void by offering classes in over 30 subjects in English.

 

They include courses by professionals, including Chinese traditional medicine, computer basics, world literature, stress management, personal finance, Web design, fine wine appreciation, drawing and painting, even practical German.

 

Dido started his teaching career in summer camps and by coaching younger children when he was just 15. He was a teacher all his working life.

 

After arriving in China, the expat taught kindergarten, courses in corporate training, and then graduate students at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

 

The Expat Learning Center courses are not your typical textbook-approach to learning, but rather a very hands-on, workshop-style, he explains.

 

"All of our classes are taught by foreign instructors who are professionals working in their respective industry. So our fashion-design teacher actually works full-time as a fashion designer and comes to our center to teach part time," he says.

 

Most of the centers' teachers have been found through word of mouth. "People are always calling us, proposing new courses and other wonderful ideas."

 

The teachers act as a window for the students to look into an industry or field and get answers to the questions they have about a subject.

 

"Many of our students take these intensive introduction courses in order to see if it is something that they would like to pursue more seriously, perhaps on a professional level. Several of our students already started their own small-scale business after completing one of our courses, for example, as a freelance photographer or interior designer."

 

Dido estimates that 60 percent of the students are expat spouses, and the other 40 percent are working professionals who want to take classes in their spare time.

 

Students come from all around the world, six continents; but, of course, they all have two things in common, they can speak English and they love to learn.

 

"I knew that more and more expats were staying longer and longer in China, and that many of them must surely want to do something interesting like take a class, instead of just lunching, shopping, spas, and nightclubs. Well, after almost two years, we have proven that it is true. Many foreigners really do want to follow their own dreams, whether they are discovering the budding novelist within them or perhaps they just want to learn how to design their own Website."

 

For more information, please check www.shanghai-classes.com.

 

(Shanghai Daily April 6, 2007)