On what brought them to UIC … Charles : My wife ' s family is from China , so this seems to be a natural place for us . We have a daughter . We wanted to continue her development of her language and the connection with her culture and so I gave her a chance to be with her grandparents . Uche : One of the reasons why I decided to work in UIC was to stay closer to my family . I had been away from my family for almost eight years , as my wife and two kids reside in Hong Kong while I worked in Malaysia . My wife is a Malaysian Chinese and works in Dongguan . As my kids turned four and two , they started asking more questions , it became increasingly difficult to connect with them from a very long distance .
Why they have been staying for long … Charles : I wouldn ' t say four or five years is a long time for working in a university . We have great students , I have a very supportive dean , and we have a good president . That ' s the best situation for a teacher from my perspective . Uche : I have been in UIC for a little over four years and there is a strong supportive environment in the division and the college . My dean , my colleagues and the great support staff we have at the division including the hard working students are instrumental to the comfort and welcome I feel in UIC . Supporting the division ' s and UIC ' s initiative to enhance the quality of stakeholders received from us remain a key motivation for me .
Differences of teaching experiences in different countries … Charles : The culture of teaching in the USA emphasises cooperation and working together more than that in China . I think to foster a sense of community in classroom is very nice . That ' s the positive thing . Sometimes the differences are overestimated because of good teaching . A good teacher-student relationship at UIC , which is fostered with trust , interest , engagement , organisation and clear goals , is the same as if you were in the USA . We are here to teach young people information but we are all here to listen and to learn . It ' s a relationship that both can learn from each other . Uche : The difference is probably the challenge . The challenge here is our students are generally not very strong in English language but the students in Malaysia are . So , on that ground , it is a higher challenge to teach
It was a long journey coming down to UIC for Dr Uchenna Eze . He finished his Bachelor ' s Degree in Banking and Finance , and then worked in a bank and a marine company in Nigeria . Like many other Nigerians , he left their country for further development . He pursued his master ' s at the University of Technology Malaysia in 1995 and then went to Singapore for a doctorate at Nanyang Technological University . Deciding to step into academia , Uche returned to Malaysia onto the platform of classroom for seven years . He became the Acting Programme Director of Marketing Management at UIC until August 2016 when he became the Acting Associate Dean of the Division of Business and Management .
here . But in terms of quality of students and in terms of the calibre of students , there are no differences .
Language talent … Charles : English is what I ' m most comfortable with . I was trained a little to speak Russian but I am now very rusty . My grandmother was a Slovenian , my grandfather Ukrainian , and my school offered the opportunity to learn Russian . Now I speak yidiandian ( a little ) Chinese . I learned it in China and a little before I came to China from my wife . Uche : I speak four languages . I speak English , I speak Bahasa Melayu , a Malaysian language , I speak Pidgin English , a creole Nigerian language , and then I speak my native language , Igbo language .
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